Man Bites Dog

Newt Gingrich tells the truth.

“the individual mandate was originally developed by the Heritage Foundation and others, as a way to block Hillarycare.”

Firebaggers argue that the PPACA is conservative, because it is similar to a Heritage Foundation proposal. They neglect to note that the proposal was made in bad faith. The point was to complicate the debate by making it Clintoncare vs Obamacare vs no reform. That way the result was no reform, even though most US adults wanted some reform.

This is not speculation. The Heritage/Romney/Obama approach was also the Chafee proposal. [John] Chafee (R-R.I.) proposed something like the PPACA in 1993. Senate minority leader R. Dole cosponsored the bill. In 1994 Dole voted against a bill whcih he had cosponsored proving that his advocacy of an individual mandate was made in bad faith and aiming only at complicating the debate.

Similarly when Ted Kennedy was advocating single payer/Medicare for all, Nixon proposed a reform similar to that proposed by the Clintons.

Yes Obama, all Democratic Senators, two independent Senators, and a majority in the House voted for a plan similar to one proposed by The Heritage Foundation. Everyone who works at The Heritage Foundation (except maybe a janitor who hates the jerks after whom he cleans up) recognized this as a huge defeat. Jane Hamsher hasn’t wised up.