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The Spectacle Blog
Newt Gingrich on Tuesday described the Massachusetts heath care program that was signed into law by Mitt Romney as the “forerunner” of President Obama’s health care legislation.
The former Republican House Speaker’s comments, made during an American Spectator Newsmaker breakfast, come as Romney’s health care initiative in Massachusetts is drawing increased scrutiny among conservatives for its similarities to the national law passed by Democrats last month.
“It’s the forerunner of Obamacare,” Gingrich said when asked about the Massachusetts plan. “It is a general model in a general direction and it’s the general direction that’s wrong. And that’s why I’m suggesting you need to be thinking about fundamental change, not just marginal reforms.”
Gingrich said that American needed to move away from a system in which most spending flows through third parties (i.e. employers and the government) and is overly bureaucratized.
“If you simply increase spending, and increase the number of people who enter the system and you don’t do anything to fundamentally improve the system, what you end up with is people who end up in emergency rooms instead of doctors offices and skyrocketing costs,” he said. “It’s a mathematical equation.”
Republicans made a mistake by not pushing market-based reforms when they were in power, Gingrich said, which “created the vacuum that the left has now filled with bad ideas.”
This weekend, Romney won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference’s 2012 presidential straw poll by a single vote over Ron Paul, though Gingrich, whose ambitions remain unclear, had a strong showing without any visible organization.
Gingrich did not mention Romney in this morning’s comments this morning about the Massachusetts health care legislation.
View all comments (15) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
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Gene| 4.13.10 @ 12:44PM
I have been wondering when somebody in the republican party was going to step up in front of the American people and the media and admit to the mistake the party made in the wake of hillarycare. To my knowledge not one piece of legislation has been passed to lower health care cost.
Whitney| 4.13.10 @ 2:44PM
Whenever I see "MASSCARE" I first think "MASACRE"...anyone else? Phil is this your brainchild?
Oldefarte| 4.13.10 @ 4:40PM
'Masscare' will be to Romney what Big Horn was to George Custer!!!!!!!!!!!
Dar| 4.13.10 @ 4:43PM
Ron Paul has the best way to improve health care. Put it in the hands of patients, let choices be worked out between patients and their choice of doctor. That means less federal pushing for low deductibles, and employer-based insurance. As one doctor put it, any insurance with less than $2,000 deductible is really a health program. The feds also pushed for HMOs with regs and tax breaks, creating another wedge between patients and providers. The costs will be kept down by patients and doctors making good judgments on the benefits of alternatives.
Romney just wants the government involved in health care. That is almost as bad as his wanting the US occupying all countries of the planet.
Camron Barth| 4.13.10 @ 5:18PM
There are several significant differences. The most obvious is that one was a state plan and the other a national plan.
The most effective argument Democrats have is: Republicans are the “Party of No” and when they’re in power they never do anything relating to healthcare. They cannot say that about Mitt Romney but they sure can about Newt Gingrich.
Camron Barth| 4.13.10 @ 5:21PM
Conservatives also need to remember that Romney had to work with a state legislature that was overwhelmingly Democratic and liberal. Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the state senate 30 to five (or a similar ratio). Romney’s veto option was useless, utterly useless. Romney was the governor of Massachusetts, not its king.
Pingback| 4.13.10 @ 9:06PM
“Romneycare” Under Fire From Right » Political Buzz links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Ron Bawl| 4.14.10 @ 12:12AM
I am convinced that Ron Paul supporters are the silliest people on the planet.
TomH | 4.14.10 @ 12:16AM
I am amazed at how far some Republicans here and other forums will go to save their incoherent and really dumb arguments about health care reform.
Obamacare is NOT government run health care. Unless you think that all laws regulating commerce results in government run commerce. However, we could argue that Obamacare is a STEP CLOSER to government run health care. But, some here and others elsewhere just can’t help themselves to make that leap, because they are unskilled to form better arguments.
The MAJORITY of Americans want for health care reform. Do you get it right-wing conservatives? The majority of us are for REFORM. Do you hear us loud and clear?
Obamacare is Obama’s version of health care reform. Romney continues to criticize Obamacare, not because he’s afraid of right-wing Republican conservatives you can’t distinguish between Masscare and Obamacare, but because Obamacare is bad legislation.
We can still be against Obamacare without creating a RIDICULOUS claim that Obama is a socialist. Wake up Republicans! This is a very bad argument. The majority of Americans are NOT going to buy this claim because it is fallacious.
The three worst things about Obamacare are:
1. Half of the Obamacare law is financed with 500 billion dollars of cuts to medicare through efficiencies such as limiting procedures, and paying doctors less money.
2. Obamacare will expand the number of patients covered to 30 million, but there is no expansion plan for the number of doctors. This will significantly ration care.
3. Obamacare will raise taxes in the middle of a recession to pay for the other half. He’s talking the top in tax rate from 35 to 42.4%, cap gains tax from 20% to 22% and medicare from 1.9 to 3.3%
Without these requirements, Obamacare could not exist. Masscare containts NOTHING like these laws in its plan.
HOW COULD THEY BE SIGNIFICANTLY SIMILAR? See the problem?
For the record,
Romney didn't "flip-fliop" on Abortion but he did change his political position in 2004.
Romney didn't "flip-flop" on gun-laws.
(Take ANY Republican candidate, and you'll find in their history THAT THEY CHANGED THEIR POSITIONS. Oh the horror!)
More record,
Romney doesn't want Masscare to replace Obamacare.
Romney is VEHEMENTLY against Obamacare.
Romney supports states suing the government to end Obamacare.
Romney is supporting candidates for 2010 who will repeal Obamacare.
Now right-wing conservatives, can you please tell us all about the REAL solutions that Huckabee, Palin, Paul or (name your candidate) have proposed or actually passed regarding health care reform?
Remember, these candidates are at a disadvantage to criticize Obama on health care – they’ve never proposed anything or faced health care reform challenges before. Why should a majority of Americans listen to them?
This is why Romney is the ONLY credible, experienced, and competent Republican to address and directly CONFRONT Obamacare. Romney is the only potential candidate one who has actually been in the health care trenches.
I echo what Sheryl said:
Romney is the only GOP that can effectively challenge Obama in 2012 and win.
Susan| 4.14.10 @ 1:07PM
Tom, Masscare and Obamacare are similar in that they have a mandate, subsidies, and insurance exchanges. These 3 items are the foundation of Obamacare as well.
Romney has said this. He didn't want mandates but instead a secure bond that was an assurance of payment. The dems would not go along with any such idea. So he compromised.
He expected the insurance plans offered to those uninsured to be more of a catastrophic type, which has not happened.
He also expected more people uninsured to be able to pay for their insurance or at least contribute. He was wrong. 2/3 are subsidized which was not factored in and thus are a huge burden to the state.
Romney did not raise taxes to pay for this program, but money was redirected from medicare payments to the state from the feds for those uninsured using the ERs. So are fewer people using the ERs now that they have health insurance? Apparently not.
BTW, another problem has surfaced that should have been seen in advance. It seems that people that are paying for their insurance are doing so until the need has expired and then they have dropped their policy.
The only way premiums stay low is to have the risk pool have a majority of healthy people which is youth. If youth doesn't keep their policies current and are not paying into the system, the rates go up.
I applaud Romney for taking that first step and doing so in a bi-partisan way. If I were him I would just tell the truth about what he envisioned and what the true reality is today. It doesn't make him a loser, it makes him human.
Obama should be watching what is happening in Mass because that tsunami is headed towards Washington.
TomH | 4.14.10 @ 12:17AM
What if Romney just campaigns against Obamacare and rejects the MSM's claim that Masscare and Obamacare are similar?
Romney can still tout the GOOD things of Masscare health care reform that he helped pass while rejecting Obama's version of health care reform.
This not difficult and is an easy path to win over conservative and moderate Republicans, moderate and conservative Democrats, and Independents.
Romney can take the BEST of Masscare and reject its mistakes to strengthen health care reform in America.
As Mr. Antle above pointed out, Romney has the advantage to run as a Republican with bipartisan health care reform credentials.
Because of Romney's experience, he'll be able to pin Obama to the floor in a debate about health care.
The MSM has already given Romney the advantage in the months to come. They have claimed (erroneously) that Masscare was the "blueprint) and that Romney is the "father" of health care reform.
We all know that the plans are different but now Mitt can go into a debate, as the "father" of health care reform and the "expert" and put Obama in his place.
He can say, "listen, son, you got it all wrong. Here's why, in my expert opinion."
What can the MSM say then? They are the ones who have crowned Romney has the "father" and "master" of health care reform.
Ah... sweet justice.
Sweet| 4.14.10 @ 4:07AM
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Ryan| 4.16.10 @ 7:47PM
I completely agree with what TomH has said on Romney's positions and credibility on this issue. Moreover, Romney has argued that state based reform would allow health care to be customized for each states political leanings and agendas with each state learning from the next on how best to utilize the system and what mistakes to avoid. The next state to adopt a Romney-like approach may do certain things differently or be able to achieve other reforms based on the political leanings of that state. Maybe Mass. would learn from those states as well and integrate those aspects into their program. This is night and day from a one size fits all, inefficiently run Federal program. Romney has a proven track record on reaching across the aisle to solve real problems. No other Republican candidate can speak as credibly on this issue as can Gov. Romney.