I agree, but it doesn’t matter now. Just about everybody that’s anybody in the Republican Party has lined up behind McCain. None of them will be hurt by it.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/09/obamacare-abortion-debate-rekindles-romneycare-controversies/

Every human being is going to get sick. Every human being will require health care at some time in their lives. And, many will deal with medical issues as they face death.

Remember, at the time Romney and the liberal MA legislature crafted an insurance solution for MA, the state was nearly bankrupt. A significant portion of MA’s in-the-red spending was attributed to the cost of paying for uninsured health care. Health care/health insurance reform was not on the NATIONAL mindset. Time was of the essence to solve MA’s budgetary issues. Mitt worked with what he had to solve the health care issue in MA. He didn’t have the luxury of taking these issues to all of America to do a COMPLETE overhaul of the system. And, remember pieces of his legislation were overridden by the MA legislature.

NOW, all of America is paying attention to this issue.

Romney would like to change the ENTIRE health care/health insurance issue so it operates on a true private market, consumer driven model.

Romney repeatedly reminds us that states are the laboratories of democracy. What if we didn’t have the MA model to assess? We’d REALLY be speaking in health care hypotheticals – flying in the dark. Criticizing Romney’s health care work in Massachusetts is like castigating Orville and Wilbur Wright because they weren’t sitting at the controls of a stealth bomber when they launched at Kittyhawk.

Romney deserves credit for taking action on a complicated issue using private-market solutions. Romney’s plan did NOT increase taxes and makes people responsible for their own health care. Yes, there is so much more to be done on these issues. Massachusetts serves as a bench mark for what works and what doesn’t. America can learn from MA. MA is a springboard from which to improve. Romney WANTS us to learn from MA. Rather than criticize Romney for creating a solution for MA, we should appreciate the fact that it works for most MA residents, is a basis from which to move forward, and provides enlightenment as we combat Obamacare.

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/11/02/gvsa1102.htm

Here’s an excerpt from a Boston Herald article today:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1238323

- Though Romney has virtually disavowed his health-care plan – the first of its kind in the nation – White House aides have acknowledged it was a “template” for Obama’s proposal, which could only mean for grief for Romney, according to Boston University political professor Thomas Whalen.

- Whalen: “He’s been running away from the single accomplishment of his administration now that the Obama health-care bill is using the Massachusetts model of health-care reform.”

The last time I checked Romney has been defending his plan in MA on every single network available. This is one of many articles coming out there now. Lies.

Obamacare IS NOT ABOUT HEALTHCARE – it is the next piece of the puzzle in his ideology of bringing America to its knees and effecting a government control that rewards the non workers and punishes the achievers – aka Socialism/Communism. Try to ignore it or pooh pooh it all you want – the indicators are there and a minimal amount of research will reveal them to you, if you care to invest the time and effort in confirming them. We keep dancing around the politically correct mulberry bush and just as in Rome – America is burning. Control of one fifth of our economy by the government would spell disaster for our liberty and freedom and fly in the face of our Constitution and what our Founding Fathers knew would happen in an attempt to destroy the best country on earth by the power seekers. Please wake up and do your homework – check out Obama’s life(what they have chosen to reveal about it) and his associations – do not fall for the line that he spent 20 years in a church that preached hate for the white man and hate for America and think that it was not also his own personal beliefs. We are in great danger of losing our country and suffer shame and disgrace by invalidating all of the sacrifices and lives that were made and lost in defense of our freedom and liberty.

In other words, if we were willing to let people die without receiving care if they did not have the means to pay for it (insurance or cash), then we wouldn’t need an individual mandate. We all know, however, that our culture cannot stomach the thought of letting people suffer and die, which leads to a de-facto “mandate” for treatment. The only way to cover this de-facto “mandate” is to mandate insurance coverage in order to keep the mandates symmetrical.

The alternative is the status quo…an asymmetrical mandate in which care is mandated, but coverage/means of payment is not. Hence, the free-rider problem. Individual mandates aren’t pretty, but until we’re willing as a society to release the “mandate” for care, it’s the next best (or least bad) solution.

That said, I think this was a good trial run for Mitt, but as a supporter, I do think he’s got room to improve on this Healthcare line of attack. It will probably be as big if not bigger an obstacle than the whole abortion “flip flop” meme was in the 2008 cycle.

We are in North Carolina (talking about Rednecks for Romney – I could head that up) and are working with Evangelicals for Mitt. Heading the the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in April with 50 Mitt supporters!! We could make a strong showing by winning the Straw Poll there!!

It’s not tyranny. If you are so against paying for something that others will use then you should also set up your own mail service, FDIC, highway system, air traffic control system, school, CDC, Medicare, Medicaid, SChips, etc.

Why is it fair for my healthcare premiums to go up, because the uninsured go to emergency rooms and do not pay? In MA we do mandate personal responsibility. No more free riders. Everyone has to pay. It’s not tyranny. It’s paying your fair share.

We have 98% of our citizens in MA insured with Private Health Insurance. We subsidize health insurance for those who cannot afford it out right. If you refuse to purchase health insurance then you pay a fine on your taxes. This penalty is especially important for those who try to get free care in emergency room. In this country we do not throw people out on the street when they are sick. Even if they are uninsured they are taken care of, which increases medical costs. Its easy for critics to disparage mandates, but the fact is that personal responsibility is conservative.

So this was not Mitt’s brainchild, and he dealt with what was presented to him the best he could, fair to say?

I guess when you have such a liberal crowd, such as Massachusetts, you take what you can get.

Mitt governed one of the most liberal states in the country and did pretty well, all considered. Were he to govern the country, which is more right of center, he would do even better.