Romney falsely denied his paid advisors used Romneycare to develop Obamacare

The Perry campaign says that Romney falsely denied which is a nice word for lied about his paid advisors using RomneyCare to develop the blueprint for the ObamaCare mandate.  The facts don't lie and in this article you will see the sources giving the facts not the spin of Romney who refuses to admit just how bad RomneyCare is for Massachusetts.

Once again yesterday Romney refused to admit that RomneyCare was the blueprint on which ObamaCare was built even when his key advisors who helped write RomneyCare helped write ObamaCare.  The facts speak otherwise. Like Obama, Romney threw his advisors under the bus but that doesn't work anymore.  These advisors were paid by Romney just like the ones on the environment.  

Romney Should Repudiate Government-Mandated Health Care 

Posted on October 11th, 2011 

Romney falsely denied his paid advisors used Romneycare to develop Obamacare 

AUSTIN – At his news conference this afternoon, Mitt Romney falsely denied that MIT economist Jonathan Gruber played a key role in creating Romneycare and the individual mandate that served as the blueprint for Obamacare. 

“Mitt Romney has real problems shooting straight with the American people, especially on the clear policy and personnel links between Romneycare and Obamacare,” said Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Mr. Romney looked right into the camera and denied the facts – that his advisors helped craft the government-mandated Romneycare and Obamacare health care plans. 

“We call on Mr. Romney to repudiate government-mandated health care as crafted in Romneycare and admit his policies and advisors ushered in Obamacare’s costly and destructive health care mandates.”

• Jonathan Gruber has been identified as a Romney advisor by multiple media outlets over several years:

• The Boston Globe
(April 6, 2006) [1]

• NPR (April 11, 2006) [2]

• The New York Times
(April 12, 2006) [3]

• The Wall Street Journal
(April 18, 2011) [4]

• NBC News (Oct. 10, 2011) [5]

• Gruber identifies himself as a “paid advisor to the Romney Administration and Massachusetts Legislature during the development of health care reform in Massachusetts” in a paper he wrote for the National Bureau of Economic Research, published in June 2011. [6]

• On March 29, 2011, The Washington Post wrote, “Aside from Romney, Gruber is the man most responsible for the Massachusetts plan.” [7]

• The Washington Post
also wrote on March 29, 2011, that Gruber is considered to be “Romney’s number one point man on Romneycare.” [8]

Gruber’s Relationship With Obamacare

• Gruber was awarded a $297,600 consulting contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on June 19, 2009 to provide “technical assistance in evaluating options for national healthcare reform.” [9]

• Gruber was previously under a $95,000 contract with HHS from March 25, 2009 to July 25, 2009. [10]

• After advising Romney, Gruber advised Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards on health-care policy during the 2008 campaign. He has been described as “possibly the [Democratic] party’s most influential health-care expert.” [11] [12]

Romneycare Paved Way for Obamacare; Romney’s Plan Is Just Like Obama’s

• The Washington Post
reported, “In [Gruber’s] opinion, without the Massachusetts plan the federal individual mandate plan wouldn’t have garnered acceptance and gotten through.” [7]

• Gruber said “it’s likely” Obamacare wouldn’t have become law without Romneycare. [7]

• Gruber said Romneycare was “widely discussed … dozens of times” in Obamacare talks. [7]

• Gruber said of Obamacare: “Basically, it’s the same thing” as Romneycare. [13]

SOURCES 

1. “Health Bill Premiums May Exceed Predictions,” Boston Globe, 4/6/06,
   http://www.scribd.com/doc/68388881/Health-Bill-Premiums-May-Exceed-Predictions
2. “Massachusetts Renews Discussion on Universal Care,” NPR, 4/11/06, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5336532
3. “A Health Fix That Is Not a Fantasy,” New York Times, 4/12/06, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/12/business/12leonhardt.html
4. “Praise Romney Doesn’t Need,” Wall Street Journal, 4/18/11, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703916004576270991154333376.html
5. “White House used Mitt Romney health-care law as blueprint for federal law,” NBC News, 10/11/11, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44854320/ns/politics-decision_2012/#.TpRelZwu6Ps
6. “The Impacts of the Affordable Care Act: How Reasonable Are the Projections?” Jonathan Gruber, National Bureau of Economic Research, June 2011, http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/6829
7. “EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: RomneyCare author Jonathan Gruber,” Washington Post, 3/29/11, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/exclusive-interview-romneycare-author-jonathan-gruber/2011/03/04/AF2WJorB_blog.html
8. “Former Romney adviser: Without Romneycare, Obamacare would never have happened,” Washington Post, 3/29/11, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/former-romney-adviser-romneycare-created-obamacare/2011/03/03/AFKY4cvB_blog.html
9. Federal Business Opportunities, accessed 10/11/11, https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=3032e84fe13f650770acee31c1372a1b&_cview=0
   
10. “On Jonathan Gruber and disclosure,” ABC News, 1/9/10, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/01/on-jonathan-gruber-and-disclosure/
11. “Clinton Presents Plan For Universal Coverage,” Washington Post, 9/18/07, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/17/AR2007091701026.html
12. “For Democrats, Pragmatism On Universal Health Care,” Washington Post, 7/10/07, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070902029.html

“The New Republic: Why Romney’s 2012 Looks Grim,” NPR, 3/31/10, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125382175

Source: RickPerry.org

You could say if you are a Romney person that this comes from the Perry Campaign so how can I trust it to be true.  Follow the sources and you will find out it is true.  Romney has thrown his former paid consultant, Gruber, under the bus.  How many lies before the debate moderators ask him why he is lying about RomneyCare and how it is the blueprint for ObamaCare mandates?  We are not holding our breath but it is up to all of us to get the message out.  NBC's Michael Isakoff did a very good investigation into Romney and his ties to RomneyCare to show how it was used for the mandate for ObamaCare but the Romney/Rove/Ailes contingent will just say that is NBC so why believe Isakoff.  One reason -- sources!


Do you want a man for President who won't face reality and tell the truth?  Most people would answer "NO!" but then ask yourself where does Romney get his support?  It looks to be from the Republican establishment Rockefeller Republicans who believe people are entitled to be President along with the Mormon Church.  Know any Mormons in your area?  Ask them who they support and they will most likely say Romney.  Then ask them if they think he is a conservative, and most will say no.  These people are conservative but their reason for supporting Romney is that he is Mormon.  You just shake your head.

Think that most of us have had enough the spin and lies with the current President along with his throwing people under the bus who are a liability to last a lifetime.  Frankly we don't want to elect someone who cannot give a straight answer or has a penchant for flip flopping which is Romney and now following the lead of Obama is throwing his former advisors under the bus.  He supported the scientists on global warming before he decided it wouldn't get him many conservative votes so he flip flopped in a matter of days.  He played a much larger role in RomneyCare then he will admit but he spins what was in RomneyCare.  He cannot be trusted to give the facts if those facts would hurt his chances at getting votes.  Does he honestly think the American people are going to elect someone who flip flops like Kerry and in some instances worse then Kerry?    

Romney is not conservative and never has been.  He only pretends to be one to get elected but his record says otherwise.  In the days ahead you will see some of his flip flops and understand why so many conservatives oppose Romney.  He has this entitlement mentality that it is his turn since he has been running for President while he was still Governor.  Since January 2007, almost five years since he left office, his only job has been to run for President.  Is he smooth in a debate?  Absolutely because he has had tons of practice plus he doesn't have a job while Governor Perry has been running the 2nd largest state and bringing jobs to Texas along with balancing a budget.  That doesn't even count the time spent on the violence that is increasing on the border with Mexico.  


The bottom line is Romney refuses to admit his part in RomneyCare or his paid advisors were really his advisors on Romneycare who then went on to help with ObamaCare.   Shame on Mr. Romney for trying to con the American people.