If Romney Were President

[Greenbeard]

Jonathan Chait imagines a world in which Mitt Romney won the 2008 election:

If Romney had won his last presidential campaign, he probably would have implemented something like the Affordable Care Act. He would have sold his party on its more conservative character by pointing out that, unlike Masscare, this one includes Medicare cuts and a wide array of reforms to limit Medicare waste in the future. (In other words, just what Obama did.)

And a world in which he wins the 2012 election:

Williamson is arguing that conservatives should abandon their obsession with the repeal crusade, and allow Romney to build a consensus for radical changes to the Affordable Care Act:

This will be especially important when it comes to repealing Obamacare, the first step of which is: Do not announce that you are repealing Obamacare. The smart way to repeal Obamacare is to revisit the legislation and to amend it in ways that remove the worst of its statist overreach and replace it with the best available free-market alternatives. The Wyden-Ryan approach is one possible model for amending Obamacare, but it is not the only one, and it is not sufficient by itself. In any case, it will be more effective to amend the legislation in such a way that it is effectively repealed and replaced than to have an emotionally satisfying but probably unwinnable fight over repeal per se.

First of all, in the Wyden-Ryan approach, subsidized private insurance through exchanges, is not a reform of Obamacare. It is Obamacare. And this fact illustrates the broader problem with Williamson's argument. He wants conservatives to stop demanding that Romney commit to a full and total effort to repeal every single part of the Affordable Care Act, and instead let him muck around in the legislation so that it conforms with conservative principles. But the reason conservatives are so insistent on pinning Romney down is that, if he were allowed to muck around in the legislation, he'd wind up with something very similar.

What conservatives want is for Romney to ignore his technocratic impulses. They have good reason to want that.

I hadn't really thought until now about the prospect of Mitt being the key to legitimizing the ACA: he makes a few cosmetic changes, destigmatizes it for the right (in part by disassociating it from Obama), but otherwise implements it. I suspect if the GOP can make it successes their own, they'll suddenly remember all they like about its contents.

Given his background in Massachusetts and his personality, Mitt may be the GOP candidate (with the possible exception of Gingrich, whose campaign health plan tracks closely with the ACA) duplicitous and shameless enough to make it work.

 

[Charles_Main]

If Romney were President, it would mean Obama would not get 4 more years to spend like there is no tomorrow and be a very ineffective, Divisive leaders.

Sounds like a win win to me.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Most Repubs were in favor of universal health care until President Obama was in favor of it. Most Americans too, simply because its a good thing for all of us. But, if it has President Obama's name on it, they'll just keep up with the same lies.

Romney would repeal it.

 

[Greenbeard]

Most Repubs were in favor of universal health care until President Obama was in favor of it. Most Americans too, simply because its a good thing for all of us. But, if it has President Obama's name on it, they'll just keep up with the same lies.

Indeed, but a President Romney could position himself to take reform back from the Democrats: do a little hand-waving, perhaps endorse some miniscule changes around the edges, but ultimately elbow Obama out of the picture. If Romney can disassociate Obama's name from the ACA and seem to put his own stamp on it by "fixing" this or that minor detail, conservatives can begin to notice all the pieces of the ACA they've been demanding all along--once Obama's name is removed from them, of course. Things like:

• Movement toward high deductible health plans
• Tools for applying pressure to pare or eliminate state benefit mandates
• Interstate health insurance sales
• Small business pools, along with the option for employee choice
• Malpractice liability reform grants to states

They've already endorsed some of the popular early provisions, it isn't too difficult to imagine a President Romney using the illusion of "tinkering" to take credit for the ACA and, ultimately, legitimize it for the GOP.