FLASHBACK: Heritage Touted RomneyCare Key Elements Of Health Reform Heritage Now Opposes

[cal04]

The Heritage Foundation, one of the leading conservative think tanks — which has historically provided many of the policy ideas for the Republican Party, Republican administrations, and Republicans in Congress — has aggressively attacked President Obama’s efforts to reform health care in America. In addition to providing academic voices in the media to knock reform, Heritage has churned out blog posts and reports denigrating reform legislation for various reasons. And in recent days, Heritage has scrambled to mobilize a repeal effort of health reform, calling the law “intolerable.”

But before Democrats took up the mantle of reforming health care on the national level, Heritage experts boosted former Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R-MA) health reform plan in the Bay State. In numerous pieces posted on the Heritage website before 2008, Heritage took a markedly different approach to health reform than it does now:

– Heritage On Romney’s Individual Mandate: “Not an unreasonable position, and one that is clearly consistent with conservative values.”

– Heritage On President Obama’s Individual Mandate: “Both unprecedented and unconstitutional.”

– Heritage On Romney’s Insurance Exchange: An “innovative mechanism to promote real consumer choice.”

– Heritage On President Obama’s Insurance Exchange: Creates a “de facto public option” by “grow” government control over healthcare.”

– Heritage On Romney’s Medicaid Expansion: Reduced “the total cost to taxpayers” by taking people out of the “uncompensated care pool.”

– Heritage On President Obama’s Medicaid Expansion: Expands a “broken entitlement program,” providing a “low-quality, poorly functioning program.”

In fact, in 2007, Heritage again boasted that Romney’s plan is “already showing progress.” That same year, Heritage proudly posted a video of Romney gloating that Heritage officials had supported him in creating “ultimate conservatism” with the Massachusetts health plan.

Watch it: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/10/heritage-romneycare/

Appealing to right-wing conservatives, Romney, like Heritage, is trying to distance himself from his own health reform ideas. He called the individual mandate unconstitutional, but conceded that the only real difference between his plan and President Obama’s is that his plan was crafted in a “bipartisan” manner with the Democratically controlled Massachusetts legislature.

[discocrisco01]

1. The Hertiage Institute

I never listen to the Hertiage institute. I think they represent the half-truths that Republican part machine spits out.

I trust the Cato Institute a lot more than the Hertiage even I viscerally disagree with their view of economic policy.

[kenny blankenship]

2. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right.

Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. TTurn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right.Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right. Turn to the right.

Keep turning to the right Democrats, you'll catch up to them SOMEDAY.

[DJ13]

3. Im not concerned with Republicans changing their minds on HCR

Im concerned that Democrats have (once again) made a Republican idea the law of the land.

I dont vote for Democrats to become Republicans once they're in office.

[Uncle Joe]

4. The first mistake is in believing the Heritage Foundation to be "conservative."

If the Heritage Foundation were truly conservative, from a fiscal standpoint, they would promote the most efficient means of coverage, that being universal health coverage for every American from the cradle to the grave.

If the Heritage Foundation were truly conservative, from a moral right to life standpoint, they would promote the most logical means of coverage, that being universal health coverage for every American from the cradle to the grave.

If the Heritage Foundation were truly conservative, from a religious standpoint, they would promote the most moral means of coverage, that being universal health coverage for every American from the cradle to the grave.

That's why the vast majority of the American People favor universal health coverage for every American from the cradle to the grave.

The Heritage Foundation is corporatist, their God is money plain and simple and they believe in corporate supremacy over "We the Peoples'" government and as a natural extension over the people.

Obviously they can't openly advocate for such a position, so when Republicans; a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of Corporation USA promotes such policies, they're cheered.

When the Democratic Party; which has a sizable corporatist influence but is not entirely owned passes or promotes such measures, the Heritage Foundation will only condemn it for public consumption as a means to help Republicans back to power.

Thanks for the thread, cal.

[John Q. Citizen]

5. Your last paragraph is correct. And just like Rahm, Heritage could care less about if the policy is

a good one for the country as a whole or if it sucks.

The bottom line is whether the corporate dollars will flow to their respective parties, and whether what passes or doesn't pass will be useful in exploiting voters to give them their votes.

Both the Dems and the Repos played this exact same game. The Dems won, the Repos lost.

Either way, the country was going to lose, from a policy perspective.


Obama did pass a Repo bill. Not because it's great for the country, but because it's good for the Dems in 2010 and beyond.

But the article clearly shows that Heritage is perfectly willing and capable of taking or switching a position based solely on calculations of whether it will help or hurt the Repos in upcoming elections.

It has nothing to do with sound policy.

Romney care was bad policy when pushed by Romney and it is still bad policy when pushed by Obama. That's my opinion.

We need a tax based single payer universal coverage system.

[AnArmyVeteran]

6. thank you!!!