Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is marking the second anniversary of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform legislation Friday with a damning editorial in USA Today.
In the piece, titled "Why I'd repeal ObamaCare," Romney says, "President Obama's program is an unfolding disaster for the American economy, a budget-busting entitlement, and a dramatic new federal intrusion into our lives." He goes on to lay out his vision for an alternative to "ObamaCare," which includes alterations to the tax code, tort reform, and, most conspicuously, an appeal to limited government.
When I was governor of Massachusetts, we instituted a plan that got our citizens insured without raising taxes and without a government takeover. Other states will choose to go in different directions. It is the genius of federalism that it encourages experimentation, with each state pursuing what works best for them. ObamaCare's disregard for this core aspect of U.S. tradition is one of its most egregious failings.
Romney has returned to this last point often, particularly as he has come under fire in conservative circles for the healthcare legislation that he shepherded to passage as Massachusetts governor in 2006 -- which bears striking resemblance to Obama's signature law.