To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Early this morning, Heather Higgins pointed to a fascinating piece in the Wall Street Journal by Grace-Marie Turner. It elaborated on Rick Santorum's debate points about the crucial similarities between Romneycare and Obamacare, of which there are many.
While I believe the Anybody But Romney movement reflects many areas of dissatisfaction with Gov. Mitt Romney, it is this issue of RomneyCare that is the most serious. My mother is a huge fan of Romney. Huge. But she can't explain how Romneycare is different than Obamacare, although she believes it is. Other Romney defenders make the same claim, including Karl Rove, Pam Bondi, Jim DeMint, and Chris Christie. I've been momentarily persuaded that a distinction between the two could be argued by the fantastic Romney defender James of England in comment threads here.
But it seems so much easier to argue their crucial similarities. Here's a CATO video that briefly explains the issue:
I got that link from Ben Domenech's Twitter feed this morning. He offered a few others:
Betsy McCaughey: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42g
Angie Holan: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42i
Sarah Kliff: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42j
Health Affairs: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42k
Jonathan Gruber: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42l
Michael Isikoff: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42m
Phil Klein: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42n
Paul Gigot: Why Romneycare is Obamacare. http://vlt.tc/42o
Let's go back to the end of Grace-Marie Turner's WSJ piece:
Mr. Santorum was passionate in insisting that Mr. Romney's defense will collapse in a debate with President Obama, and the candidate would be wide open to attack. "Folks, we can't give this issue away in this election. It is about fundamental freedom," he said.
Mr. Romney has indeed backed himself into a corner by insisting on defending his health plan while attacking ObamaCare. In the Oct. 11 debate at Dartmouth College, Mr. Romney said: "[W]e all agree about repeal and replace. And I'm proud of the fact that I put together a plan that says what I'm going to replace it with."
Does he really mean that he wants to use Massachusetts as a model for his "replacement" plan? No wonder voters are worried.
Unless Mr. Romney takes steps to conform his position with reality, he will have trouble convincing voters he is serious about repeal and will have an even harder time mapping a clear plan on health reform should he be elected president.
Of all the issues that Republicans could use to fight Obama in November, fighting Obamacare is the most unifying. There is widespread opposition to the bill and its implementation. Does anyone think that parsing the distinctions between Obamacare and its blueprint is going to be a winning issue? If so, how?
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Nov '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
I am not a Romney fan, and I am sorry he has defended Romneycare, but I am confused by the confusion. When Romney says that "I'm proud of the fact that I put together a plan that says what I'm going to replace it with," I assume that he is referring to the market-driven healthcare scenario he paints on his website, which includes the repeal of Obamacare. What am I not seeing?
Mar '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
If we are all very lucky, the Supreme Court will make Obamacare a non-issue in the upcoming election.
Aug '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
There's a very easy solution here. Just make sure Romney is not our nominee.
Sep '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Ricochet should run a poll of all its Canadian members and ask:
"Do you think the US will end up with Canadian style healthcare in the 2012 election?"
My answer: Yes.
Oct '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
I think many conservatives would be outraged if their state implemented something like Romneycare.
If Scott Walker, or Chris Christie were running for president, I imagine many moderately conservative union members would oppose them because of a perceived hostility towards unions, despite each arguing that his actions were done at the state level. The bottom line is, if the govs thought unlimited union power was a fundamentally good thing, they would have pursued different policies.
If Romney believed that vastly increased government involvement in personal health care decisions would pervert market forces and erode personal responsibility, he wouldn't have signed the law.
Edited on January 30, 2012 at 5:53pmApr '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Trying to argue the differences between Obamacare and Romneycare is somewhat like arguing who makes the worlds tastiest rice cake; the differences are so subtle only rice cake-tasting experts can truly tell the difference. I've yet to hear a compelling argument separating the two plans that could be followed by the average American voter. Romney's campaign had better put most of its resources toward this issue if they expect to beat back the Obama machine.If (more likely when based on the current polling) Romney becomes the GOP nominee, this will be the issue that most likely defeats him in November.
BTW - We shouldn't pin too much hope on the Supreme Court riding to our rescue, because they may very well produce a narrow ruling, throwing out the mandate and leaving the remainder of the O'care law as is.
Edited on January 30, 2012 at 5:56pmAug '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
jhimmi:
If Romney believed that vastly increased government involvement in personal health care decisions would pervert market forces and erode personal responsibility, he wouldn't have signed the law.
Er . . . I'm not inclined to believe that.
Dec '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Sandy, what you are not seeing - what NOBODY is seeing - is Romney saying straight-up that RomneyCare is a Frankenstein's monster, a patchwork of pieces stitched together to form a grand failed experiment, kept alive only by the power provided by external Federal funding and ravaging the pocketbooks of Massachusetts citizens who are paying skyrocketing premiums for coverage (or paying the fine when they realize that coverage is unaffordable). When Romney repeatedly and persistently defends the Massachusetts plan rather than angrily insisting that his name be dissociated with it, the rest of us figure that the Massachusetts plan and not his website is where his proclivities and admiration lie. It's hard for him to sell the idea that he's not for 50-state RomneyCare when he keeps trying so hard to sell the idea that RomneyCare is really swell.
Nov '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
He'll never be able to convince conservatives that his position on health care is satisfactory or logically consistent. It's not and it undermines his whole claim to be conservative.
In the general, it sounds like he's planning to say something like this:
"We put together the plan that worked for my state. (Rattle off the standard spiel about the length of the bill, etc.) It's a state-level plan only and the people of my state approve of it 2 to 1 (or whatever it is). You, Mr. President, imposed a federal mandate on the whole nation. You forced a plan on the people of Ohio (or Pennsylvania, or Florida) which they do not want. I'll repeal it, because I believe a federal mandate is unconstitutional, and that the people of each state should be able to choose the health care that works for them."
That is much weaker than philosophical case Santorum could make against Obamacare. But if independents are inclined to throw Obama out and get rid of Obamacare, I don't see how the president has an obvious response to the federalism case.
Edited on January 30, 2012 at 6:29pmMay '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Individual Mandate = Tyranny
Romney is for an Individual Mandate
Therefore Romney is for Tyranny.
Just because something is allowed by the Constitution, it does not make it right.
Dec '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Leigh, I can predict Obama's response to the Federalism case: "Well, Governor, there were 30 million people in Ohio and Florida and New York and California who didn't have health insurance, and they're grateful that they now do." Remember that Obama cares not a whit for constitutionality or the will of the majority in regards to policy. It remains to be seen whether the majority of voters care about those things.
Jan '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
You can attack Romneycare from the right, but Obama won't be doing that. Obama can't attack it from the left. You think Romney won't be able to hurt Obama on the issue as hard as you'd like, but he doesn't need to. He just needs to assure independents that don't like Obamacare that they won't have to live with it.
The general electorate is not going to be as hung up on the differences/similarities as the GOP primary electorate is. Romney promises to replace Obamacare with something more market oriented, using competition to control costs, not bureaucrats. He won't raise taxes nor cut medicare. He won't require you to buy more insurance than you want. He makes reforms that delink insurance from employment, making it more portable. Those will all be popular reforms Romney can emphasize as distinctions. What's more, where Obamacare might be fairly popular, like Massachusetts, or even swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin, Romney offers them the option at the state level to keep aspects of Obamacare. That could prove an asset in purple parts of the country.
It's just not that big a deal.
Edited on January 30, 2012 at 11:58pmApr '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Isnt Newt just as compromised, since we now know that not only has he supported a Federal (not just state) mandate for decades, but specifically advocated that a federal mandate be a part of Obamacare?
Nov '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Sure, but he'd say that to anyone. And for that matter, Romney's already practiced his defense -- arguing that his work in MA shows that he "has compassion for the uninsured" or something like that.
It will be difficult for Obama to argue simultaneously 1) "No, really, this guy is not that different than me. His plan was just like mine! He's just lying when he says he'll repeal my very unpopular law that you want to get rid of" and 2) "This guy is a right-wing extremist who wants to deprive poor people of affordable health care."
Nov '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
I'd rather establish the case that a mandate is not something the government should be doing at all. The most Romney can say is that the federal government shouldn't. As a practical political matter, I think you're right -- and that Gingrich is essentially equally compromised. The only one who could make the pure principled case against it is Santorum -- and he's in third place.
Dec '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Leigh, as long as Obama can say #1 ("Romney is just like me on healthcare"), he doesn't need to say #2 ("Romney is an extremist who wants to deny poor people healthcare"). Instead, he'll say #3: "Romney is an extremist who wants to take away women's right to choose." And #4: "Romney doesn't want rich people to pay their fair share." Of course, by then, Romney may be pretty close to Obama on reversing the Bush tax cuts...
Dec '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Leigh:
In the general, it sounds like he's planning to say something like this:
"We put together the plan that worked for my state. (Rattle off the standard spiel about the length of the bill, etc.) It's a state-level plan only and the people of my state approve of it 2 to 1 (or whatever it is). You, Mr. President, imposed a federal mandate on the whole nation. You forced a plan on the people of Ohio (or Pennsylvania, or Florida) which they do not want..."
I'm no expert on this, but didn't a huge amount of the funding for Romneycare come from federal dollars? Why isn't anyone pounding the drum about this? In a very real sense, Romneycare isn't just a state-level plan and has forced a federal mandate on the whole nation.
Jan '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
Romney has addressed this. Yes, a lot of people getting coverage under Romneycare got it through medicaid, but that is because states are required to offer medicaid by federal mandate. Romney would like to end medicaid and instead return all the money taken from state tax payers by the federal government back to states so that states can use the money their citizens pay in the manner the states choose, rather than in the manner the federal government mandates.
Edited on January 30, 2012 at 7:46pmDec '10
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
BThompson
Romney has addressed this. Yes, a lot of people getting coverage under Romneycare got it through medicaid, but that is because states are required to offer medicaid by federal mandate. Romney would like to end medicaid and instead return all the money taken from state tax payers by the federal government back to states so that states can use the money their citizens pay in the manner the states choose, rather than in the manner the federal government mandates. · 9 minutes ago
Edited 8 minutes ago
Thanks for this.
Aug '11
Re: To Fight Obamacare, Nominate Romneycare?
How do you assure them that they won't end up with Romneycare x 50? And forget the independents -- how does he assure conservatives? How does he assure me?