Mitt Romney has been known for some convoluted, contradictory, and downright confounding positions on the issues, but even by his standards, his position on health care is a mess.
Romney's original position was that the individual mandate he imposed through his state-based reform law was a "tax penalty," which he strongly favored. This week, however, the Republican's campaign switched gears, saying the policy is a "penalty," but not a "tax."
Yesterday, in an interview with CBS News, Romney rejected his own campaign's policy position, saying the mandate is a "tax" after all.
As if this weren't quite enough, in a remarkable feat of political jujitsu, the Republican now believes it's a tax when President Obama does it, but the identical policy is not a tax when Mitt Romney does it.
Indeed, even though he's already called his own penalty a tax, Romney added, "Massachusetts' mandate was a mandate, was a penalty, was described that way by the legislature and by me, and so it stays as it was." Why? Because he says so.
Making matters slightly worse, the GOP presidential hopeful justifies this by citing a Supreme Court ruling he thinks is wrong -- except on one narrow point, when he supports the decision he opposes.
Remember, Americans are supposed to be able to take this guy seriously on health care policy.
Ezra makes a compelling case today that Romney's ridiculous rhetorical gymnastics really don't matter, since this is ultimately a semantics debate anyway. It's a fair point, but there are a couple of angles to this with some political salience.
For one thing, we have another example of the GOP base, furious with Romney, forcing the candidate to reject his own rhetoric and policy background, basically just to make the activist wing happy. That Romney is trying to execute a rare flip-flop-flip doesn't seem to matter -- conservatives wanted the campaign to call the policy a "tax," not a "penalty," so the pro-mandate, pro-tax penalty former governor is doing as he's told to do.
It's not exactly a display that screams "strength."
For another, this continues to be a farcical Republican game. Why in the world should this foolish semantics fight matter to anyone? Because for the next four months, GOP attack ads want to make two contradictory points at the same time: (1) Obama raised middle class taxes when he approved this penalty; and (2) Romney didn't raise middle class taxes when he approved the identical penalty.
It's what led Romney to twist himself in a pretzel yesterday.
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“If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullsh*t.”
- W.C. Fields.
Nice shout out for Steve at the Guardian UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/21/mendacious-mitt-romney-bid-liar-in-chief?INTCMP=SRCH
All Mitt ,all mendacious ,all the time .
Thanks for that article link even if it is depressing. No excuses - Carl Rove warned us the Rethugs make up their own reality. But who could have guessed their world and its groupies could become so allergic to truth and facts?
Oh puhlease! Mitt like Bush before him is just a puppet. His qualifications for republican nominee are , he is willing to kow tow to big business and he is an idiot. So please leave the fool be and attack Citizens United and the anti-government fools who are ignorant enough to still vote republican even as they lose rights to the party and jobs to China.
The important word here is not "tax" or "penalty" -- it's "freeloader." Anyone who can afford insurance but refuses to pay for it is assuming that the rest of us will bear the cost in the event of a car accident or appendicitis or an untreated condition leading to complications or ...
Romney's bullpucky never ends. My Mom would call it Diarrhea of the Mouth.
aka logorrhea
if Willard didn't flip flop, it wouldn't be Willard
More evidence in support of Mitt's leading position in an upcoming book: Profiles in Cowardice.
"...this continues to be a farcical Republican game."
That sums up the entire GOTP especially their bobble heads (Rush, Sister Sarah, BillO, Hannity et.al)!
Why do I have to carry uninsured/underinsured coverage on my car insurance when everyone is "required" to have insurance to drive?
Because just as with "health-insurance", you're paying for those that either 1) cannot afford insurance, or 2) those that choose not to pay for it. Got it now.
You can also choose to pay for higher coverage limits than those people would opt for. Since "uninsured motorist" covers YOU, you want the amount of that coverage to be generous. However, since it covers YOU, most insureds minimize the amount of that type of coverage they purchase. Purchasing higher limits would increase their premiums.
Many politicians can do 180's on issues. The top tenth percentile of liars can do 360's. But only Mitt, aided by his Merry Band of Pathological Pranksters, can stick the landing after performing the elusive 540 with such regularity. And, indeed, he often even attempts the perilous 720, although with uneven results.
It's a double-contra-reverse front-backflip with a no-footed landing. Sort of like a double axel in figure skating, except he's going in both directions at once.
Why all the media hype over tax or penalty, just call it what it is for the freeloaders who won't buy insurance which is just a fee
Add that it only affects a very small number, no more than 1%, just more gobbledegoop masquerading as journalism from the right. This election is becoming nerve racking & it is only July.
Reminds me of the scene in China town where Faye Dunaway's getting smacked around by Jack Nicholson and keeps going back and forth between "She's my sister" and "She's my daughter", only Romney is saying "It's a penalty" then "It's a tax", etc.
If you want a Liberal, then vote for Romney. If you want a Conservative, vote for Romney. If you want a Tea Party supporter or a Libertarian or an Independent, vote for Romney. He will become whatever you want him to be. Actually, he will morph into any thing the polls want him to be because he has no principles. Some of his friends have told him that if he loses(which he will), he should become an actor because of his plastic, Ken doll, good looks. If he does, his first film should be, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lied".
Truly do Republicans desire unpaid healthcare for all freeloaders.
Where is all the Republican outrage over the
penaltytax for Medicare Part D if you don't initially enroll in the prescription coverage?"The late enrollment penalty is an amount that’s added to your Part D premium. You may owe a late enrollment penalty if at any time after your initial enrollment period is over, there is a period of 63 or more days in a row when you don’t have Part D or other creditable prescription drug coverage."