Eye Recommend --- Free Mitt Romney

FREE MITT ROMNEY, by Paul Krugman -- 
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/opinion/free-mitt-romney.html

what eye thynk:  It seems that Mr. Romney just isn't strong enough to pull himself free from the conservative All-For-Me-and-None-For-You magnetic field--not even to take credit for the one good public policy for which he is responsible and for which he should be deservedly proud.

Sometimes I find myself feeling sorry for Mitt Romney.  No, seriously.  In another time and place, he might have been respected as an effective technocrat--a smart guy valued (although probably not loved) for his ability to get things done.  In fact, that's kind of how it worked when he was governor of Massachusetts, a decade ago.

But not it's 2015 in America, and Mr. Romney's party doesn't want people who get things done. On the contrary, it actively hates government programs that improve American lives, especially if they help Those People.  And this means that Mr. Romney can't celebrate his signature achievement in public life, the Massachusetts health reform that served as a template for Obamacare.

This has to hurt.  Indeed, a few days ago Mr. Romney couldn't help himself: he boasted to the Boston Globe that "Without Romneycare, we wouldn't have had Obamacare" and that as a result "a lot of people wouldn't have health insurance."  And it's true!

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 talk his comments back, claiming that Obamacare is very different from Romneycare, which it isn't and that it has failed...

Which is hasn't; but saying so would be admitting that, for the past five years and seven months, the GOP has been lying to the people they have sworn to serve.

... On the contrary, the Affordable Care Act has been a remarkable success, especially considering the scorched-earth opposition it has faced...

...The great majority of Republican-controlled states have turned down free money, refusing to let the federal government expand Medicaid (and in so doing pump money into their economies).

The point is that from the point of view of the Republican base, covering the uninsured, or helping the unlucky in general, isn't a feature, it's a bug.  It's not about how much it costs in taxpayer funds or economic impact: the base is actually willing to lose money in order to perpetuate suffering...

...Maybe Mr. Romney...just can't bring himself to admit that he picked the wrong group of people to hang out with... One hopes for his sake that he eventually gives up his illusions.  Trust me, Mitt:  It will be a liberating experience.