Santorum Campaign Press Release - CNN: "Romney Once Touted Parts of 'RomneyCare' As National Model"

Verona, PA - Yet another interview has surfaced, implicating former Governor Mitt Romney's individual mandate as a model for President Obama to use in ObamaCare.

Romney once touted parts of 'Romneycare' as a national model

By: Jim Acosta, CNN

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/07/romney-once-touted-parts-of-romneycare-as-a-national-model/

... In an interview with CNN in 2009, as Washington was debating President Barack Obama's health care proposal, Romney said portions of the Massachusetts law could serve as a model for the country.

"I think there are a number of features in the Massachusetts plan that could inform Washington on ways to improve health care for all Americans," Romney told CNN. "The fact that we were able to get people insured without a government option is a model I think they can learn from."

When the president signed his health care plan into law, it no longer had a "public option." But it did have an insurance mandate, something many conservative Tea Party Republicans view as unconstitutional.

The insurance mandate in "Romneycare" wasn't a major liability in the governor's first presidential run in 2008 because "Obamacare" wasn't born yet.

... But in that 2009 interview, Romney clearly defended the mandate, referring to it as a "requirement" that allowed Massachusetts residents to secure a "tax exemption." In other words, if they didn't sign up for health insurance, residents would get hit with a tax.

"In order to get a tax exemption that you would normally get, you gotta have health insurance because we want everybody in the system. No more free riders. Everybody is part of the plan. And that way, we get the costs down. We let people know that they never have to worry about losing their coverage," Romney said in the interview.

... "In fact, I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care in Massachusetts and supports giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions," Obama said.

There are signs the issue could dog Romney well into the 2012 primary season, much as Hillary Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq War hampered her run among some 2008 Democratic voters.

In his new book, "A Simple Government," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has a one-liner ready to go.

"It could be argued that if RomneyCare were a patient, the prognosis would be dismal," Huckabee writes.