Free Republic

Mitt Romney's role in overseeing passage of a universal health care plan in Massachusetts appears likely to cause headaches for the former Republican governor should he make his widely-expected run for the White House in 2012. As Matt Yglesias noted Sunday, all of the government-subsidized health care plans offered to low-income Massachusetts residents, under a program called Commonwealth Care, cover abortion.

Mass. Health Insurers Want Significant Rate HikesMar 6, 2010 3:43 pm US/Eastern BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts health insurance companies have asked the state to approve significant rate hikes, weeks after Gov. Deval Patrick warned his administration might turn down increases it deemed excessive. The insurers have asked for increases of 8 to 32 percent, starting April 1. Last month, Patrick said the state Division of Insurance would review rate increases higher than 4.8 percent as part of a broader effort to control health care expenses. The Boston Globe reports that if the state rejects the increases, it would be the...

At first sight it was no contest. On one channel Sarah Palin, the poster-girl of the American right, was wowing audiences with her first routine as a stand-up comedian. On a rival chat show Mitt Romney, the early frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2012, was delivering such dull fare that his host yawned. Writing a book and promoting it on late-night television have become an integral part of a presidential campaign launch. It certainly worked for Barack Obama. For Romney, the tactic seems to have backfired. He may be ahead of Palin in the opinion polls. But 5.8m people...

NEIL CAVUTO, ANCHOR: More closed-door meetings on health care. The president and members of his own party now pow-wowing in private over the very next move. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney telling me they’re doing it all wrong. And he knows. He overhauled health care when he was running Massachusetts and says that his plan was nothing like the president’s now. More of my chat with Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann.