Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and journalist Elizabeth Brackett discuss
Romney's views on healthcare reform.   |   Post-Exchange/BRAD LASH

Romney: States not federal government should handle healthcare reform

By Jamie Loo, First Amendment reporter

March 24, 2010

CHICAGO—Mitt Romney hammered at President Barack Obama’s healthcare legislation calling the process and subsequent passage in the U.S. House of Representatives a “power grab” by the current administration.

The former Massachusetts governor and likely contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination spoke before a packed house of more than 500 people at the Chase Auditorium on Wednesday during a stop on his book tour.

Romney said he believes the court challenges filed by 14 state attorney generals to federal healthcare legislation have merit and should be filed.

“I think this is a power that is reserved to the states and we’ll see if that holds water and is successful or not,” he said.

Romney, who was governor from 2003 until 2007, signed healthcare reform legislation into law in Massachusetts which requires all residents to have health insurance. The legislation includes subsidies to help those below the federal poverty line with health insurance and offers tax incentives to residents to carry insurance.

Insurance portability and preventing insurance companies from dropping people who become ill are important aspects of the healthcare bill, Romney said. He said it is the “worst aspects” of the bill that need to be repealed such as the tax increases. Healthcare reform in Massachusetts was done without tax increases, Medicare cuts and price controls, he said, and was a 70-page bill as opposed to the 2,000 page bill before Congress. He said healthcare reform should be done on a state level.

“There are important differences (between the Massachusetts and federal bills) and I think people on both sides of the aisle and people generally want to have action on important issues as opposed to simply being opposed to one bill or another,” he said.

Romney said policies should be measured by whether they will strengthen the country, which is the focus of his book “No Apology.” Romney said President Barack Obama’s worldwide “apology tour” during his first few months in office was a huge mistake. He said the U.S. has always had a strong role in the geopolitical direction of the world. The sacrifice, values and leadership of this country have been an example to the world, he said, and has encouraged other countries to adopt democratic models. Romney said he isn’t talking about being a bully on the world stage but being a strong country that preserves peace. It’s weakness that invites war and terror, he said.

“I want America not to be apologizing for who we are and for our values and our beliefs. But for America to be strong and proud and to recognize that we need to remain strong militarily, economically, culturally and in our commitment to our values so that freedom, and the prosperity that comes through our freedom, can endure in this century and beyond,” he said.

Romney said he can't understand some of Obama’s failure to speak out on human rights issues worldwide. He said the president should have stood up for freedom with the dissidents in Iran following their elections.

During a news conference following the event, Romney said he should’ve focused more on the economy and his strengths as a business leader during his 2008 run for the Republican presidential nomination.

“I think that one of the things that's very important in running a campaign is to make sure that you're known for the things that really motivate you," he said. "And I needed to do a better job to focus my campaign on the economy and getting the economy right and creating jobs. And whether through my ads or through my responses to debate questions or on the stump, my power alley is the economy. I understand why jobs come, why they go."

Although Romney said he hasn’t decided whether he will run for the presidency in 2012, there are signs he is mounting a campaign. Romney’s Free Strong American Political Action Committee released a statement Wednesday that said it will support Republican candidates in the 2010 election who make repealing parts of the healthcare bill a central part of their platforms.

Romney’s visit was sponsored by the Chicago Young Republicans, WLS-890AM, and the McCormick Freedom Project. The Post-Exchange is a publication of the McCormick Freedom Project.