Political Hotsheet
By

Rodney Hawkins /

CBS News/ July 2, 2012, 3:30 PM

Tea Party activists: Romney best hope to end "Obamacare"

(CBS News) Columbus, OH -- Some Tea Party activists at a state convention here are less than enthused about their presumptive presidential nominee, but are looking to him as their best hope to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.

"I believe that I am being forced to vote for the lesser of the two evils, which would be Mitt Romney," Kelly Sanders, a registered nurse from Fairfield County, said at a "We the People" Tea Party Convention here over the weekend. "I am not excited about Mitt, but I do like some of the things he has proposed."

"He was not my original choice," said retiree Edward Vincent of Suffield Township. "He was a career politician and some of his stuff that he did in the past was not conservative enough."

At the top of that list is the Massachusetts health law that Romney signed in 2006 when he was governor. President Obama and others have called it the model for the new federal health law which, to the dismay of conservatives, the Supreme Court upheld last week as constitutional.

"I don't like the fact that it was sold to the American people and sold to many members of Congress based on deception," said Jessica Koebel of Fairfield County, who was among some 1,000 activists at the two-day convention. "We now find out that it is a tax after it was sold to us as being a penalty and not a tax."

Sanders said health care needs to be fixed but "I do not believe the current proposal helps the cost problem in any way shape or form."

Republican John McAvoy of Millbury said that the onus is on voters to elect Romney in November. "We got to either have Romney who says 'I will repeal it' or we are going to have President Obama who says he is going to support it. Which one do you want?" he said.

Romney repeatedly has vowed to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act, saying states should be free to do what's best for them. In an interview with Newsmax shortly after the Supreme Court announced its ruling, Romney said the decision was "a plus for me" politically.

"Obamacare is not good law; it's not good policy. The American people didn't want it in 2010," Romney said. "That's one of the reasons we picked up so many seats in the House and Senate, and I think in the election this November people who know they don't want Obamacare will have to vote out President Obama, and that's a plus for me."

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
33 Comments Add a Comment
linkicon reporticon emailicon
bobinapples says:
Are these tea drinkers serious.Can you imagine the guy that invented obamaneycare trying to repeal it now you talk about funny.

http://paidviewpoint.com/?r=nsbbm5
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
RollotheNorman says:
Oh yeah, the Tbaggers, first they were for Herman Cain, then they were for Newt, then they camped on Santorum's doorstep, now they are for Willard. Whichever way the wind blows, Tbaggers!
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
realist2010 says:
We're leaving out the best option - repealing the TEA Party.
reply
sjc_1 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
The so called Tea Party were against TARP and against deficits. They would have let the banks fail and cause another Great Depression, then they were for defaulting on our debt, resulting in our credit rating downgrade.

I would say they are reckless fanatics. I understand the principles, but they do not see the consequences of the outcomes. Unless you can see the cause and effect nature of your decisions, you should not be making any.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
occupy_cbs says:
In the wake of the Court ruling, more than half of Americans (56 percent) say they would like to see the law's detractors stop trying to block its implementation and instead move on to other national problems, while 38 percent say opponents should continue trying to halt the ACA.

Democrats, not surprisingly, are overwhelmingly likely to support the idea of moving on (82 percent), but they are joined by 51 percent of independents and 26 percent of Republicans.

http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/8329-F.PDF

-----

Sorry republicans, but even mcconnell sees that it's an uphill battle for repeal without any replacement, and with the majority of Americans against the GOP need for repeal, it's done and we will move forward! The rabid teabagging extremist minority, continuously shows just how out of touch they are with the majority of Americans!
reply
Voraxis replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
the Constitution which we seem to be celebrating this week has provisions in it to stop the "tyranny of the majority" however the judicial branch failed in its duty as we take one more giant step towards communism. The rich get elected and get richer, everyone else just foots the bill
linkicon reporticon emailicon
marychgo says:
I'm not sure who Tea Partiers (and Republicans in general) think the uninsured ARE. They seem to view "the uninsured" as not like them, losers, people they have no obligation to be concerned about. Their comments suggest they think the uninsured are "illegal aliens" (though ACA provides NO coverage for the undocumented) or people of color (the vast majority are white) or the poorest of the poor (but the poorest American families are already eligible for Medicaid).

I keep being reminded of a very effective radio ad from Second Harvest about who uses food banks. A series of voices identify themselves -- your grocery checker, your mailman, the woman you talked to at the last PTA meeting, your bank teller, your next-door neighbor -- and they all rely on your local food bank. That's PRECISELY who "the uninsured" are! People you know. People who've played by the rules. People who DON'T waste money, who DON'T abuse substances, who DON'T deserve to be treated as pariahs just because they or someone in their family has a pre-existing condition.

Yet some Americans aren't willing to pay a single dollar more toward the cost of their own coverage ("Keep your socialistic hands off my Medicare!") or a single dollar more in taxes ("the largest middle class tax increase EVER!") so that those American citizens can participate in the same kind of benefits the rest of us take for granted. Wow! I just don't understand that kind of selfishness!
reply
sjc_1 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
If they did not have unions at supermarkets THOSE people would not be insured. That was the big deal when Walmart was getting in the grocery business. Their people would be non union and the slightly lower prices would put the supermarkets out of business.

If the GOP wants to take us back to the bad old days where people grovelled for a few crumbs, then they are on the wrong track. Health care is a right, just like clean air and clean water, we just all have to pay for it.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
wfw3536 says:
I guess some folks forgot what happened in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. Oh, and lets not forget how Obama chose to throw Tom Barrett the Dem running against Walker under the bus by not even showing his face in Wisconsin. The TEA Party machine in Wisconsin helped Walker win in a runaway. This organization will also put Wisconsin in the Romney column in Nov.
reply
Nocults replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
OBAMA 2012
Because He Isn't A Mormon!!!!!!!!!!

What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world"
(Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 270)
sjc_1 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
You should not misinterpret Wisconsin, 60% of the people did not think a recall was necessary in this case. When you start out with that, you have an uphill battle. Taking away collective bargaining rights is unconstitutional IMO. We have the right to assemble and the right to free speech. The right to collectively bargain was established long ago in the 1930s.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Jaylah54200 says:
Romney: When I passed it for Massachusetts, it was a great law. When Obama passed it for the US, it is the worst law ever. If I do it, it's right. If Obama does it, it's wrong.
reply
sjc_1 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
The GOP is trying to make the argument that the states can do it but the federal government can not. Health care should be the same in all 50 states, there should be hospitals, doctors and medicines in all 50 states. Why should a person that travels or moves to another state have to worry about their quality or availability of health care? That is like saying you can go to Alabama, but don't drink the water nor breath the air.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
tvwatcher5345 says:
so the teapartiers (i also resent that they hijacked the name of a great patriotic event) are going to vote for romney not because they like romney, but because they hate obama, there has not been a turn to the darkside like this since "the empire strikes back", and i find the lack of faith of the teapartiers disturbing
reply
retiredgustav replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
They are not dedicated to Romney. If it is raining on election day, many of them will sit home.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
AOCGUY says:
"Tea Party activists: Romney best hope to end "Obamacare" comments"

Well Duh! I certainly doubt that Obama would work to end the AHA. Not that it is going to happen anyway but that has to be one of the most obvious and at the same time stupid headlines I have seen on this site in a long time.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
TimeToEvolve says:
The Tea Bagging Bozos are just a front group for the billionaires who don't want to pay their fair share. And everyone knows it.
reply
Nocults replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
DJ, the indigent, who lives on welfare, food stamps, and Medicaid programs passed by Democrats, pimps for the 1% who would laugh at him while he starves.
See all 33 Comments
Scroll Left Scroll Right