from HuffPost:
WASHINGTON -- Nearly half a year into his second run for the White House, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has yet to clear his primary electoral hurdle. His support for health care reform legislation in Massachusetts that included an individual mandate remains a sticking point for Republican voters.
Two weeks ago, a collaborator in that effort scoffed at the idea that it had not served as the inspiration for President Obama's own health care legislation. “They're the same fucking bill,” declared MIT health care economist Jonathan Gruber. During a sit-down interview with Fox News' Brett Baier on Tuesday, Romney denied once again that he had ever envisioned his plan to be adopted federally.
These questions persist largely because Romney -- unlike a fellow mandate-backer, Newt Gingrich -- is unapologetic about the policy. He just insists that it should fall under the purview of the states.
But that wasn't always the impression he gave. Take, for instance, a speech that Romney delivered before the United States Chamber of Commerce on April 25, 2006.
Let me just note, there are a lot of people who say, 'you know Governor, I don't like this idea that people are going to be required to buy insurance. This is America. They should be free.' Well, they are going to get free health care if they don't buy insurance. I don't think it is appropriate to say individuals have a choice of saying I don’t want to buy insurance even though I can afford it and I want to make somebody else pay for it. That's not American. And that is not the right way, in my view, for us to go.
.............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/mitt-romney-health-care_n_1121555.html
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