Romney seeks to clarify health care message

Mitt Romney says the health insurance mandate is a tax, even though he disagreesHis campaign has been criticized for inconsistency on the issuePresident Barack Obama also disagrees that the mandate is a taxRepublicans want to galvanize support around their desire to repeal Obamacare

Washington (CNN) -- As Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney imposed a penalty on people who could afford health insurance but chose to go without it. As Republican presidential candidate, Romney opposes the federal health care law that does the same thing.

Last week, Romney's top campaign adviser said the federal penalty for refusing to get health coverage was exactly that -- a fine, not a tax. This week, Romney said it is a tax because the Supreme Court opinion he opposes declared it a tax.

Confused? So is the Romney campaign, apparently.

The back-and-forth shows the tightrope Romney must walk on the health care reform issue now that he is the certain Republican presidential nominee.

Rebounding from last week's Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement, Republicans seek to galvanize conservative contempt for the measure into a wave of electoral support in November.

Some prominent supporters blast Romney for mixed messages on health care 'tax'

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Specifically, Republicans have seized on the high court's 5-4 ruling that the government has the power to enforce the health insurance mandate through its taxing authority. They contend the ruling shows Obama lied to the American public when he repeatedly denied in 2009 that the individual mandate amounted to a tax increase.

However, Romney's support for the same kind of individual mandate -- the requirement that eligible people have health insurance -- during his term as governor in Massachusetts leaves him vulnerable to questions about where he really stands.

Former GOP candidate Rick Santorum focused on that vulnerability during the Republican primary campaign, constantly pointing out that Romney lacked credibility in opposing the 2010 federal law known as Obamacare because of his support for similar reforms in Massachusetts.

The Supreme Court ruling put Romney in the uncomfortable position of either having to support his past as a tax-raising move, or support Obama's contention the mandate was not a new tax after all.

In an apparent effort to avoid any tax hike implications for the Massachusetts law implemented under Romney, campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom declared last week that the candidate believed the mandate amounted to a penalty on so-called free riders -- people with the means to buy health insurance who refuse to do so, putting the burden of their health care on taxpayers.

"He agreed with the dissent written by Justice (Antonin) Scalia, which very clearly stated that the mandate was not a tax," Fehrnstrom told MSNBC.

Fehrnstrom's comment prompted immediate anger from Republicans eager to use the tax issue as a cudgel against Obama.

The Wall Street Journal, in a harsh editorial Thursday, called such campaign confusion an "unforced error" that it said "fits with Mr. Romney's fear of being labeled a flip-flopper, as if that is worse than confusing voters about the tax and health-care issues."

"Mr. Romney favored the individual mandate as part of his reform in Massachusetts, and as we've said from the beginning of his candidacy his failure to admit that mistake makes him less able to carry the anti-ObamaCare case to voters," the editorial said.

Romney sought to correct the problem Wednesday, clearly stating for the first time that the mandate is a tax.

He used the Supreme Court ruling as a shield against questions about his record, saying what he did in Massachusetts was a permissible penalty under law, but what Obama is doing can only occur as a tax, according to the high court.

"I think it was a mistake on the part of the court, but you know, they do get the last say," Romney told CBS in an interview broadcast Thursday. Questioned further, Romney offered this explanation:

"Well, I said that I agreed with the dissent and the dissent made it very clear that they felt it was unconstitutional. But the dissent lost. It's in the minority. And so now the Supreme Court has spoken. And while I agreed with the dissent, that's taken over by the fact that the majority of the court said it's a tax and, therefore, it is a tax. They have spoken. There's no way around that. You can try and say you wish they had decided a different way, but they didn't."

In particular, Romney noted that the Supreme Court ruling said states have "police power" to impose penalties and mandates, which is what he did in Massachusetts. According to the ruling, "the federal government does not have those powers, and, therefore, for the Supreme Court to reach the conclusion it did, that the law was constitutional, they had to find it was a tax and they did," Romney continued.

What the Supreme Court ruled on health care 'tax'

"Like it or not, it's a tax," he said.

The Obama campaign also has some confusion on the matter. Spokesman Ben LaBolt said Thursday that the president also disagrees with the Supreme Court that the individual mandate amounts to a tax on eligible people who don't have health insurance.

He argued on CNN that Obama has been consistent in characterizing the required payment by people without insurance as a penalty, even though the solicitor general argued before the Supreme Court that the government's taxing authority permitted the individual mandate provision.

The government argument "never referred to it as a tax," LaBolt said. "It said it was a penalty, and that's under the section of the law that is the tax code, but it said very specifically it's a penalty."

LaBolt also said Romney now "disagreed with his own campaign advisers and disagreed with himself about whether his own mandate is a tax."

The Supreme Court opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts made clear that for purposes of the ruling, the mandate amounted to a tax. It noted the mandate differed from an income tax or property tax assessed to broad groups for particular activity, and in this case was a penalty for a lack of activity.

The health care law's "requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax," the opinion said, adding that "because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness."

On Thursday, the Romney campaign insisted it is Obama who must clarify his stance, saying the president's insistence that the provision is a penalty is at odds with the Supreme Court ruling.

Romney told CBS that regardless of the questions about the mandate, Obamacare is "a lousy piece of legislation" that needs to be repealed.

The politics of parsing: 'Penalty,' 'tax' or just 'penaltax'

He has promised to launch a repeal effort on his first day in office if elected but said Thursday he supported some of the most popular provisions of the Obama law -- such as preventing denial of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and allowing those up to age 26 to stay on family policies.

"These things are available in the marketplace and do not require Obamacare," Romney said.

Obama and Democrats, meanwhile, insist that regardless of semantics, the Supreme Court ruling settled the question of the health care law's constitutionality and now it was time to move ahead on fully implementing it instead of continuing to fight the same political battles.

"I'll work with anybody who wants to work with me to continue to improve our health care system and our health care laws, but the law I passed is here to stay," Obama said to cheers Thursday at a campaign event in Ohio.

How are you affected by the ruling and are taxes fair? Share with us on CNN iReport.

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Romney walks health care high wire

Mitt Romney says the health insurance mandate is a tax, even though he disagreesHis campaign has been criticized for inconsistency on the issuePresident Barack Obama also disagrees that the mandate is a taxRepublicans want to galvanize support around their desire to repeal Obamacare

Washington (CNN) -- As Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney imposed a penalty on people who could afford health insurance but chose to go without it. As Republican presidential candidate, Romney opposes the federal health care law that does the same thing.

Last week, Romney's top campaign adviser said the federal penalty for refusing to get health coverage was exactly that -- a fine, not a tax. This week, Romney said it is a tax because the Supreme Court opinion he opposes declared it a tax.

Confused? So is the Romney campaign, apparently.

The back-and-forth shows the tightrope Romney must walk on the health care reform issue now that he is the certain Republican presidential nominee.

Rebounding from last week's Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement, Republicans seek to galvanize conservative contempt for the measure into a wave of electoral support in November.

Some prominent supporters blast Romney for mixed messages on health care 'tax'

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Specifically, Republicans have seized on the high court's 5-4 ruling that the government has the power to enforce the health insurance mandate through its taxing authority. They contend the ruling shows Obama lied to the American public when he repeatedly denied in 2009 that the individual mandate amounted to a tax increase.

However, Romney's support for the same kind of individual mandate -- the requirement that eligible people have health insurance -- during his term as governor in Massachusetts leaves him vulnerable to questions about where he really stands.

Former GOP candidate Rick Santorum focused on that vulnerability during the Republican primary campaign, constantly pointing out that Romney lacked credibility in opposing the 2010 federal law known as Obamacare because of his support for similar reforms in Massachusetts.

The Supreme Court ruling put Romney in the uncomfortable position of either having to support his past as a tax-raising move, or support Obama's contention the mandate was not a new tax after all.

In an apparent effort to avoid any tax hike implications for the Massachusetts law implemented under Romney, campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom declared last week that the candidate believed the mandate amounted to a penalty on so-called free riders -- people with the means to buy health insurance who refuse to do so, putting the burden of their health care on taxpayers.

"He agreed with the dissent written by Justice (Antonin) Scalia, which very clearly stated that the mandate was not a tax," Fehrnstrom told MSNBC.

Fehrnstrom's comment prompted immediate anger from Republicans eager to use the tax issue as a cudgel against Obama.

The Wall Street Journal, in a harsh editorial Thursday, called such campaign confusion an "unforced error" that it said "fits with Mr. Romney's fear of being labeled a flip-flopper, as if that is worse than confusing voters about the tax and health-care issues."

"Mr. Romney favored the individual mandate as part of his reform in Massachusetts, and as we've said from the beginning of his candidacy his failure to admit that mistake makes him less able to carry the anti-ObamaCare case to voters," the editorial said.

Romney sought to correct the problem Wednesday, clearly stating for the first time that the mandate is a tax.

He used the Supreme Court ruling as a shield against questions about his record, saying what he did in Massachusetts was a permissible penalty under law, but what Obama is doing can only occur as a tax, according to the high court.

"I think it was a mistake on the part of the court, but you know, they do get the last say," Romney told CBS in an interview broadcast Thursday. Questioned further, Romney offered this explanation:

"Well, I said that I agreed with the dissent and the dissent made it very clear that they felt it was unconstitutional. But the dissent lost. It's in the minority. And so now the Supreme Court has spoken. And while I agreed with the dissent, that's taken over by the fact that the majority of the court said it's a tax and, therefore, it is a tax. They have spoken. There's no way around that. You can try and say you wish they had decided a different way, but they didn't."

In particular, Romney noted that the Supreme Court ruling said states have "police power" to impose penalties and mandates, which is what he did in Massachusetts. According to the ruling, "the federal government does not have those powers, and, therefore, for the Supreme Court to reach the conclusion it did, that the law was constitutional, they had to find it was a tax and they did," Romney continued.

What the Supreme Court ruled on health care 'tax'

"Like it or not, it's a tax," he said.

The Obama campaign also has some confusion on the matter. Spokesman Ben LaBolt said Thursday that the president also disagrees with the Supreme Court that the individual mandate amounts to a tax on eligible people who don't have health insurance.

He argued on CNN that Obama has been consistent in characterizing the required payment by people without insurance as a penalty, even though the solicitor general argued before the Supreme Court that the government's taxing authority permitted the individual mandate provision.

The government argument "never referred to it as a tax," LaBolt said. "It said it was a penalty, and that's under the section of the law that is the tax code, but it said very specifically it's a penalty."

LaBolt also said Romney now "disagreed with his own campaign advisers and disagreed with himself about whether his own mandate is a tax."

The Supreme Court opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts made clear that for purposes of the ruling, the mandate amounted to a tax. It noted the mandate differed from an income tax or property tax assessed to broad groups for particular activity, and in this case was a penalty for a lack of activity.

The health care law's "requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax," the opinion said, adding that "because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness."

On Thursday, the Romney campaign insisted it is Obama who must clarify his stance, saying the president's insistence that the provision is a penalty is at odds with the Supreme Court ruling.

Romney told CBS that regardless of the questions about the mandate, Obamacare is "a lousy piece of legislation" that needs to be repealed.

The politics of parsing: 'Penalty,' 'tax' or just 'penaltax'

He has promised to launch a repeal effort on his first day in office if elected but said Thursday he supported some of the most popular provisions of the Obama law -- such as preventing denial of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and allowing those up to age 26 to stay on family policies.

"These things are available in the marketplace and do not require Obamacare," Romney said.

Obama and Democrats, meanwhile, insist that regardless of semantics, the Supreme Court ruling settled the question of the health care law's constitutionality and now it was time to move ahead on fully implementing it instead of continuing to fight the same political battles.

"I'll work with anybody who wants to work with me to continue to improve our health care system and our health care laws, but the law I passed is here to stay," Obama said to cheers Thursday at a campaign event in Ohio.

How are you affected by the ruling and are taxes fair? Share with us on CNN iReport.

View the original article here

Romney health care vision short on detail

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Anticipating the death of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, Mitt Romney outlined his plans Tuesday to expand coverage to the nation's uninsured, while protecting at least one popular safeguard that would be eliminated should the Supreme Court strike down the law.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee promised to help maintain coverage for those with pre-existing health conditions and expand tax breaks to individuals wishing to purchase health insurance directly, instead of through their employer. In some cases, his health care proposal entails turning over the problem to individual states.

"It's important for us to make sure that every American has access to good health care," Romney declared at a campaign stop in Orlando.

With the Supreme Court ruling expected this month, the Republican presidential contender is eager to look forward and offer his own prescriptions for the health care system that voters consistently rank among their priorities. Romney's plans, however, were short on detail and raised questions about how the nation's 50 million uninsured might fare under his leadership.

Romney ignored the primary strategies he pursued as governor of Massachusetts. There, he signed into law a measure that insures virtually all of its citizens by requiring insurance policies and offering subsidies to those who can't afford it.

The so-called "individual mandate" is at the heart of the case before the Supreme Court on the law's constitutionality.

As president, Romney's plan to cover the nation's uninsured involves sending federal Medicaid dollars directly to states, allowing each state government to address the situation in its own way.

"Let states care for their own people in the way they think best. That in my view is the best way to care for the uninsured," Romney said.

The Romney campaign said states would receive Medicaid funding increases "every single year," but would not detail the extent of the increases, which are unlikely to cover the additional cost of providing insurance subsidies to millions of Americans as Obama's plan would.

Cash-strapped states often look to cut health care programs for the poor or low-income to help balance their budgets.

The Romney campaign said states would benefit from billions of dollars saved by streamlining the Medicaid process and eliminating fraud.

Obama's re-election campaign has been aggressively touting the benefits of the health care law, but says it expects the Supreme Court to uphold the overhaul. Obama addressed the issue Monday in an interview with a Colorado television station.

"Even my health care bill, something that has generated a lot of negative attention on the Republican side, was modeled on the health care bill that was passed by their current Republican nominee," he said. "So obviously it wasn't too far out, it was something that in the past would have been considered a fairly mainstream centrist bill."

The campaign on Tuesday attacked the president's Republican rival, suggesting he wants to take the country backward.

"This morning, Mitt Romney promised that if he's elected, insurance companies will be able to discriminate against Americans with pre-existing conditions, charge women higher premiums than they charge men for the same coverage, and kick young adults off their parents' plans when they graduate high school or college," said Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith.

Romney said any law that replaced Obama's should prevent insurance companies from dropping people with pre-existing conditions. He did not address the provision that allows people to stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 25.

Some insurance companies recently indicated a willingness to maintain that provision, even if the law is repealed. Those who take advantage, however, may have to pay more if the law is struck down because they wouldn't be allowed to use pre-tax dollars to fund the child's premiums.

Romney also said he would "level the playing field" and give individuals tax breaks currently offered to employers to buy health insurance directly. It's unclear how much that might cost the federal government or how the measure fits with Romney's larger plan to reform the tax code.

But he made clear that his first priority would be to do away with the health care law.

"If I'm the president at a time that the Supreme Court has left ObamaCare in place, I will repeal it on Day 1 by sending out a waiver to all 50 states," Romney said.

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Mitt Romney: Out of Touch and Harmful for Women's Health

When women hear about Mitt Romney's plans for women's health -- in his own words -- they are appalled. Mitt Romney is out of touch and harmful for women's health in America. Planned Parenthood Action Fund will be making sure voters know exactly where Mitt Romney stands and will be mobilizing our more than 6 million strong network to fight for women's health come November.
Tell him you're watching, take the pledge: http://womenarewatching.org/

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'Stop pandering': Eliot Spitzer's advice to Romney and Gingrich on health care mandate

"Viewpoint" host Eliot Spitzer uses Herman Cain's latest anti-government ad as a launching point to discuss the health care mandate. He cites the example of Mary Brown -- who filed a lawsuit challenging the mandate -- for the $4,500 hospital bill that taxpayers footed when she went bankrupt. The mandate, Spitzer argues, "prevents freeloaders like Mary Brown from being there and just preying off the rest of us.
Tune in Weeknights at 8:00/7:00c on Current TV
http://current.com/shows/viewpoint/

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Santorum & Romney Discuss Health Care

Rick Santorum & Mitt Romney discuss Health Care, ObamaCare and RomneyCare.

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Santorum Attacks Romney On Health Care

google santorum. that is? all.

ddwag1 9 hours ago

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Raw Video: Romney, Voter Debate Health Care

At a campaign event at the Nashua chamber of commerce, presidential candidate Mitt Romney got into a feisty exchange with a voter over his stance on health care. (Jan. 9)

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The Laura Ingraham Show - Rick Santorum criticizes Romney over VAT and health care for illegals

Booooooo! Ricky is falling in all polls because he's a? religious nut warmonger that has alot of hate inside him.

Ron Paul 2012!

lushfauna 1 hour ago

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