Another Anti-Romneyite Draws a Line in the Sand

I just read an outstanding op-ed penned by Michael Graham, radio talk show host, newspaper columnist, and blogger.

Allow me to (heavily!) excerpt:

Add another name to the list of Massachusetts conservatives who have signed the ABM Treaty: Anyone But Mitt.

HAPPY TO HAVE YOU JOIN ME, MIKE!

Until Mitt Romney admits that his mandate driven, big government RomneyCare was a mistake, I will be supporting any viable GOP candidate running against him in 2012.

(*THUMBS UP*)

[T]his is all about policy, specifically RomneyCare - which has thus far been the "Big Dig" of health care, except costs have risen faster.

(*SMIRK*) (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)

ObamaCare has the benefit of having not yet been fully implemented. It’s already hurting the economy and costing people their jobs, but the worst has yet to arrive. Well the RomneyCare disaster is already upon us.

The highest health insurance costs, the highest medical costs and the fastest rising costs. Massachusetts has them all, thanks to Romney. And they’re getting worse.

[T]he Herald reported yesterday that the folks at the beloved Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector created under RomneyCare are “cracking down on more than 3,000 residents who are fighting state fines, and has even hired a private law firm to force the health insurance scofflaws to pay penalties of up to $2,000 a year.” Big Brother is watching - and suing - you.

Everything about RomneyCare is awful. Until a change in the law this year, it actually incentivized people to go without insurance, or buy a minimalist plan. Then, as Romney’s fellow Republican Charlie Baker pointed out, if they got diagnosed with an expensive illness, these people could sign up for top-of-the-line coverage, get their immediate issues addressed, run up a big bill and then drop their insurance and go back to paying the fine for being uninsured. According to Forbes magazine, these treatments include hospitalization for childbirth or hip replacements.

And who was left holding the bag? The “honest” insured, who got stuck with still-higher premiums, [not to mention] insurance companies like the non-profit Blue Cross, which has been suffering losses under RomneyCare.

Forbes also reports that the median annual premium for family plans jumped 10% from 2007 to 2009 to $14,300 - both figures much higher than the national average.

And if you’re a taxpayer, your costs went up even more.

(*SIGH*)

Before RomneyCare, you were on the hook for $1 billion for Medicaid and other state health care subsidies. Less than three years later, the taxpayer bill has gone up another $750 million - a 75% increase!

All of which is why, until Romney admits that RomneyCare was a mistake - not just mismanaged by Deval Patrick - I’ll be voting for anyone else.

Even (gasp) Sarah Palin.

I’ve got some favorites (Run, Mitch Daniels, run!), but the former Massachusetts governor is off the list. Period.

YEP... MITCH DANIELS BEARS WATCHING...

(*NOD*)

The battle over ObamaCare is likely to be the central struggle in 2012.

Romney’s trying to have it both ways, telling the Herald he would vote to repeal Obamacare but still supports the Massachusetts mandate.

(*SNORT*)

Sorry, Mitt. Either you believe in the top-down, socialized bureaucracy vision of government or you don’t.

The GOP absolutely must own the “we don’t” side of that debate.

AMEN!