Paul Krugman: I Feel Sorry For Mitt Romney Over Obamacare

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2015 file photo, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney says he will no... FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2015 file photo, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney says he will not run for president in 2016. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) MORE LESS
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New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote in a column published Monday that “sometimes I find myself feeling sorry for Mitt Romney.”

The former GOP presidential nominee made headlines Friday when he talked to the Boston Globe about the death of Staples founder Thomas G. Stemberg, who was involved in healthcare reform in Massachusetts when Romney was governor there.

“Without Tom pushing it, I don’t think we would have had Romneycare,” Romney told the Globe. “Without Romneycare, I don’t think we would have Obamacare. So, without Tom a lot of people wouldn’t have health insurance.”

Krugman, whose column carried the headline, “Free Mitt Romney!”, wrote that Romney’s comments were true, even though the Republican later tried to say on Facebook that he still opposed President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

From Krugman’s column:

But such truths aren’t welcome in the G.O.P. Ben Carson, who is leading the latest polls of Iowa Republicans, has declared that Obamacare is the worst thing to happen to America since slavery; 81 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers say that this statement makes him more attractive as a candidate.

Not surprisingly, then, Mr. Romney quickly tried to walk his comments back, claiming that Obamacare is very different from Romneycare, which it isn’t, and that it has failed.

But you know, it hasn’t. On the contrary, the Affordable Care Act has been a remarkable success, especially considering the scorched-earth opposition it has faced.

Krugman pointed to the law’s achievements and noted the number of Republican-controlled states that have turned down federal funds to expand Medicaid.

As Krugman summed it up:

Maybe Mr. Romney still imagines that a desperate party will call on him to save it from Donald Trump. Or maybe he just can’t bring himself to admit that he picked the wrong group of people to hang out with. Either way, one hopes for his sake that he eventually gives up his illusions. Trust me, Mitt: it will be a liberating experience.

Read the full column here.

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for mcbain mcbain says:

    Romney is a duplicitous and spineless coward who could have taken full ownership of it, but instead he chose to pander to the wing nuts and disavow what he had done. There isn’t a single position he didn’t flip flop on (and sometimes back again). He deserves all the scorn he can get.

  2. Trolling Mitt is way too easy.

  3. Avatar for chammy chammy says:

    I agree. He’s a worthless pussy

  4. If Mittens feels bad, he can always cuddle up to the millions he made from buying companies and then firing the people who worked there.

    I really don’t feel sorry for Mitt Romney at all.

  5. Avatar for mcbain mcbain says:

    Who I feel sorry for is Krugman - he is almost always right about the economy and the world would be a much better place economically if those in charge listened to him rather than listening to the Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney austerity fools.

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