Free Republic

Shake Shake Shake! Shake Your Romney! Shake Your Romney! Thank you Mr. Fehrnstrom for saying out loud and confirming exactly what many conservative new long ago; Mitt Romney is promising to conservatives whatever it is that he thinks they want to hear without any intention of keeping it. The only thing shocking about this revelation is that Eric Fehrnstromn said it out loud, not in a conversation he believed was off the record or private, cut being broadcast by CNN live. In case you haven’t heard what the kerfuffle is all about , here’s the interview of Mr. Fehrnstrom...

Why, if there is an election in November, it will come down to Romney and Obama. Just about any question a man, woman, or child could have, God has answered in His book, the Holy Bible. Just as He has answered the question "how did the world get here?" He has also told us why, if there is an election this coming November, it will be between a Muslim and a Mormon, Obama and Romney, Obama and Obama Lite. And the devil, taking Him(Jesus) up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a...

In several interviews, aides to Mr. Obama said they were impressed with the early campaign tactics of Mr. Romney and Mr. Pawlenty. They said Mr. Romney had been wise to remain out of the fray for as long as possible — giving rivals less time to attack him — and Mr. Pawlenty wise to barnstorm important states, early, to become better known. Mr. Romney’s previous experience as a candidate, they suggested, could help him deal with the problems he faces. They said they viewed former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, until a few weeks ago Mr. Obama’s ambassador...

President Barack Obama isn’t letting Mitt Romney off the hook so easily. While raising money in Boston on Wednesday, Obama alluded twice to Romney’s role in enacting the Massachusetts health care law, the latest reference to the former governor’s record that has haunted him as he eyes a White House bid. “With a little assist from the former governor of Massachusetts, we said that health care should no longer be a privilege in this country,” Obama told laughing supporters at his first fundraiser. “We said that in the United States of America, just like here in Massachusetts, you should never...

(CNSNews.com) – Speaking to Democratic contributors near Boston Wednesday, President Barack Obama gave a tip of the hat to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney – a potential opponent in the 2012 presidential race -- for an “assist” in passing national health care reform. “Our work isn’t done. Yes, we passed health care with an assist from a former Massachusetts governor,” Obama said to laughter at the Democratic National Committee gathering in Brookline, Mass. “Great idea,” Obama added, to more laughter. He never mentioned Romney by name. Democrats and Obama administration officials frequently invoke Romney in defense of their health...

Gov. Deval Patrick is absolutely right: Don’t blame Cleve Killingsworth for your insurance premiums going up so high, so fast. Blame the man who’s truly responsible — Deval Patrick. Killingsworth is the Miami Heat of Massachusetts health care. It’s hard to believe someone that expensive could suck that bad. But as offensive as Killingsworth’s $11 million buyout may be, AFL-CIO president and Blue Cross Blue Shield board member Robert Haynes had it right: “With $13 billion in revenue, it’s like pennies,” he said of the board’s compensation. Complaining about Killingsworth’s incompetence is like complaining about a leaky bathtub on the...

Politico reports: President Obama on Monday once again brought up Mitt Romney's role in expanding health care in Massachusetts, in what has become a recurring political nightmare for the former governor who is seen as a likely Republican candidate for president. Speaking to governors of both parties, Obama said Romney actually had a decent idea about addressing the country's health care system. "I know that many of you have asked for flexibility for your states under this law," Obama said at the White House. "In fact, I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished...

Mitt Romney was faced yet again on Monday with a political nightmare should he choose to run for president: A praiseworthy shout-out from the White House on health care. Speaking to governors of both parties, President Obama said that Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who is a prospective 2012 candidate, actually had a decent idea about addressing the country’s health care system. “I know that many of you have asked for flexibility for your states under this law,” Obama said at the White House. “In fact, I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he’s proud of what he accomplished...

Public Policy Polling is out today with one of the first early presidential primary polls in Nevada, showing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leading the early Republican pack. The numbers aren’t much of a surprise. Romney was the only candidate to build a campaign organization in Nevada in 2008. He still has a strong following of invested supporters. Interestingly, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin trails him by 13 percentage points, dispelling some of the notion that Nevada is a strong tea party state. Palin is seen as incredibly popular with the Republican base in Nevada, but not necessarily as a...

Barack Obama blames the lack of Republican cooperation for the failure of his healthcare bill, according to comments he made on last night’s "60 Minutes" TV program. Sitting down with Steve Kroft two days after his self-described "shellacking" this past Tuesday, Obama attempted to make it appear as if he sort of, kind of understood what the American people were plainly communicating to him when they fired a whole heck of a lot of Democrats in the midterms. However, Obama’s insistence to still shift the blame to the Republicans even now, when it should be 100% clear to him that...

Predictions of cost savings through ObamaCare, like most liberal politics, were based on magical thinking. If they want something to be true with sufficiently intensity, liberals know it must be true. Small children are natural magical thinkers. Ask any psychologist, pediatrician, or parent. Magical thinkers believe that because they want it or can conceive of it, "it" is so, or will be so. The magically thinking child ties a cape on his back and knows that with it on, he can fly. When he jumps off the roof, he will, of course, fall, not soar like Superman. The usual cure...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly 4 million Americans—the vast majority of them middle class—will have to pay the new penalty for not getting health insurance when President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law kicks in, according to congressional estimates released Thursday. The penalties will average a little more than $1,000 apiece in 2016, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report. Most of the people paying the fine will be middle class. Obama pledged in 2008 not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000. Republicans have criticized the penalties, even though...

Here is video of Bill O'Reilly interviewing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney last night, where he pressed him hard on what he called the "fiscal disaster" of RomneyCare. Romney said it is essentially costing what they expected it to cost. He also claimed the plan takes people who had no health care and gives them a chance to purchase private, market-based health care. Romney argued that RomneyCare differs from ObamaCare in that it is a state-based solution rather than a Federal Program! He finally admitted that his plan in Massachusetts has NOT brought health care costs down, and he said...

Clearly a Freudian slip by the president, but I wonder what Mitt Romney thinks of being anointed by Obama so early. Here's what he said, in an interview with CBS News's Harry Smith: "Yeah, the--the sort of plan proposed by current Republican nominee Mitt Romney, yeah." The context: after the jump.

I have to say I got a big chuckle out of Romney’s healthcare chapter. Two years ago, I published a book on conservative reform that urged conservatives to pay more attention to the social costs of obesity. Those lines prompted National Review’s book reviewer to ceremonially drum me out of the conservative movement. Two years later, the candidate endorsed by National Review in 2008 has this to say: “One of the biggest behavioral contributors to sickness and death is our big waistlines, and the cascading negative health impact of that excess weight.” (191) Romney then proceeds through a very well-informed...

Before a single town hall, debate, primary or caucus, Mitt Romney’s blown his chances for the presidency in 2012. What the 2008 also-ran had to say today on Fox News Sunday was the same thing I and others have witnessed him say a half dozen times over the past few months behind closed doors — a stubborn refusal to admit any similarity between President Obama’s national health care plan and his own disastrous solution in Massachusetts. Here’s one quote: There’s a big difference between what we did and what President Obama is doing. What we did, I think, is the...