One thing was clear after a Mitt Romney town hall at Gregory Industries this afternoon in Youngstown, Ohio – Republicans are still not convinced that the former Massachusetts Governor’s statewide health care plan was not the blueprint for Obamacare.
Of the eight questions Romney received at the town hall , two were about Romneycare. Zero of the questions were about jobs. The first woman brought Romney’s book No Apology, which she said she had been reading, and she said, “to use Newt Gingrich’s word”, she was wondering what the ‘fundamental’ differences were between Romneycare and Obamacare.
“Great thank you thank you I appreciate the question,” Romney said politely.
Romney told her that unlike Obamacare, his plan did not raise taxes, cost the government trillions of dollars or steal money from Medicare, not to reform it, but to redirect it. He also made reference of the fact that Massachusetts’ law dealt with a relatively small number of people in Massachusetts, while Obama’s intrusive, federal mandate affected the entire nation.
“Our plan dealt with the eight percent of people in my state who didn’t have insurance. Obamacare deals with 100 percent of the people. It takes over health care for everyone,” Romney said. “It doesn’t make health care better, it makes health care worse.”
Romney’s answer clearly left at least one person in the audience unsatisfied, however, because yet another woman questioned whether he would actually repeal Obamacare just minutes later, if elected president.
“I need an emphatic yes from you that you will repeal Obamacare,” the woman said.
“Why would I not?” Romney responded above cheers from supporters in the audience.
A Romney staffer tried to take the microphone away form the woman, but Romney said “let her keep the microphone, that’s fine.”
“I said no, from the very beginning, no this is designed for our state and our circumstance,” he followed up.
He then pointed out that the state already had a tax in place to pay for the uninsured before Romneycare. He said free riders were abusing the system by going to state hospitals to get free health care and reiterated that Massachusetts’ health care law was specifically created to address Massachusetts’ specific problems.
“We dealt with the circumstances that existed in our state,” he said, adding that Obamacare took the nation in the wrong direction. “I will put a stop to it on day one with an executive order and I will get it repealed,” he finished.
Still not satisfied the second woman asked how he would respond to Obama when his campaign came after him on the similarities between Romneycare and Obamacare, to which Romney provided a long list of answers, including the actuality that his bill was passed with bipartisan support – only two members of the 200 person Massachusetts delegation voted against it – whereas no Republicans voted for Obama’s so-called Affordable Care Act.
“The plan we voted for was right for us. How could you force through your plan without a single Republican vote?” he said he would ask of the President when the time came. “How could you force this on the American people when we didn’t want it?
“That is why we’re going to get rid of it and return to the 10th Amendment where states can create their own plans,” Romney said.
Romney has battled accusations from Republicans and Democrats alike that there is little difference between Obama’s health care plan and Massachusetts’. Although Mitt Romney has resumed his front-runner status in the GOP presidential primary, today’s town hall incident is a clear reminder that conservatives are still having trouble accepting Romney’s controversial record as governor of Massachusetts.
