This is not the third installment in my ongoing series of “Romney vs Health Care” . . . just an update to show that Mitt is not running away from, apologizing for, nor ”flipping” on RomneyCare (as was predicted and encouraged in Part 1 of the series; Part 2 is here for those interested);
Despite the urging from Mike Huckabee (who I’m sure has Mitt’s best interests in heart) that Romney should apologize for RomneyCare (not the first time Huckabee has called for an apology from Romney BTW), the good Governor has stood firm. His spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom responded:
“Mitt Romney is proud of what he accomplished for Massachusetts in getting everyone covered . . . What’s important now is to return to the states the power to determine their own healthcare solutions by repealing Obamacare. A one-size-fits-all plan for the entire nation just doesn’t work.”
Similarly, Huckabee states in his book ”when the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation stepped into the lab to examine this experiment-in-progress, they found that health care, which was 16 percent of the state budget in 1990, had jumped to 35 percent in 2010.” Someone remind him that RomneyCare wasn’t even law until 2006! Quoting 20 years worth of increases (that have been happening in ALL states anyways) and blaming them on RomneyCare is beyond misleading. And quoting the 
Massachusettes Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) for that statistic?!?! The MTF said, in May 2009:
Despite a public perception that the state’s landmark health care reform law has turned out to be unaffordable, a new analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation finds that the cost to taxpayers of achieving near universal coverage has been relatively modest and well within initial projections
Additionally, Huckabee called RomneyCare “socialized medicine” . . . a term he has never used to describe ObamaCare. Hmmm . . .
UPDATE: Romney’s endorsements are starting to line up prior to him even announcing! Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Scott Brown, and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott have all said they’d support Mitt within the last week. Add your own endorsement of Romney in the comments section!
Jeff has been blogging for Romney since living in Iowa in 2006, when, as a physician, he was drawn to study Romney’s MA healthcare reform plan. A native of California, Jeff now claims to be a proud southern transplant (he currently lives and practices as a vitreoretinal surgeon in Birmingham with his wife and six kids) having lived in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana for nearly all of the last 15 years. His recent hobby is doing triathlons, having completed his first (and only) Ironman Triathlon this past May.
I could only hope that Mitt will be able to take this whole thing all the way for everyone’s own good… but it will be a great uphill battle. Mitt can’t do it alone, he will need all the help he can get, so let’s quietly encourage everyone around us. Forget about the loud mouth political junkies it will never be enough for them, however if we can leave positive rebuttals on the comment sections of the popular and not so popular newspapers… I think we will be able to sway the majority over towards Romney.
Last I checked, Mass has the LOWEST insurance premiums PER MEDIAN INCOME. I think that’s a much better measure.
A very interesting response. Two questions. What are the real stats in healthcare costs pre and post-reform in MA, and what are the.credentials of MTF?
Huck is a mean jerk ibiggot n sheep’s clothing
Thank you, Jeff, for bringing facts to light.
Nice and positive bit.
I still say that the Dems will use RomneyCare as a reason to Keep ObamaCare.
Putting Mitt on the ticket would be giving Obama and the Democrats a birthday present. They would tear into the GOP, calling all Republicans ‘liars and hypocrites, based on Romney’s Government healthcare plan.
How can the GOP say they are against ‘government healthcare’ and Support the Author of government healthcare?
Regardless of whether Mitt’s plan is seen as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it will still be a stigma that media and Obama will use against him.
We need more than a ‘next in line’, or ‘media favorite’, or ‘Party establishment favorite’.
Bob Dole and McCain were both considered ‘able to bring the moderate votes’. How far did that go?
By October, 2008, McCain was sounding like an Obama supporter.
In the Dole campaign, when Sen. Dole did ask ‘gotcha questions’ [in debate], he immediately apologized for the hard questions.
We don’t need Democrat-Lite Candidates, because when 2 democrats are offerred, the Democrat Party wins.
@James Walden
Thanks for your opinion James . . . but comparing Mitt to McCain and Dole? Mitt’s much more forceful and charismatic than either of those. He’s also got a better persona of standing firm compared to the “let’s compromise and all get along” lifetime Senators Dole and McCain. Ronald Reagan and GWB were also the “Next in line” candidates and that didn’t stop them.
Great comment Deg!!!!
Reagan stood firm in his Conservative values without apology, and the media hated him.
Reagan was better in debating than Carter. Celebrity status vs. Peanut farmer was not much of a contest.
To say R.R. was a ‘next in line’ is semi-debateable. He was still considered an actor by the media and the Dems.
As for the Bush’s, GWB did not care for “Reaganomics” and won primarily by staying with Reagan’s plan. Had he not been Reagan’s VP, the race would have been different.
Bush and Dole were comparable in there politics, in fact, some considered Dole to be more conservative, fiscally.
I still hold that the DNC and the media will take RomneyCare & ObamaCare, and press the public into saying ‘no difference’.
By his own record, he will be painted into an ‘early pioneer of Obamacare’.
One thing ‘Any candidate’ needs to consider will be debate locations.
That is one thing that helped Reagan and hurt Dole and McCain.
Dole and McCain both agreed to hold Presidential debates in Democratic strong venues. The media loved that, because the audience was predisposed to support the Democrat and to hate the Republican from the onset.
Reagan understood that audience is “where the film wins”.
Even JFK understood that media appearance says more than words, as he showed in his debate against Nixon. Nixon refused makeup, and JFK had arrived ‘camera ready’.
I wish Mitt luck, but, I also support Herman Cain [who can also be considered a longshot by many].
We will see how the next 4 to 12 months go.
Thank you for the courtesy in your response.
Thanks for bringing this information together. As just a regular Joe out here, I know Mitt will be attacked for MA HealthCare, rightly or wrongly:
I think Mitt has been subject to a double standard with healthcare and needs to be prepared to explain his experience in Massachusetts.
• Was the MA plan the right thing to do in hindsight? Did it do what was expected? Did it’s cost run according to projections? Were there changes made that Mitt disagreed with? Are there needed changes?
• Mitt followed the pattern that states should try new ideas and innovate so experience can help other states. What was learned? How could another state benefit from the try? Mitt, I don’t think, has to hit a home run every time if it moves things along. It doesn’t have to be his millstone as some have said, he probably got it 80% or more right. I think that’s great. Had he served another term, he would have fine-tuned it.
I disagree with the assertion that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were “next in line” candidates.
In 1980, many people still believed that Gerald Ford deserved the nomination and another shot at running against Jimmy Carter. Much of the establishment believed that people regretted their 1976 votes for Carter over Ford and that nominating Ford was a less risky way to take back the White House. In addition, Howard Baker of Tennessee was seen as a long-time GOP loyalist who had been “in line” as long or longer than Ronald Reagan. GHW Bush had also been a GOP loyalist with some “in line” credentials. Ronald Reagan had lost some primaries and was within one state of quitting. He went into the North Carolina primary with the understanding that he’d quit the race if he didn’t win. He won big in North Carolina and went on to win the nomination.
In 2000, we did not have a clear “next in line” candidate. To some extent, John McCain had more “next in line” credentials than GW Bush did. McCain had been a GOP lawmaker longer. Ultimately, his flirting with liberals on issues such as abortion and general GOP dislike of his campaign finance “reform” sunk his candidacy. Attacking Bob Jones University a week or so before the South Carolina primary hurt him further. Once he offended the base in that way, his candidacy was doomed even though he was more of a “next in line” candidate.
Banter aside and no matter how you slice it up, pound for pound, Romney is the biggest heavyweight the GOP has and has the greatest chance of bringing the White House back (and America for that matter) to our party in 2012! Let’s unite around that common purpose! Great post by the way to dispel Huckabee’s ongoing distortions, once again…
In case you haven’t noticed, we are well into the 21st century, with social media and the Internet playing a far greater role in the political process than ever before. We are no longer held hostage by a leftist media, filtering every sound bite and shaping every “news broadcast” to further their agenda. Look at what has happened with the Tea Party movement… this is the biggest positive impact the common people have ever had in my lifetime! Look at the great programming coming out of Fox News. Look at the ratings- most of the conservative radio and TV programs are killing the lefties in the ratings. I see all of these trends as a sign that it is time for our side to quit worrying about what the media may or may not do and just roll up our sleeves and go to work for the best people we can find for every public office from dogcatcher on up to President. From my perspective, the hands-down best qualified person for President this cycle is Mitt Romney, so let’s quit trying to second-guess what all the other candidates may or may not do, forget about the drivel from the uninformed/hostile pundits and just do what it takes to get him elected!
I agree that Romney should not run away from the Massahusetts Healthcare issue
A better them would be
a) Everyone knows that Health care needs to be fixed or the costs will bankrupt the country/
b) Obama care does nothing on cost containment – makes it worse
c) Health care is too complicated to be left amateurs and lawyers and government bureaucrats
d)Romney is the only person with real knowledge of what needs to be done and with the hands on experience to fix it.
e) None of the governors have any experience in this area. not Pawlenty, not Huckabee, not Christie,
f) after suffering from the administrative skills of a community organizer, the US needs a proven manager who can get things done
Yes, we need a Proven Manager. That is why I am supporting Herman Cain and not Romney, who will not repeal Obamacare, and probably would only strengthen it.
“Romney said he would allow waivers from the reform law for all 50 states.
Waivers does Not sound like Repeal is in his mind.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/151387-2012-contenders-jockey-for-conservative-support-on-obamacare-anniversary “