Here is a dirty little secret of this whole health care debacle: the latest version of the health care bill in the U.S. Senate closely resembles—brace yourself—the plan that Republican Mitt Romney signed into law as Massachusetts governor in 2006, according to The American Spectator. Both reforms did not include a government-run insurance program or an expansion of Medicare. Both did expand Medicaid and have an individual mandate to purchase insurance—with penalties attached. And yet Romney was the conservative standard bearer in the race, having received the official stamp of approval from National Review. How can this be? And then, when the same plan comes in Democratic packaging conservatives and Republicans shriek in horror.
Which brings me to the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts last night. Yes, it was immensely gratifying to see liberal Democrats suffer such an crippling defeat on their home turf. And yet… Brown supports the Romney health care reform in 2006, which makes me wonder what he finds so disagreeable in the current proposal. The cynic in me can’t help but think this is all about politics, not principle, and that at precisely the moment when the differences between the two parties seem so pronounced, there are in fact none. Any Romney supporter who berates Obama voters for making nationalized health care possible should take a look in the mirror.
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