



Democrats took it upon themselves to effusively praise Mitt Romney for the health care measure he enacted five years ago yesterday as governor of Massachusetts — which created the basis for the sweeping law President Barack Obama signed last year.

The one and a half minute video, which combines clips of Romney defending the reforms, was released Monday — the same day that Romney announced his exploratory committee to run for president.

Despite insisting that states must find their own solutions to the health care crisis, Romney has at times suggested that parts of the Massachusetts reforms could be applied nationwide. As recently as Oct. 2009, Romney told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, “Massachusetts is a model for getting everybody insured in a way that doesn’t break the bank, doesn’t put the government in the driver’s seat and allows people to own their own insurance policies and not to have to worry about losing coverage. That’s what Massachusetts did,” he said.

During an appearance on Fox News Sunday in March 2010, Romney highlighted his support for the plan’s individual health insurance mandate. “I think our plan is working well. And perhaps the best thing I can say about it, it’s saving lives. It is the ultimate pro-life effort,” he said. “We said people have to take responsibility for getting insurance if they can afford it or paying their own way. No more free riders.”

(Source: RawStory.com and ThinkProgress.org)