Mitt Romney is running for President. Read all about why Mitt deserves your vote in the election.Read more »
X | Another Test
Romney: Loosen rules on health insurance

By: Grant Schulte

Des Moines Register

Wednesday, Nov 21, 2007

"The federal government needs to loosen regulations on the nation's health insurance providers, increasing competition and thereby lowering patient costs, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday in Des Moines.

"Romney said that as president he would hand more authority to state health programs and create incentives for deregulating the insurance market. He said he would cap the amount of damages awarded in lawsuits and reform tax rules that penalize two-income households. Such policies, he said, would not raise taxes."

...

"Romney said his plan would lead to coverage for each of the nation's 47 million uninsured people within four years.

"He criticized Medicaid as 'not a very good insurance product.' He said: 'It's very good at caring for the poor, but it wasn't designed as an insurance program.'

"'The answer is not to pour government in,' he said. 'It's to get government out, and get the free market health system.'

"Romney's remarks came during a speech to a crowd of 500, mostly medical students, at Des Moines University."

...
Another Test
Romney: Loosen rules on health insurance

By: Grant Schulte

Des Moines Register

Wednesday, Nov 21, 2007

"The federal government needs to loosen regulations on the nation's health insurance providers, increasing competition and thereby lowering patient costs, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday in Des Moines.

"Romney said that as president he would hand more authority to state health programs and create incentives for deregulating the insurance market. He said he would cap the amount of damages awarded in lawsuits and reform tax rules that penalize two-income households. Such policies, he said, would not raise taxes."

...

"Romney said his plan would lead to coverage for each of the nation's 47 million uninsured people within four years.

"He criticized Medicaid as 'not a very good insurance product.' He said: 'It's very good at caring for the poor, but it wasn't designed as an insurance program.'

"'The answer is not to pour government in,' he said. 'It's to get government out, and get the free market health system.'

"Romney's remarks came during a speech to a crowd of 500, mostly medical students, at Des Moines University."

...
X | The Mitt Iowa Video Wall
Oprah is a force to be reckoned with. Her career is stunning and admirable. She's done lots and lots excellent shows on the effects of pornography and addiction and even put up a site tracking sexual predators. Bravo! So... what's next?

Well, she could call attention to recent peer reviewed studies showing the emotional damage of using pornography within a marriage, or how people who view porn are three times more likely to use paid prostitutes, or how 66% of kids reported unwanted exposure to pornography on the Internet.
The Mitt Iowa Video Wall
Oprah is a force to be reckoned with. Her career is stunning and admirable. She's done lots and lots excellent shows on the effects of pornography and addiction and even put up a site tracking sexual predators. Bravo! So... what's next?

Well, she could call attention to recent peer reviewed studies showing the emotional damage of using pornography within a marriage, or how people who view porn are three times more likely to use paid prostitutes, or how 66% of kids reported unwanted exposure to pornography on the Internet.
X | The Romney 50
Critics can say what they want about Romney buying his votes or flipping on issues... but he is the only candidate out there that has deep, articulate and detailed policy proposals. Today, the Romney campaign has put out a 70-page document detailing his positions on numerous issues, including 50 specific proposals for a stronger America.

Romney has been putting these proposals in place, piece by piece, since January. This represents an impressive and comprehensive approach to presidential platforming - I don't know I've ever seen anything like it before.

The "booklet" has the look of a corporate annual report and includes the entire text of his speeches at the Herzliya conference, Foreign Affairs, the Club for Growth conference, and the National Right to Life Convention.

My favorite policy proposals include the 5-point plan on dealing with Iran, his 1% inflation spending model, executive authority for lower spending, SOX reform, minimum % allocation for military spending, reinstating the 60% supermajority for raising taxes, and his 6-point effort to deal with immigration.
The Romney 50
Critics can say what they want about Romney buying his votes or flipping on issues... but he is the only candidate out there that has deep, articulate and detailed policy proposals. Today, the Romney campaign has put out a 70-page document detailing his positions on numerous issues, including 50 specific proposals for a stronger America.

Romney has been putting these proposals in place, piece by piece, since January. This represents an impressive and comprehensive approach to presidential platforming - I don't know I've ever seen anything like it before.

The "booklet" has the look of a corporate annual report and includes the entire text of his speeches at the Herzliya conference, Foreign Affairs, the Club for Growth conference, and the National Right to Life Convention.

My favorite policy proposals include the 5-point plan on dealing with Iran, his 1% inflation spending model, executive authority for lower spending, SOX reform, minimum % allocation for military spending, reinstating the 60% supermajority for raising taxes, and his 6-point effort to deal with immigration.
X | Mitt: the Root of all Healthcare evil???
There's some Mitt-bashing over at the AmSpec blog (Philip Klein, Jennifer Rubin, Philip Klein again, Jennifer Rubin again, and Shawn Macomber). Nothing unusual about that, but I did want to address the point being made: that Mitt's Massachusetts healthcare plan is the source of all healthcare evils these days. Certainly the Massachusetts plan is not perfect. Beyond the portions that the Massachusetts legislature passed over Mitt's veto, two basic provisions, the individual mandate and the "connector", have riled the ire of many conservative think-tanks and commentators. I think Mitt himself would agree that his plan is not perfect. Klein and Rubin especially seem to blame Mitt for even trying and thus encouraging less enlightened Democrats on the feasibility of passing such a plan.

Klein and Rubin seem to believe that Mitt's plan has done nothing to the national healthcare debate except cede ground to liberals. They forget that Mitt's plan has moved the debate on healthcare to the right of where it was. It has discredited the idea that only a single-payer system can work. It also made insurance more consumer oriented and less tied to employer choices. Mostly, I think that all the negativity directed at Mitt is misguided to say the least because of a single word, which has been at the forefront of Mitt's approach to healthcare: federalism. By federalism, I refer to the principle of states as labs of experimentation. All the debate has provided ample argument for other states to learn from and correct the flaws that are in the Massachusetts plan. Mitt's plan as a presidential candidate encourages such disagreement and experimentation. Mitt has embraced the seemingly novel, at least to AmSpec, principle of federalism whereby different ideas can be tested in the states.
Mitt: the Root of all Healthcare evil???
There's some Mitt-bashing over at the AmSpec blog (Philip Klein, Jennifer Rubin, Philip Klein again, Jennifer Rubin again, and Shawn Macomber). Nothing unusual about that, but I did want to address the point being made: that Mitt's Massachusetts healthcare plan is the source of all healthcare evils these days. Certainly the Massachusetts plan is not perfect. Beyond the portions that the Massachusetts legislature passed over Mitt's veto, two basic provisions, the individual mandate and the "connector", have riled the ire of many conservative think-tanks and commentators. I think Mitt himself would agree that his plan is not perfect. Klein and Rubin especially seem to blame Mitt for even trying and thus encouraging less enlightened Democrats on the feasibility of passing such a plan.

Klein and Rubin seem to believe that Mitt's plan has done nothing to the national healthcare debate except cede ground to liberals. They forget that Mitt's plan has moved the debate on healthcare to the right of where it was. It has discredited the idea that only a single-payer system can work. It also made insurance more consumer oriented and less tied to employer choices. Mostly, I think that all the negativity directed at Mitt is misguided to say the least because of a single word, which has been at the forefront of Mitt's approach to healthcare: federalism. By federalism, I refer to the principle of states as labs of experimentation. All the debate has provided ample argument for other states to learn from and correct the flaws that are in the Massachusetts plan. Mitt's plan as a presidential candidate encourages such disagreement and experimentation. Mitt has embraced the seemingly novel, at least to AmSpec, principle of federalism whereby different ideas can be tested in the states.