Free Republic

Last week, I got into a debate with David Frum over his post arguing that Mitt Romney should use his Massachusetts health care law to counter charges that he’s unsympathetic to the middle class. We’ll now have a chance to see how that strategy plays out, as it appears as if the Romney campaign has decided to take Frum’s advice. Andrea Saul’s response here creates a huge opening for defenders of the national health care law. [....] It isn’t too hard for the Obama campaign and his liberal allies to use Saul’s comments in defense of Obamacare. The essential argument...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should use its power for good, not evil, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told supporters Thursday night at a fundraiser in London where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics. “My view is that the EPA — if it keeps to its mission and does not use its power to foster or further an anti-carbon energy agenda — would be a more effective department,” Romney told the crowd. Politico is reporting the comments today, and says that Romney also criticized as overreach the Supreme Court’s Massachusetts v. EPA decision in 2007. “I happen...

The Supreme Court did not save us from ourselves, at least not entirely. That is still up to us, the people. When the American people elected Barack Obama and large Democrat majorities, the die was cast. ObamaCare was coming. Popular or not, constitutional or not, affordable or not, it didn't matter. They were going to pass it, and then the rest of us could find out what they put in it. After the Democrats shoved the 2700 pages of ObamaCare down our throats -- and we did find out how expensive, controlling, and coercive the legislation was -- a majority...

There have been all kinds of opinions on Mitt Romney's handling of Monday's Supreme Court ruling over SB 1070, but I'm having a hard time imagining any of his supporters are going to take too much umbrage with this one. It's really just that simple: We have got to get rid of President Obama.CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO Romney added: "Obamacare was bad policy yesterday. It's bad policy today. Obamacare was bad law yesterday. It's bad law today."This presidential election is "a choice," Romney said. "You can choose whether you want to have a larger and larger government, more...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday revived her inflammatory accusation that President Obama's healthcare law creates "death panels." Palin used her Facebook page to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the Supreme Court's upcoming healthcare decision. She said she wanted to take the opportunity to stand by comments in a 2009 Facebook post that touched off a firestorm of controversy. "I stand by everything I wrote in that warning to my fellow Americans because what was true then is true now, and it will remain true as we hear what the Supreme Court has to say," Palin said in Monday's...

MSNBC's supposedly most intelligent "news" anchor almost had a total meltdown on HBO's Real Time Friday. When repeatedly asked by host Bill Maher and guest Nick Gillespie for her opinion of Massachusetts' healthcare program, Maddow whined like a little girl, "Leave me alone about RomneyCare, all of you" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Maddow Almost Melts Down on HBO's Real Time: 'Leave Me Alone About RomneyCare, All of You' BILL MAHER, HOST: Mitt Romney said on the campaign trail last week, he said, “We're going to get rid of ObamaCare and return to personal responsibility.” This is the return...

On Wednesday, former Florida Governor and Republican Party heavyweight Jeb Bush endorsed Mitt Romney for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. But some believe the Bush endorsement may actually have more to do with Sarah Palin (and her tacit endorsements of Newt Gingrich) than Mitt Romney. "I am endorsing Mitt Romney for our Party¹s nomination," Bush announced Wednesday. "We face huge challenges, and we need a leader who understands the economy, recognizes more government regulation is not the answer, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism and works to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed." To state categorically that some in...

"I have received numerous e-mails over the last 36 hours asking if Mitt Romney really flip-flopped on his support of the Blunt Amendment, a motion to re-establish employers’ religious freedom over health insurance coverage. He did not, despite frantic coverage of his answer to a confusingly worded question from an Ohio reporter. But his reply signals that pro-lifers have a far deeper problem with the Republican presidential hopeful: he’s disengaged from our issues, dismissive of our concerns, and disinclined to give us the time of day..." read more... http://www.lifesite.net/news/romneys-blunt-problem-with-the-pro-life-movement

Santorum Catches Romney in GOP Race Rick Santorum’s support among Tea Party Republicans and white evangelicals is surging, and he now has pulled into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. In polling conducted Feb. 8-12, 30% of Republican and Republican leaning registered voters favor Santorum while 28% favor Romney. As recently as a month ago, Romney held a 31% to 14% advantage over Santorum among all GOP voters. Santorum is now the clear favorite of Republican and GOP-leaning voters who agree with the Tea Party, as well as white evangelical Republicans. Currently,...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Yesterday on This Week with Christiane Amanpour, George Will -- this was during the roundtable discussion, George Will discussing Mitt Romney. WILL: It has a lot to do with Romney. He is rising as more and more Republicans come to the conclusion that the Republican Party has found its Michael Dukakis, a technocratic Massachusetts governor running on competence, not ideology. RUSH: Did you hear that? George Will characterizing Mitt Romney as the Republican Party's Michael Dukakis. Michael Dukakis, a Democrat loser running for office in 1988, one of the most famous things that Dukakis did was he...

Former Bay State governor Mitt Romney supports Speaker John Boehner as House Republicans move forward. His campaign says that he is reviewing the Boehner plan. "Governor Romney thinks President Obama's leadership has been an historic failure. He applauds Speaker Boehner for standing firm against raising taxes when our nation can least afford them," says Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, in a statement to National Review Online.

DERRY, N.H. — Mitt Romney says he can appeal to Tea Partiers, even though activists and groups aligned with the movement are stressing that they need to defeat him in 2012. “I think I line up pretty well with the Tea Party,” he said in response to a question from The Daily Caller after touring the Derry Feed and Supply store. “They want to see smaller government. So do I.” But not everyone associated with the movement see Romney as one of them. Joe Miller, a former U.S. Senate candidate in Alaska and a Tea Party darling, is now running...

In case you missed the lead story yesterday, likely because you were following the Weiner Saga, Mitt Romney is running for President. Though he had a hard time defeating Huckabee last timeand whom he seems to have an ongoing feud with, Romney seems to be thinking that all the major issues that plauged his last candidacy have evaporated and the only real issue the Conservative Republican base has with him is RomneyCare. This could not be further from the truth. The list of Romney's problems is a long one, so buckle up. **YOUTUBE VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP**

The Mama Grizzly is coming out of hibernation. This weekend, Sarah Palin is launching her "One Nation" bus tour, visiting historical sites across the country. Palin will start on Memorial Day at the Rolling Thunder weekend motorcycle rally that starts at the Pentagon. Where it will end has yet to be announced. But given Palin's other recent move—the announcement of a feature-length film on her tenure as governor—it looks as if her ultimate destination may be the White House. Whatever Mitt Romney had on his plate for Memorial Day, he'd better make room. If we assume—for the purposes of page...

White House hopefuls Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin lead a narrower field of potential rivals for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination, according to a poll released on Thursday. The Gallup survey is the organization's first since Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and real estate mogul Donald Trump opted out of the slowly evolving primary race. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and so far the apparent front-runner, led Palin by 17 percent to 15 percent, well within the poll's 4 percentage points margin of error. Texas Representative Ron Paul ranked third at 10 percent. But the...

When he announced his candidacy, I debunked what I considered to be the top five failed defenses of RomneyCare. In his speech this afternoon, Mitt Romney employed all of them in his desperate attempt to distance himself from ObamaCare despite its stark similarities to the plan he signed as governor of Massachusetts. Romney tried to differentiate between the national health care law, which he described as a “government takeover” and the Massachusetts approach, which he said was merely about expanding coverage. But both plans are remarkably similar – they force people to purchase government-approved insurance policies, expand Medicaid, and provide...

BARTLETT, N.H., March 5 (UPI) -- Republican Mitt Romney delivered a scathing assessment of U.S. President Obama Saturday night, calling him "unequal to the task of leading the free world." Speaking in the early presidential battleground state of New Hampshire, Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is expected to make another run at the White House in 2012, said Obama has done a lousy job staying on top of Middle East and North Africa political unrest, CBS News reported.

The good news for Willard Mitt Romney is that his religion won’t knock him out of the Republican race for president next year. The bad news is, he’s got an even bigger problem now than the magic underwear jokes — Romneycare. “That’s the question he has to address,” Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H) was saying Friday afternoon. “Not just in New Hampshire, but nationwide.” You know how big a headache this is when even Mitt’s highest-profile supporters are dodging brickbats over the chaos that is Massachusetts health care.