Posted on 07/09/2009 6:05:03 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
Former GOP Governor Helped Make 2006 Reform Reality.
BOSTON -- Three years after the inception of Massachusetts’ landmark health reform legislation, which required every citizen to buy insurance, NewsCenter 5’s Ed Harding wondered what former Gov. Mitt Romney, a key political architect of the plan, thought of its progress. Call it protecting his legacy, well-earned pride, or seeing the glass as half-full, but Romney says Massachusetts deserves an ‘A.’
“It’s working like we had hoped it would work,” the one-time republic presidential candidate said. “We got nearly everybody in Massachusetts health insurance, which really, something people didn't think was possible.”
Romney said the same can be done nationwide, though he concedes what many in the Bay State are grappling with now, that the hardest part of the reform debate is controlling costs. It is projected that within a decade health care will account for 20 percent of all money spent in the United States.
Currently, health care accounts for between 17 and 18 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product.
“It’s huge,” said Romney. “We’ve got two challenges. One is to get everybody insured. Believe it or not that's the relatively easy job. The other job is to reign in the inflation associated with health care. We can do that too but it's a lot of work.”
Romney points to a recent analysis by the pro-reform Massachusetts Taxpayers’ Association, showing that since near-universal coverage was implemented in 2006, state taxpayers have had to shell out an additional $88 million per year to insure an additional 430,000 citizens.
“Some people say. ‘Oh, it's expensive,’ but actually, it cost less than two percent of the state budget.”
Romney is closely following the reform debate in Washington, DC, and pointed to President Barack Obama’s proposal for a government-run so-called public plan option as a “big mistake.”
“The current system with over 1,000 insurers in this country, is perfectly capable adequate to provide choice to people in America,” Romney said.
The former governor declined to answer when Harding asked if health care is a right of a privilege in the United States. He did insist, however, that on a national level politicians ought to be able to create a system where every citizen has health insurance.
Right on national defense? That's laughable.
McCain was wrong on leaving our borders wide open for all of "God's children"--and only God know who else came in.
McCain was wrong on supporting the illegal Kosovo war, during which he supported and armed the Kosovo Liberation Army, a gang of Albanian Islamists affiliated with al-Qaeda.
McCain was wrong on supporting the terrorist Moussavi, "one of the Iranian regime’s most severe militants" (NYT, 02/17/1989) who also has ties to Hezbollah and backed the taking of United States citizens as hostages when the Tehran embassy was overrun by Islamists in 1979 (source).
McCain is, at best, a senile boob who occasionally gets something right, but he's not exactly the sort of nincompoop you want to have in charge of anything that's for real.
Values, morals, standards, tradition, character, all are there for a reason. The reason is without them you have chaos. Which is exactly what our culture is becoming.
All of the above are also what keep people honest, decent, and caring about other people as opposed to selfishness. NOT LAWS!
That is all we need to say about these stupid anti-civil groups. Any pol who approves in any way shape or form, lacks all the above, and therefore cannot be trusted to make deciaion for Americans and their families.
Wrong. To win, as Reagan did, all you need is to speak the truth about America, the American dream, liberty, and freedom.
Carter sucked.
What is he stupid? I can not belive I supported him.
My guess is that the additional $88m is on top of additional premiums and taxes.
Come one guys, I know its popular and fun to bash on Romney, but this is hardly breaking news. Don’t cheapen Freerepublic.
Grade inflation anyone?
I like the pic!
But... but... Mass care is very ration all.
What a dumb dumb Mr. Hairdo is.
YES!!!
This man needs a nickname. I go with Slick Mitt. The moniker would go viral just in time for the Presidential primaries ending his run.
I agree. I voted for Mitt last time in the primary...the best of the lot, IMO. He could at least articulate a message. I was just not convinced how much of it he believed. It is becoming clear he does not stand for conservative issues. This response is disasterous. The next candidate has to articulate a fundamentally opposite solution to Obama on all the major issues.
If he was going to be a legitimate candidate in ‘12, he should be coming out and say, “as a governor of a Dem state I worked hard to shape the outcome of this program to be the best it can be. Unfortunately, it is proving to be the wrong solution. The costs are two high and the state is forced to cover the costs with Fed stimulus money. This is especially the wrong path for the Federal government because government can’t possibly outperform the private sector,...etc...etc” He would quickly become the front runner and likely next President. Instead, he really is demonstrating a belief in this type of boondoggle solution to health care. He’s out.
I like that! Says it all.
I am talking about Iraq when he pushed for the surge — should have clarified my post.
The idea that the judiciary is supreme is common nonsense. That idea is profoundly ahistorical and utterly at odds with constitutional principle, in Massachusetts and every other American jurisdiction. If the law means whatever a majority of the highest court says it means and the executive exists just to effectuate court orders, there isn't much point in carefully separating powers among the three branches of government. We might as well just save ourselves all those executive and legislative salaries and let the courts run everything. Constitutions could be a lot shorter.
Faced with a stark choice between faithfully executing the law and obeying a lawless court an honorable executive is bound by the law. Courts don't issue marriage licenses in Massachusetts. That's an executive function. Romney chose to allow his employees to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. That was his bad and he can't escape responsibility for it. The defense that the SJC made him do it is just pathetic.
If Romney had defied the court he might have been impeached or the legislature might have amended the law to conform with the SJC’s decision. Either way two branches of government could have combined to overrule the third. Or the legislature could have accepted Romney's decision and rejected the court's. That's separation of powers in action, three branches of government in a dynamic balance.
As it was, Romney punted, like the putz he is. He punted on health care too, and apparently he has yet to see the error of his ways. The man is a waste of good hair. If he tries to pimp himself around again in 2012 he won't even get as far as he did last time. It would be a pleasure to watch him waste another chunk of his fortune in more futile efforts to ingratiate himself with the electorate. Voters, like nature, abhor a vacuum
Agree with your post with emphasis on “The next candidate has to articulate a fundamentally opposite solution to Obama on all the major issues”, and add the GOP must articulate fundamentally opposite solutions, or Conservative solutions.
We’re already well on our way towards ending our relationship with our Constitution, and if we want to NOT end that relationship we must oppose the Left, not side with them as is the direction the Leftist RINO’s of the GOP are trying to take that party.
The Leftist influence IMO is behind the ridiculous outreach for quantity as opposed to quality. With quality IMO will come the quantity. I know my wife and myself won’t send the GOP a nickel until we see some quality, and we believe most Conservatives think as we do.
Well, he’s clearly wrong, it’s been far more expensive than advertised and subsequent changes have made it more burdensome and intrusive.
The DUmbass bankrupted his own state and WANTS THE SAME for the whole country??? He and Pres'ent DUh-bama could have been RUNNING MATES! His minions continued sniping at conservatives through the last election and all the money in the world wouldn't help him buy the office of President.
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