11/02/2012

A Closing Argument Against Romney to Make Conservatives Stay Home on Election Day:
Here's a few fun quotes that you can use on your right-wing uncle this weekend. It never hurts to look backward in order to move forward.

On Romney's time as governor of Massachusetts:
"I heard Governor Romney describe his record. As I understand it, his record was that he raised taxes by $730 million. He called them 'fees.' I'm sure the people that had to pay it, whether they called them 'bananas,' they still had to pay $730 million extra.

"His job creation was the third worst in the country, [leaving the] people of Massachusetts with a $245 million debt because of the big government-mandated health care system.

"And while the rest of the country was losing 7 percent of the manufacturing jobs while he was governor, 14 percent of the manufacturing jobs left the state of Massachusetts."

On Romney the businessman:
"[H]e's a fine man. And I think he managed companies, and he bought, and he sold, and sometimes people lost their jobs...I can hire lots of managers, but leadership is a quality that people look for."

That was John McCain, of course, in a January 30, 2008 Republican debate at the Reagan Library. It was the final debate of the Republican primary season.

Oh, and while we're at it, here's Romney himself endorsing his health care plan's mandate and saying that it would work for the nation (not state by state, as he now says): "In this country, you have today about 47 million people that don't have health insurance. We went out and tried to find out why they don't. We found out that about half of them could afford to buy insurance if it were reasonably priced. They could afford to buy it, but they weren't buying it. it? 'If we get sick, we can go to the hospital and get care for free.'

"And we said: You know what? If somebody could afford insurance, they should either buy the insurance or pay their own way. They don't have to buy insurance if they don't want to, but pay their own way. But they shouldn't be allowed to just show up at the hospital and say, somebody else should pay for me.

"And so we said: No more free riders. It was like bringing 'workfare' to welfare. We said: If you can afford insurance, then either have the insurance or get a health savings account. Pay your own way, but no more free ride.

"And that was what the mandate did. It said, you have got to come with either the insurance or a health savings account or the like."

As Romney said in a debate just a few days earlier, "I do support an effort to get everybody some form of catastrophic coverage. And it may be a public-private partnership between private insurance industries and the federal government. It may be done with the states." Or, you know, Obamacare.

Let's leave you with McCain, the bitterest elf ever to run for president, who said of Romney in 2008, "Ronald Reagan would not approve of someone who changes their positions depending on what the year is."