Reactions to former
Gov. Mitt Romney's May 12, 2011 health care speech >
Rick Santorum
May 12, 2011
For Immediate
Release
Contact: Matthew Beynon
Santorum Reaction to
Romney Healthcare Address
Manchester, NH- Former Senator Rick Santorum
(R-PA) issued the following statement in reaction to former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's healthcare speech at the
University of Michigan:
"I
greatly respect Governor Romney and admire many of his personal and
professional accomplishments, but his work to institute the precursor
to national socialized medicine is not one of them," said Santorum.
"Both
Romneycare and Obamacare infringe upon individual freedom and
exponentially increase the government's healthcare cost burden.
Romneycare has, in fact, not made healthcare better or saved costs in
Massachusetts. It's done just the opposite. This
is not a failure of execution, but a lack of foresight on Governor
Romney's part to understand the implications of his policy proposals.
We need leaders who believe in the American people again, not the power
of government to solve our problems. Yes,
the Governor had the right to implement Romney-Obamacare at the
state-level, but that does not make it the right thing to do."
To learn more about former Senator Rick Santorum,
please visit www.RickSantorum.com.
###
Democratic National Committee
The DNC was very busy in response to former Gov. Mitt Romney's health
care speech, issuing at least 19 releases/rapid responses/advisories
over three days (several are reprinted below). DNC Chair Debbie
Wasserman Schultz made quite a few media appearances and the DNC put
together a compilation of Tweets issued in response to the speech, as
well as a video compiliation of Romney clips, provided links to various
articles, and forwarded advisories on a couple of state party
actions. Brad Woodhouse and DNC rapid responders were at work at
6 o'clock on the morning of the speech.
May 12,
2011
Rapid Response 7:29 p.m. - Mass. Gov
Patrick on Romney's Health Care Speech [MSNBC's The Last Word
with Lawrence O'Donnell]
Rapid Response 3:38 p.m. - DNC Chair
on Romney "Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain"
[MSNBC's Hardball]
Press 3:13 p.m. - Romney on health care: A video history [1:49
YouTube Video by DemRapidResponse tag line "Mitt Romney: Running From
His Record, Saying Anything to Win"]
Rapid Response 1:48 p.m. - Time: (Not) According to plan [Mark
Halperin's take on the compilation of Tweets]
Brad Woodhouse 12:43 p.m. - NOT The Reaction Romney was Hoping
For [a compilation of Tweets]
before the speech
Rapid Response 9:34 a.m. - DNC Chair:
"Romney Trying to "Repeal and Erase His Own Record" [ABC's Good
Morning America]
Rapid Response 8:22 a.m. - Exclusive:
Missing Slides from Mitt's Powerpoint
Brad Woodhouse 6:28 a.m. - "What I think is
unfortunate about Mitt Romney is he doesn't even know who he is," DNC
Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz [ABC's The Note]
Rapid Response 6:11 a.m. - The
Hill: Dems go on attack against Romney ahead of healthcare speech
[The Hill]
Brad Woodhouse 6:01 a.m. -
Dems go on attack against Romney ahead of healthcare speech - The
Hill's Blog Briefing Room
May 11,
2011
Rapid Response 8:01 p.m. - BRUTAL:
WSJ Ed Board on Romney: "Not Credible"
Rapid Response 2:23 p.m. - Fact
Checking Mitt Romney's Latest Health Care Re-Invention
Rapid Response 2:05 p.m. - FW: MEDIA ADVISORY: Introducing Mitt Romney, Version 5.0...
Rapid Response 1:48 p.m. - FW:
ADVISORY: Mass Dems Chair to Hold Conference Call Following Romney
Speech TOMORROW, MAY 12, 2011
Brad Woodhouse 1:15 p.m. - Maybe
Re-Opening The Whole Health Care Can of Worms Wasn't Such a Good Idea
After All… [links to 9 articles]
Rapid Response 10:43 a.m. - WaPo: Flashback: Mitt Romney hoped for “a nation
that’s taken a mandate approach”
Rapid Response 9:55 a.m. - Blue Mass Group: Romney backed a *federal*
individual health care mandate in 1994
May 10, 2011
Rapid Response 1:10
p.m. - WaPo:
Mitt Romney tries to cut his Gordian Knot
Brad Woodhouse 12:40 p.m. - FW: Affordable Care Act or Mass. Health Law? [ThinkProgress piece via NHDP's
Holly Shulman]
NOT The Reaction Romney
was Hoping For
Right
JRubinBlogger Jennifer Rubin
the
only idea dumber than this speech was strapping the irish setter to the
top of the car
JRubinBlogger Jennifer Rubin
@TheFix he is
genuinely unacceptable to conservatives..he shouldn't waste his kids'
inheritance
JonahNRO Jonah Goldberg
Breaking:
Mitt Romney auditions for David Axelrod's Job in Ann Arbor Speech.
mattklewis Matt Lewis
Romney
sticking by the individual mandate. (Explaining the theory won't make
it better).
petersuderman Peter Suderman
Romney
is making a much better case for ObamaCare than against it.
TeaPartyMD Tea Party Maryland
@jonward11 @haridnc when is
Romney just going to go away? #RINO #tcot
Left
ezraklein Ezra Klein
Either
Romney's
plan raises taxes on employer-based plans or it costs an
*enormous* amount of money. Romney's fudging on one of these two.
ezraklein Ezra Klein
The
problem Romney can't overcome is the individual mandate is good policy
and he knows it.
ezraklein Ezra Klein
The
White House should send this guy on the road!
ezraklein Ezra Klein
His
argument
boils down to "Under a Romney presidency, no state would have
to replicate my awesome, obvious health-care reforms."
ezraklein Ezra Klein
You
know what Mitt Romney still believes is a good idea? The individual
mandate.
CitizenCohn Jonathan Cohn
#Romney defending individual mandate for #Romneycare and doing a lovely
job of it - explaining free rider problem, etc. Go Mitt!
@ThePlumLineGS Reminder: Romney has been making
exactly this state/federal distinction for months and months and
months. Not new.
Reporters:
2chambers Felicia Sonmez
#Romney says of '08 bid: "That was a time when my
Mass. health care plan was seen as an asset ... that's not the case now"
samyoungman Sam Youngman
going
only by my twitter feed, it would seem that Romney should drop out
philipaklein Philip Klein
by
jonward11
Romney
says mandate about "personal responsibility." ObamaCare calls mandate
"individual responsibility requirement."
tomfitzgerald tomfitzgerald
by
HotlineJosh
Romney
has not repudiated the individual mandate. He explained rationale. but
i guess other states have no "free rider problem"?
pwire Taegan Goddard
Listening
to Romney makes me think the WSJ was right... http://pwire.at/loTBuq
HotlineJosh Josh
Kraushaar
Romney's
speech is making me even more skeptical of his prospects in a GOP
nomination, his rhetoric now on "free riders" mirrors Obama
@jonward11 Jon Ward
for
a speech about Obamacare, Romney sure has been talking for a while
about the Massachusetts plan
Exclusive: Missing
Slides from Mitt's Powerpoint
The DNC has
exclusively obtained several missing slides from the Power Point
presentation Mitt Romney promised he would offer to detail his latest
health care plan. It’s not surprising that the slides were
omitted
from Romney’s final presentation today as they detail the many
positions he’s had on health reform over the years which are markedly
different from what he plans to offer this morning.
You can see the missing slides from Romney’s Powerpoint here:
http://my.democrats.org/page/-/Powerpoint/Mitt-Romneys-HC-Plan-Thru-The-Years-ppt.pdf
The
reality is that today’s speech will be only the latest in a series of
politically calculated acts in Mitt Romney’s contortionist struggle to
tout the health reform law he passed in Massachusetts while bashing the
federal reform modeled on that law. Romney is tying himself
in knots
over health reform because he’s made the calculation that in a
Republican primary his Massachusetts reforms will be viewed as the
equivalent of heresy. But his record remains as clear as a bell.
The
missing slides detail his previous positions including his support for
an individual mandate at a federal level as far back as 1994 and as
late as 2009, his championing - along with Ted Kennedy - and
signing
into law health care reform in Massachusetts with an individual
mandate, which he called “a model for the nation,” to Romneycare being
hailed as a model for the Affordable Care Act signed into law by
President Obama.
But in 2011, under attack from the far right and his potential
opponents, Mitt Romney is trying once again to reinvent himself.
NOW
he says that what he did in Massachusetts was fine but that it
shouldn’t be imposed on the entire country. But FOR AT LEAST 15
YEARS
he supported doing just that.
While many have accused Mitt
Romney of being duplicitous, he could not have been more plain spoken
than when he said in 2008 “I like mandates.”
After so many
versions, you’d think Romney would finally get it right. But
instead,
as detailed by the final missing slide, the plan he is unveiling today
would take us backward, put the insurance companies back in charge and
allow them to once again discriminate against the sick and boot
children from care, explode the national debt, deny coverage to tens of
millions of Americans and end Medicare as we know it.
The fact
is, Mitt Romney signed into law landmark health care reform legislation
that laid the groundwork for national health care reform. But in
order
to cozy up to the Republican base, he is reinventing himself and his
health care plan once again.
Romney say that he wants to “repeal
and replace” the Affordable Care Act. But what he’s actually
doing is
trying “repeal and replace” his own record in order to appeal to
Republican primary voters.
Simply put, Mitt Romney will say
anything and support any plan that gets him his party's
nomination.
The question for voters is: which Mitt will show up in the White House?
You can see Romney’s Powerpoint here:
http://my.democrats.org/page/-/Powerpoint/Mitt-Romneys-HC-Plan-Thru-The-Years-ppt.pdf
Fact Checking Mitt
Romney's Latest Health Care Re-Invention
Mitt Romney’s latest politically motivated effort
to “repeal and erase” his record on health care began with an Op-Ed in
USA Today this afternoon which will be followed by a speech in Michigan
tomorrow. Below is a fact check on Romney’s Op-Ed, but more
troubling
for Romney today was the half a dozen stories noting his support for a
federal individual mandate, something he now says he opposes, as far
back as 1994: Romney backed a *federal* individual health care
mandate in 1994, http://bluemassgroup.com/2011/05/romney-backed-a-federal-individual-health-care-mandate-in-1994/
MITT ROMNEY RHETORIC:
“But we have taken a turn for the worse with ObamaCare, with its high
taxes and vastly expanded federal control over our lives.” [Mitt Romney
op-ed, USA Today, 5/11/11]
REALITY:
THE MEDICARE TAX IN THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WOULD ONLY AFFECT FAMILIES
MAKING MORE THAN $250,000 AND FALL ALMOST ENTIRELY ON THE TOP .1% OF
INCOME EARNERS
The
Affordable Care Act’s Medicare Tax Would “Fall Almost Entirely On The
Top 1 Percent” And Would Only Boost The Medicare Tax On Households With
Incomes Over $200,000 For Singles And $250,000 For Single Filers. [Tax
Policy Center, 3/11/10]
Tax
Policy Center: The Affordable Care Act’s Medicare Tax Would Hit The Top
.1% Of Income Earners With A Tax Increase And Nearly Everyone Else
Would Get No Tax Hike At All. [Tax Policy Center, 3/11/10]
REALITY:
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT GIVES CONSUMERS MORE CHOICE – IT SETS UP A
MARKETPLACE WHERE THE UNINSURED CAN SHOP FOR INSURANCE AT COMPETITIVE
RATES
Christian
Science Monitor: “The Health Care Reform Bill Calls For Each State To
Set Up An 'Exchange,' Or Marketplace, Where People Not Covered Through
Their Employers Would Shop For Health Insurance At Competitive Rates.”
[Christian Science Monitor, 3/20/10]
MITT ROMNEY RHETORIC:
“Unfortunately, with the passage of ObamaCare last year, the president
and the Congress took a wrong turn. ObamaCare will lead to more
spending, greater federal involvement in health care and negative
effects on U.S. economic activity.”
[Mitt Romney op-ed, USA Today, 5/11/11]
REALITY: THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WOULD REDUCE THE DEFICIT AND
LOWER COSTS
CBO: The Affordable Care Act Will Decrease The Deficit By $230 Billion
Over The Next Ten Years. [CBO blog, 1/6/11]
CBO: The Affordable Care Act Will Decrease The Deficit By Over $1
Trillion In The Next Twenty Years. [Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic
3/18/10]
Ezra
Klein: The Center For Medicare And Medicaid Services Report Found That
Spending Would Go Up In 2014 Because We’re Covering 30 Million New
People But Will Go Down After That Because We’re Controlling Costs In
The System. [Ezra Klein, Washington Post, 9/10/10]
REALITY: THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WILL NOT COST JOBS
CBO
Director Elmendorf Did Not Say The Affordable Care Act Would “Destroy”
Or “Kill” Jobs And GOP Arguments That It Would Are “Political
Gamesmanship That Gives Politics A Bad Name.” [Washington Post, 2/11/11]
Jonathan
Chait: The CBO Found That Fewer People Will Choose To Work Because Of
The Affordable Care Act, Not That It Will Destroy Jobs. [TNR, 2/11/11]
MITT ROMNEY RHETORIC:
“My plan is to harness the power of markets to drive positive change in
health insurance and health care. And we can do so with state
flexibility (unlike ObamaCare's top-down federal approach), no new
taxes (as opposed to hundreds of billions of dollars of new taxes under
ObamaCare), and better consumer choice (as opposed to bureaucratic,
government choice under ObamaCare).” [Mitt Romney op-ed, USA
Today, 5/11/11]
REALITY:
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT INCLUDES “HEALTH CHOICE COMPACTS,” WHICH ALLOWS
THE SELLING OF HEALTH INSURANCE ACROSS STATE LINES
Kaiser
Health News: “When They Were Writing The New Health Law, Democrats Said
They Heard The GOP And They Included A Way To Sell Insurance Across
State Boundaries. They Put In Language Allowing States To Establish
‘Health Care Choice Compacts.’” [Kaiser Health News, 1/25/11]
REALITY:
THE NEW TAXES IN THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WOULD ONLY AFFECT FAMILIES
MAKING MORE THAN $250,000 AND FALL ALMOST ENTIRELY ON THE TOP .1% OF
INCOME EARNERS
The
Affordable Care Act’s Medicare Tax Would “Fall Almost Entirely On The
Top 1 Percent” And Would Only Boost The Medicare Tax On Households With
Incomes Over $200,000 For Singles And $250,000 For Single Filers. [Tax
Policy Center, 3/11/10]
Tax
Policy Center: The Affordable Care Act’s Medicare Tax Would Hit The Top
.1% Of Income Earners With A Tax Increase And Nearly Everyone Else
Would Get No Tax Hike At All. [Tax Policy Center, 3/11/10]
REALITY:
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT GIVES CONSUMERS MORE CHOICE – IT SETS UP A
MARKETPLACE WHERE THE UNINSURED CAN SHOP FOR INSURANCE AT COMPETITIVE
RATES
Christian
Science Monitor: “The Health Care Reform Bill Calls For Each State To
Set Up An 'Exchange,' Or Marketplace, Where People Not Covered Through
Their Employers Would Shop For Health Insurance At Competitive Rates.”
[Christian Science Monitor, 3/20/10]
MITT ROMNEY RHETORIC:
“We can empower states to expand health care access to low-income
Americans by block-granting funds for Medicaid and the uninsured. My
reforms also offer the states resources to help the chronically ill —
both to improve their access to care and to improve the functioning of
insurance markets for others.”
[Mitt Romney op-ed, USA Today, 5/11/11]
REALITY: CONVERTING MEDICAID TO BLOCK GRANTS WOULD RESULTS IN
TENS OF MILLIONS MORE PEOPLE UNINSURED
Kasier
Family Foundation Report: Converting Medicaid Into Block Grants Would
“Trigger Major Reduction In Medicaid Program Spending That Could Result
In Significant Enrollment Decreases.” [Kaiser Family Foundation, 5/10/11]
Kasier
Family Foundation Report: Converting Medicaid Into Block Grants, Like
The House Republican Plan Proposes, Would Lower The Amount Of People
Covered By Medicaid By Between 31 Million And 44 Million By 2021.
[Kaiser Family Foundation, 5/10/11]
MITT ROMNEY RHETORIC:
“Reform medical liability. We should cap non-economic damages in
medical malpractice litigation. The federal government would also
provide innovation grants to states for reforms, such as alternative
dispute resolution or health care courts.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, USA
Today, 5/11/11]
REALITY: THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT INCLUDES FUNDING FOR STATES TO
IMPLEMENT TORT REFORM, JUST LIKE ROMNEY SUGGESTS
Wall
Street Journal: The Affordable Care Act Included $50 Million For Grants
To State For “Demonstation Projects” To Test Medical Tort Reform. [Wall
Street Journal, 3/23/10]