Newt Gingrich Defends Mitt Romney On Health Care Despite Previous Digs

WASHINGTON -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had some kind words for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in a new interview, despite previously criticizing the Massachusetts health care legislation he signed into law.

"Governor Romney's made very clear that he favors absolute repeal of Obamacare and that he believes it's not accurate and not fair to try and compare the two," said Gingrich in an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, "and I think you have to start with that. And I also think, in all fairness to Governor Romney, that he vetoed many provisions that the liberal Democrats in the Massachusetts state legislature added to the bill, and they overrode his veto. So I think if you're going to go back and look at the original Romney bill you'd have a much better bill and a much more practical bill than what the liberal Democrats did to the legislation because they literally overrode his veto on a whole series of items."

When Brody asked whether, therefore, the comparison between the Massachusetts law and federal health care reform is not as clear cut as people may believe, Gingrich agreed. "Yeah," he replied. "I think it's not but that will be part of the dialogue."

WATCH:

One person who has compared the Massachusetts law and federal health reform is Gingrich himself. In April, he said -- without specifically mentioning Romney -- "It's the forerunner of Obamacare. It is a general model in a general direction and it's the general direction that's wrong. And that's why I'm suggesting you need to be thinking about fundamental change, not just marginal reforms."

The Massachusetts health care law has become a bit of an albatross around Romney's neck as he considers a 2012 president run, with other possible contenders like Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) saying he needs to repudiate it, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) saying the "Massachusetts experience" is not one he would "want for the country to follow any further."

Romney has gone back and forth between defending the state's health care law and distancing himself from it. In March, he seemed to make the case for the individual mandate, a major component of both the federal and Massachusetts law -- but also one that has been demonized by conservatives. In 2008, in fact, Romney said, "I like mandates. The mandates work."

Additionally, while Gingrich is now saying that the Massachusetts law doesn't totally reflect Romney's plan, the former governor said he stood behind it in March and praised the fact that Democrats were involved in passing it: "I like what we have in Massachusetts, despite some flaws. But what I see in Obamacare is a very different piece of legislation -- and one that followed a very different track. In our case, our bill was carried out in a bipartisan basis."

The only thing that has remained consistent, it seems, is Gingrich and Romney's agreement that they dislike the Affordable Care Act.

 

 

Comments

[middleoftheroad]

08:28 PM on 11/17/2010

Me thinks Newt is gunning for the VP slot!

[Thomas Clarke]

04:50 PM on 11/16/2010

Newt's closet is so packed full of skeletons, he should be featured on the next episode of 'Bones.' One reason why he's been the little man who wasn't there for the past decade or so. A brief example -

Taken from WikiPedia:

Gingrich has been married three times. In 1962, he married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, when he was 19 years old and she was 26. They had two daughters. In the spring of 1980, Gingrich left Battley after having an affair with Marianne Ginther. According to Battley, Gingrich visited her later that year while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery to discuss the details of their divorce. In the mid-1990s, Gingrich began an affair with House of Representatives staffer Callista Bisek, who is 23 years his junior; they continued their affair during the Lewinsky scandal. In 2000, Gingrich married Bisek shortly after his divorce with second wife Ginther was finalized.

Everybody has a right to a private life. Everybody makes mistakes. But remember, this is the man who wanted to drive Bill Clinton from office because of the Monical Lewenski thing. Personally, I think Newt should run in 2012. He'll be easy to beat.

[lldem1]

04:31 PM on 11/16/2010

romney should just give up. he'll never win the liberal/fundamentalist vote. those two groups have many things in common (ironically) and one of which is their intense disdain for mormons.

[kimbanyc]

04:21 PM on 11/16/2010

This is the first step in Newt NOT running for the Presidency and the first salvo in this dangerous idealogue backing Mitt

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

03:45 PM on 11/16/2010

The title should read:

Newt Gingrich scraps ten more pages of The Oxford Dictionary.

[Henri101]

03:35 PM on 11/16/2010

Skillful politicians, cajole, ignore, disregard, insinuate, misinterpret etc. etc., Newt simply spews falsehoods.

[lvbrun]

03:00 PM on 11/16/2010

Newt left office in disgrace; his personal life looks like it was written for daytime television and his positions have gone from moderate to far right in an effort to ride the extremism wave that has taken over the Republican Party.
As a result he lacks integrity and substance, so though I like to hear both sides of every issue, his is an opinion I can do without.

[lowpdogs]

11:59 AM on 11/16/2010

Why does it only seem that we see hypocrisy? I wonder when the Right see things like this, does it come to them like a light-bulb, or is the light-bulb broken?

[jbvbwysu]

10:48 AM on 11/16/2010

More hypocrisy and doublespeak from the King of the Space Cadets, Lardbutt Gingrich.

"...in all fairness to Governor Romney, that he vetoed many provisions that the liberal Democrats in the Massachusetts state legislature added to the bill, and they overrode his veto. So I think if you're going to go back and look at the original Romney bill you'd have a much better bill and a much more practical bill than what the liberal Democrats did to the legislation because they literally overrode his veto on a whole series of items."

Well Newt, if you want to go by that logic, the ORIGINAL Obama proposals were a hell of a lot better than what got passed too, thanks to the hundreds of conservative Republican amendments as well as the obstructionism of Blue Dogs like Lieberman.

Stick to smoking dope and reading Toffler, Newt.

[LeftLeanWing]

10:31 AM on 11/16/2010

Observe how much the conversation on healthCare has Flipped and Flopped on Both Sides.....

Once Upon A Time.......
The Unions Were Against the Individual Mandate and Conservatives like Newt Gingrich, Romney and the Heritage Foundation were For It..... But once Obama and the Democrats were for it they discovered away to be Against It.  And the Unions flipped as well.


FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS AFL-CIO Website during the MassCare debate and discussions

The genesis of the individual mandate comes from former Speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich and the notoriously anti-worker Heritage Foundation. Governor Mitt Romney, the most anti-worker Governor of all, also loves the individual mandate. These are not friends of working people and it is disconcerting that our Speaker, Senate President, and state legislators would join their ranks by passing this individual mandate. We intend to work with the Speaker and Senate President to monitor the situation closely during the implementation of this legislation. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO looks forward to continue playing our integral role in the ongoing health care debate in this Commonwealth. We will wait and see if this bill will accomplish any progress in making health care more affordable and accessible for working families." 

Official Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Massachusetts Health Care Reform - April 5, 2006 

“Who would have thought that Massachusetts - long considered a bastion of progressive thinking - would take a page out of the Newt Gingrich playbook for health care reform? Forcing uninsured workers to purchase health care coverage or face higher taxes and fines is the cornerstone of Mr. Gingrich’s health care reform proposals. And it is unconscionable that Massachusetts has adopted this misguided individual mandate.

src: http://www.massaflcio.org/node/85
IRONIC ISN'T IT ?

[LeftLeanWing]

10:20 AM on 11/16/2010

REFORM: Newt Gingrich on "Free Riders" and the Individual Mandate
June 18, 2008 - 11:05am

According to an AP story, Gingrich said it was, " ‘fundamentally immoral' for a person who can afford insurance to save money by going without, then show up at an emergency room and demand free care."
This is in keeping with some Gingrich's past comments about individual responsibility in the context of health reform. In a June 2007 opinion piece in the Des Moines Register, he said:

Personal responsibility extends to the purchase of health insurance. Citizens should not be able to cheat their neighbors by not buying insurance, particularly when they can afford it, and expect others to pay for their care when they need it. However, an individual mandate is an acceptable option only when the larger health-care system has been fundamentally changed. It is unjust to require an individual to buy into a broken and dysfunctional system.

.....
Romney made the individual mandate central to his state reform proposal while he was governor of Massachusetts, and confronted this issue head on in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, during the heat of the health reform conversations in his state. "Some of my libertarian friends balk at what looks like an individual mandate," he wrote. "But remember, someone has to pay for the health care that must, by law, be provided: Either the individual pays or the taxpayers pay. A free ride on government is not libertarian."

[chriss0114]

10:06 AM on 11/16/2010

he is vying to be the Koch brother's presidential candidate pick's VP

Kock bros. picked Mitty for pres. so it looks like the newt wants to be second banana

[chriss0114]

10:03 AM on 11/16/2010

But what I see in Obamacare is a very different piece of legislation -- and one that followed a very different track. In our case, our bill was carried out in a bipartisan basis."


Well -- after some 261 Republican amendments, could we say the party of NO! had their say and input? and since they chose to act in unison on every piece of major legislation to ensure failure despite it being a Republican plan anyway, I'd say it is as bipartisan a plan if there ever was one

[Countess]

09:49 AM on 11/16/2010

It is truly pathetic that an ignorant hypocrite like Gingrich passes for an intellectual in the dumbed down world of the GOP.

[hrc04]

09:41 AM on 11/16/2010

This is gonna be a fun two years watching the House work with their new Tea Party darlings.