Just a few days ago I wrote a piece titled “Seven Reasons Why the Republicans are Screwed in the Health Care Debate.” In that diary I forgot to mention this thing called “the internet” that makes it possible to find out what people said and did in the past, often with video. Since I wrote that piece, Mitt Romney, personally and through subordinates, has gone from saying that the mandate in the Affordable Care Act is not a tax to saying that it is. And that the identical penalty in his own health care reform is not a tax. Not only does he open himself up to charges of inconsistency (even from Republicans! link, link, h/t McJoan), but Mitt Romney serves as a poster child for the unprincipled inconsistency of the whole Republican Party.
This internet thing has all kinds of fascinating information about Governor Romney's previous position(s). For example, I learned here that in 2009, Romney wrote an op-ed in USA Today (link) and went on ABC, NBC and CBS declaring that President Obama should consider his Massachusetts plan as a model for the nation. CBS:
ABC:
NBC:
But in 2009, it wasn't just Romney who was suggested that the Massachusetts plan would be good for the nation. Previous to the passing of the Affordable Care Act, Romney's Massachusetts plan was the model for most Republicans. It was only after ACA passed that most Republicans suddenly found the individual mandate unacceptable. (h/t Ezra Klein) As just one example of the glaring irreconcilable differences between before and after, consider Jim Demint. Here he is in 2007 suggesting Romneycare as a national model in a Fox News (!) interview:
Now DeMint is saying things like this (link, with video):
“I don’t think a state should do it, but if the state wants to try, it’s up to their people,” said DeMint. “I think it violates a constitutional principle that’s much bigger than one state, to mandate—because it’s not just a matter of saying, hey, you’ve got to have insurance, it’s a matter of saying you’ve got to have this kind of insurance and this insurance has got to cover contraceptives and abortion and so they start telling us everything.”
“So, if it’s an unjust law federally, it’s also an unjust law for someone in Boston?” CNSNews.com asked.
“I think it is. I think it is,” said DeMint. "But my bigger concern—”
“So, Romneycare is an unjust law?” CNSNews.com asked.
“People are going to give you different interpretations,” said DeMint. “For me, a mandate is an unjust law.”
DeMint went on to say that he hopes the Supreme Court will rule “against the ability of anyone saying that you have to buy something.”
“The Constitution does not give the federal government the right to tell Massachusetts what kind of health care plans they can have,” said DeMint.
Before ACA passed, many Republicans supported the idea of a mandate (
link). Even Republicans admit they they actually invented the idea. (
link) In 1993, one such bill had a veritable Who's Who of Senate Republicans and some Democrats (
pdf link):
Mr. CHAFEE (for himself, Mr. DOLE, Mr. BOND, Mr. HATFIELD, Mr. BENNETT,
Mr. HATCH, Mr. DANFORTH, Mr. BROWN, Mr. GORTON, Mr.
SIMPSON, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. KASSEBAUM, Mr. WARNER,
Mr. SPECTER, Mr. FAIRCLOTH, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. GRASSLEY,
Mr. DURENBERGER Mr. BOREN, and Mr. KERREY)
Similar bills in 2007 (
pdf link) and February of 2009 (
pdf link) also had wide bipartisan support.
It was only after Democrats and President Obama passed the Affordable Care Act that "mandate" became a four letter word with Republicans. Governor Romney's recent mendacities only serve to highlight a much larger pattern of mendacious behavior by Republicans. And this internet thing really makes it hard for them to maintain even the semblance of denial. They are totally screwed in the Health Care Debate.