Don't Expect Romney to Repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act
Timothy Birdnow
I have always believed that Mitt Romney would not repeal Obamacare unless absolutely forced - and then would do it in such a way that it would still be open to future reinstatement. Romney believes in it, and stated at the time of passage that he wanted to reform it, getting "rid of the bad and keeping the good" but nowhere is this a national issue; it is not in the enumerated powers in the Constitution, and it just is a matter of being busybodies; it's no concern of Congress. I would argue that being free of government interference with your body is so fundamental an axiom that the Founders didn't think it necessary to point it out.
In Roe V. Wade the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is an inherent right to privacy, and that a woman's body is uniquely her own (even though that body is acting as temporary housing for another human being - sort of a shelter for a legal alien; we are told we can't kick out illegals but we can kill someone brought into this world through an act of the woman because, hey, it's "her body"). If SCOTUS ruled a the individual states cannot force a woman to carry her child to term (the child whose current condition is a result of HER actions and not it's own) than how can our government force us to accept state mandated health services? So the bodies of the citizens belongs to them when they want to hurt another human being to avoid suffering the consequences of a bad decision, but it does not belong to them when they want to make their own decisions about their own bodies.
And while Romney may not be a frothing pro-abort, he was pro-abortion as late as 1992 when he was running against Ted Kennedy for the U.S. Senate seat. In that he is being entirely consistent; he has no problem with changing his mind as facts on the ground change. The man clearly does not have a firm philosophical position on the right to privacy nor to life.
He stated:
“On a personal basis, I don’t favor abortion,” he said. “However, as governor of the commonwealth, I will protect a woman’s right to choose under the laws of the country and the commonwealth. That’s the same position I’ve had for many years.”
And while a man has a right to change his mind, it is surprisingly convenient for him to have done so as he came to seek advancement in the pro-life, or at least not actually pro-abortion, GOP. Convenient, as is his "evolving" views on government health care with a mandate forcing people to have health insurance whether they want it or not. He forced that down the throats of the people of Massachussetts, and yet now we are to believe he will repeal the same bill forced on the American People?
Nope, according to Phillip Klein, 'tain't gonna happen. http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/new-reason-doubt-romney-would-repeal-obamacare/263116
I agree; Romney will find a loopholes to avoid total repeal. He'll seek to pleaase both sides of the issue, whittling this thing down but not surgically removing it. The problem with something like Obamacare is that it sets a precedent; once in place it will eventually creep up on everyone. It's rather like syphillis (a terrific metaphor, that) it may disappear from view for a time, but it's going to be working and growing where we cannot see it. Defunding it stops the outward symptoms, but the machinery is left in place and the spirochete are infecting the nerve endings. Bureaucrats will continue to press forward with it, making plans for it's eventual implementation, and when the Democrats come back into power they will simply implement it. No muss, no fuss, just do it. Repeal the damned thing and they have to pass it all over again. That is how so many of these terrible ideas have become law. They don't just go away. We thought we had won when Hillarycare went down in flames...
We can live with Mitt Romney. He is better than the BHO, for certain. But do not expect a President who will do anything but hold the line for us if we get him elected. We will have to fight for every inch of ground with Mitt Romney in office. His inclination is to appease the Left. We will have to be ever vigilant, and force his hand at every turn. We'll have to take control of Congress, all of it, and make it plain that we have the political muscle. It'll be eight years of endless battle with a guy who is ostensibly our own.
Is this really the best we can do?
I have always believed that Mitt Romney would not repeal Obamacare unless absolutely forced - and then would do it in such a way that it would still be open to future reinstatement. Romney believes in it, and stated at the time of passage that he wanted to reform it, getting "rid of the bad and keeping the good" but nowhere is this a national issue; it is not in the enumerated powers in the Constitution, and it just is a matter of being busybodies; it's no concern of Congress. I would argue that being free of government interference with your body is so fundamental an axiom that the Founders didn't think it necessary to point it out.
In Roe V. Wade the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is an inherent right to privacy, and that a woman's body is uniquely her own (even though that body is acting as temporary housing for another human being - sort of a shelter for a legal alien; we are told we can't kick out illegals but we can kill someone brought into this world through an act of the woman because, hey, it's "her body"). If SCOTUS ruled a the individual states cannot force a woman to carry her child to term (the child whose current condition is a result of HER actions and not it's own) than how can our government force us to accept state mandated health services? So the bodies of the citizens belongs to them when they want to hurt another human being to avoid suffering the consequences of a bad decision, but it does not belong to them when they want to make their own decisions about their own bodies.
And while Romney may not be a frothing pro-abort, he was pro-abortion as late as 1992 when he was running against Ted Kennedy for the U.S. Senate seat. In that he is being entirely consistent; he has no problem with changing his mind as facts on the ground change. The man clearly does not have a firm philosophical position on the right to privacy nor to life.
He stated:
“On a personal basis, I don’t favor abortion,” he said. “However, as governor of the commonwealth, I will protect a woman’s right to choose under the laws of the country and the commonwealth. That’s the same position I’ve had for many years.”
And while a man has a right to change his mind, it is surprisingly convenient for him to have done so as he came to seek advancement in the pro-life, or at least not actually pro-abortion, GOP. Convenient, as is his "evolving" views on government health care with a mandate forcing people to have health insurance whether they want it or not. He forced that down the throats of the people of Massachussetts, and yet now we are to believe he will repeal the same bill forced on the American People?
Nope, according to Phillip Klein, 'tain't gonna happen. http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/new-reason-doubt-romney-would-repeal-obamacare/263116
I agree; Romney will find a loopholes to avoid total repeal. He'll seek to pleaase both sides of the issue, whittling this thing down but not surgically removing it. The problem with something like Obamacare is that it sets a precedent; once in place it will eventually creep up on everyone. It's rather like syphillis (a terrific metaphor, that) it may disappear from view for a time, but it's going to be working and growing where we cannot see it. Defunding it stops the outward symptoms, but the machinery is left in place and the spirochete are infecting the nerve endings. Bureaucrats will continue to press forward with it, making plans for it's eventual implementation, and when the Democrats come back into power they will simply implement it. No muss, no fuss, just do it. Repeal the damned thing and they have to pass it all over again. That is how so many of these terrible ideas have become law. They don't just go away. We thought we had won when Hillarycare went down in flames...
We can live with Mitt Romney. He is better than the BHO, for certain. But do not expect a President who will do anything but hold the line for us if we get him elected. We will have to fight for every inch of ground with Mitt Romney in office. His inclination is to appease the Left. We will have to be ever vigilant, and force his hand at every turn. We'll have to take control of Congress, all of it, and make it plain that we have the political muscle. It'll be eight years of endless battle with a guy who is ostensibly our own.
Is this really the best we can do?
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 4:29 AM
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