Romney's latest health care quandary

This article originally appeared on RealClearPolitics.

With the Capitol in the background, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks about the Supreme Court's health care ruling, Thursday, June 28, 2012, in Washington.

/ (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Following Thursday's Supreme Court ruling to uphold President Obama's health care reform law, it did not take long for Republicans to shift en masse from public displays of anger and disappointment to reaffirmation of their commitment to repeal the law.

The crux of Mitt Romney's argument against the Affordable Care Act, after all, had never been that it is unconstitutional, but rather that it is bad policy.

In his first remarks following the court's decision, Romney was quick to emphasize that distinction:

"What the court did do today is say that Obamacare does not violate the Constitution; what they did not do is to say that Obamacare is a good law or that it is good policy. What the court did not do on the last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected president of the United States, and that is that I will act to repeal Obamacare."

Romney's show of commitment to the issue literally paid immediate dividends. On Friday, his communications director, Gail Gitcho, tweeted that since the ruling the presumptive nominee's campaign had raised $5.5 million from 55,000 donors, 65 percent of whom were first-time contributors.

But as Romney retreated to his lakeside New Hampshire home for a weeklong family vacation, the extent to which he will emphasize health care in the months ahead remained uncertain.

Since securing the Republican nomination in April, he has unrelentingly focused on one message: that Obama has not been an effective economic steward for the nation and that the country needs a leader with the experience and wherewithal to create jobs and boost prosperity.

Of course, his campaign staff has not shied from engaging in media-driven spats du jour and other minor controversies that fade quickly, but the candidate himself has been disciplined in steering clear, for the most part, of issues that are not directly related to the economy.

When President Obama announced a dramatic deportation policy shift that would allow many young illegal immigrants to remain in the country, for instance, Romney declined repeatedly to state whether he would reverse the directive as president.

And although a Romney communications aide offered a brief criticism of the president's invoking of executive privilege to withhold from Congress documents related to the "Fast and Furious" gun-walking scandal, the candidate himself has been silent on the issue, which has long been a conservative rallying cry against the administration.

Despite the campaign's wariness about delving into issues that could take the political conversation into unpredictable territory, many supporters say Romney should not allow the health care issue to fall into the background.

"The key for Romney is to turn around to independents and moderates and say, 'Look, while there's some popular provisions in here -- 26-year-olds, pre-existing conditions -- it's a dog with fleas and an enormous middle-class tax hike,' " said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell. "But he will also have to at some point come up with a definitive plan of how he'll replace it. Americans know that we need health care reform, but what Romney has to say to them is 'This is not the best way to go about it.' "

On the Sunday political talk shows, prominent Republicans appeared unified in the belief that even though they lost the Supreme Court battle, the health care issue would remain a potent weapon for conservatives and one that Romney should wield confidently heading into November.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Louisiana Gov. (and potential Romney running mate) Bobby Jindal was eager to offer the same arguments for repealing the law that other conservatives have long made, citing a flurry of data to help make his case.

"This coming election gives American voters a chance -- we've got two very different candidates," he said. "There's never been [for] one day a majority of the American people who've wanted this."

And on CBS News' "Face the Nation," House Speaker John Boehner vowed that he and his fellow Republicans "will not flinch" in their efforts to hold more votes on repealing the law and he expressed confidence that they would ultimately succeed.

"All it really does is strengthen my resolve and resolve of Republicans here in Washington to repeal this awful law, which is increasing the cost of health insurance for the American people and making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers," Boehner said.

There is little doubt that the Supreme Court's ruling has helped to rally conservatives to Romney, whose election is now their last remaining hope of repealing the law.

Yet the health care issue has always been an exceedingly tricky one for the former Massachusetts governor. His Republican primary opponents were eager to point out that his universal plan in the Bay State served as a model for Obama's national reform, and Romney now runs the additional risk of being perceived by swing voters as re-litigating an issue that already has been resolved.

While his view on the matter remains the same as when he entered the race, whether Romney makes repeal a top talking point will be one of his key decisions leading into the final four-month sprint to Election Day.

More from RealClearPolitics:

For Obama & GOP, Ruling Fails to End Partisan Fight
Plouffe: Dems Must Rebut GOP's Tax-Hike Message

[revlrl]

If I were a Republican (of which I'm not any more! Thank God!), I would probably question this report, re: 7th paragraph: "Since securing the Republican nomination in April"??? Ah, did the GOP hold their convention then?
Sounds a bit bold with CBS's journalism to advertise that he's in fact the "blessed nominee" before they say so at their convention...

[RollotheNorman]

Hey, all you RepubliCONs: Here's the scenario, Jan 22, 2013, Willard's first full day at work. Willard: "Well I won the election because of my good looks, great connections, and superior business acumen. Now I regret to reform my party that I'm throwing them under the bus. All those things I flipped on during the primaries and campaign I'm now flopping on. I hope my fellow RepubliCONs will fully support my administration."

Can you RepubliCONs say "recall election" or what? Too bad, no provisions for recall elections in the US Constitution.

[Jaylah54200]

Well, it's true that Romney has proven himself "a leader with the experience and wherewithal to create (overseas) jobs and boost prosperity (to the already wealthy).

[LEAVA12]

To Believe or Not to Believe: Obamacare Creates Deficit?

Obama's health care has been in effect for just one year and a half; many important parts such as a mandate to be enrolled (effective in 2014) have not yet been implemented. Therefore, we cannot yet effectively evaluate Obama's Health law; without this mandate, there are healthy millions of uninsured people and hence there is not a full pool for medical insurance funds. As soon as the mandate is effective -2014- the insurance costs will be lower.

Two more positive facts: On May 2, 2012, a nationwide bust of scams, 107 doctors, nurses, and social workers were charged with Medicare fraud which swindled 452 million US$ from the program. According to CBS today, July 2, 2012, Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline will plead guilty and pay $3 billion in the largest settlement of health care fraud in U.S. history, the Justice Department announced Monday.", http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57464923-10391704/glaxosmithkline-agrees-to-$3-billion-settlement-with-justice-department-in-largest-sum-of-its-kind-over-health-care-fraud/

These two events illustrate a way for Obama to reduce costs of the program and maximize the medical benefits for Americans; other ways include improving preventive medicine and negotiating medical costs between the government and doctors, ....

There is no compelling evidence that Obamacare has created or will create severe deficit. The average deficit under the Obama administration is about $1.35 trillion. Think about the following fact concerning the deficit: about $1 trillion for war, about $600 billion for interest on the debt, and about $300 billion of Bush's tax cut for millionaires.

Actually, there is a good possibility that Obamacare is one of many other factors which will reduce the deficit over the next four years if he is reelected.

[Ben37221]

It will be interesting in the coming months to see how Romney make this dance to the point where he will accused Obama of taxing the American people. What is he going to say? I did the same thing, but don't worry about me-everyone knows me as a flip flopper. But that Obama guy, how dear he try to provide healthcare for about 30 million more people, when we can use that money to go to war with Iran. After all, that is his position. He is in favor of going to war with Iran, just like the rest of the GOP who never get fed-up with these senseless wars. They are not quick to send their children to war, but are quick to send the children of the poor- a demographic the GOP see as indispensable.

[TimeToEvolve]

Romnee know we have an awful, almost completely failed health care system here. That's why he thought of Obama Cares. Probably the only thing he has done for anyone good in his entire life.

[TimeToEvolve]

If you are a lying, flip-flopping, right wing hypocrite like Robmee, "Blame Yo'self" - Herman Cain, 2012

[mysticpizza]

This is another red meat favorite Republican lie. The truth is that ObamaCare helped to create 315,000 healthcare jobs in 2011. As my colleague Ray Medeiros is fond of pointing out, "if ObamaCare is going to kill jobs, shouldn't the first industry it kills be the industry it DIRECTLY regulates? Of course it should, but it doesn't." ObamaCare doesn't kill jobs. It creates them, which is why Republicans like Mitt Romney want to kill it.

[LEAVA12]

One Ironic fact about Romney's Stance on Obamacare


When Romney was the Massachusetts Governor in the past his universal health care policy was almost the same as Obamacare, but today-07-01-2012- he hypocritically opposes Obamacare.
Romney should remember what he wrote in an article on USA Today "using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages 'free riders' to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others."

Moreover during his single term as governor, Mitt Romney raised taxes 5 percent in Massachusetts, the state already known as "Taxachusetts.", : Do The Right Thing, by Mike Huckabee, p. 14 , Nov 18, 2008.
He also claimed " We raised fees $240 million,...", 2008 Republican debate at Reagan Library in Simi Valley , Jan 30, 2008 .

Why didn't Mr. Romney remember his past record during this presidential campaign? Is it a "win-win strategy" for Romney? Perhaps he just says what people want to hear and opposes what people hate - taxation.
*
This morning, July 2, 2012 Romney says insurance mandate not a tax, " Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the presumptive Republican presidential nominee agrees with the Obama administration's insistence that the "shared responsibility payment," as it is called in the Affordable Care Act, should be described as a penalty, or a fee, or a fine -- but not a tax,"

http://bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/07/02/awkward-agreement-mitt-romney-backs-president-obama-contention-that-health-care-mandate-not-tax/RxEwVqynr3od4xKOYIB5PJ/story.html

[levelheadedtoo]

Here is a link that all conservatives will relate to. Get off Canada's back and start using an example of how conservatives want America to look and not how someone else looks.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/548506_198643986930738_1705877454_n.jpg

I think this is the GOP platform to the letter.