Liberty Republicans Critical of Romney Statement He’d Keep in Place Parts of the ACA
Republicans win elections when we are true to republican principles. We do best for the country when we govern by republican principles. We live better when we live free.
Mitt Romney’s comments over the weekend that he would keep parts of “health care reform” and that he has his own plan for health care are contrary to republican principles of individual liberty and constitutional government. Will the Romney plan be “better” than the Obama plan? Very likely. However of greater importance is that endorsement of a Romney Plan is endorsement of government authority to manage health care.
Endorsement of a President Romney Health Care Plan is a backhanded endorsement of the legitimacy of ObamaCare. It is an endorsement that future administrations — Democrat and Republican — can implement health care programs with even greater centralized control. Endorsement of a Romney Plan is effectively legitimizing a single-payer system if that is “the will of the people.”
Standing in opposition to endorsement of government-controlled health care, Liberty Republicans issued the following press release this morning, Sept. 10.
For Immediate Release:
Liberty Republicans Critical of Romney Statement He’d Keep in Place Parts of the ACA
Romney’s statement confirms that the most significant debate in American politics is within the Republican Party
(http://mnlibertynetwork.wordpress.com/) – A widely-circulated AP story citing Mitt Romney’s comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to the effect that he “doesn’t plan to repeal all of [President] Obama’s signature health care plan” and “there are a number of initiatives he likes in the Affordable Care Act that he would keep” drew the following sharp criticism from Liberty Republicans who made up the majority of Minnesota delegation to the RNC and cast 33 of the state’s 40 delegate votes for Ron Paul.
“Romney’s statement that he intends to replace ObamaCare with his own plan validates the Liberty Republican position that the general election is simply a contest of ‘my big government is better than your big government,’” said Marianne Stebbins, chair of Minnesota delegation to the RNC. “The Liberty Republican position is a Republican president should be taking about how we move away from government plans to a free-market health care system, not cherry picking bits and pieces of one big government plan to create another big government plan.”
“Cherry-picking bits and pieces of ObamaCare as Romney does compromises the fundamental principle of individual liberty and endorses the un-republican and extra-constitutional notion that government has the authority and the ability to manage individual health care decisions,” Stebbins added.
“Romney’s position confirms what Liberty Republicans have been saying for some time: The most significant debate in American politics today is not between the Democrat and Republican candidates for President; the most significant debate in American politics today is taking place within the Republican Party,” said Craig Westover, a delegate to the RNC elected at the MNGOP state convention running openly as a “Ron Paul delegate.” “The most significant debate in American Politics is between a genuine belief in individual liberty and limited government and exploiting liberty and limited government as expedient talking points.”
“Democrats are saying they can manage the economy and individual lives better than the market and individuals can,” said Westover. “Republicans are arguing we can manage the economy and individual lives better than Democrats can. The facts are it is not a constitutional function of the President and Congress to manage the economy, and the President and Congress cannot effectively manage an economy determined by tens of millions of individuals making hundreds of millions individual choices every day.”
“Government power is like Tolkien’s One Ring that controls them all,” said Stebbins. “Romney believes that unlike an ‘evil’ Obama, he can use the absolute power of government to create a ‘good’ health care plan. Liberty Republicans know better. We know power corrupts. The Republican objective should not be winning the election so Romney can impose his idea of ‘good’ on the American people. A Republican Romney should be about winning the election so he can throw the One Ring of government power into the fire of the Constitution.”
“Many Liberty Republicans have committed to support the endorsed Republican candidate,” noted Westover, “but ‘loyal support’ includes making it known when the candidate drifts from republican principles. A Republican candidate should not be talking about replacing one government plan with another; a Republican candidate should be talking about replacing a government plan with a free market approach to health care that puts health care decisions in the hands of individuals and their doctors.”
“We live better when we live free,” said Stebbins. “Romney’s position of cherry-picking ObamaCare is nether living better nor living free. It is not a republican position.”
Cross-posted at Minnesota Liberty Network.