Another reason why Mitt Romney should not be allowed anywhere near the 2012 GOP nomination

I’m not sure who Mitt Romney is trying to impress.  The man behind Massachusetts’ coercive state-run universal health care system is proud of his creation, and he thinks you should be forced to join it too.

WCBV (Boston), July 9:

Three years after the inception of Massachusetts’ landmark health reform legislation, which required every citizen to buy insurance, NewsCenter 5’s Ed Harding wondered what former Gov. Mitt Romney, a key political architect of the plan, thought of its progress.

Call it protecting his legacy, well-earned pride, or seeing the glass as half-full, but Romney says Massachusetts deserves an ‘A.’

“It’s working like we had hoped it would work,” the one-time republic presidential candidate said. “We got nearly everybody in Massachusetts health insurance, which really, something people didn't think was possible.”

Romney said the same can be done nationwide, though he concedes what many in the Bay State are grappling with now, that the hardest part of the reform debate is controlling costs.

[…]

Romney points to a recent analysis by the pro-reform Massachusetts Taxpayers’ Association, showing that since near-universal coverage was implemented in 2006, state taxpayers have had to shell out an additional $88 million per year to insure an additional 430,000 citizens.

“Some people say. ‘Oh, it's expensive,’ but actually, it cost less than two percent of the state budget.”

So, something that shouldn’t be government’s responsibility in the first place is okay because it costs no more than 2% of the annual budget.  Oh. Well.  What was I complaining about?

Romney appears to have only one substantial objection to Obama’s national healthcare vision.  As I mentioned before, Romney is all for coercing people into getting health insurance, but he doesn’t see any need for a public plan option. 

It also appears that he’s okay with putting productive Americans on the hook for tens of billions of dollars (up to 2% of the federal budget) to cover premiums for those who can’t afford them.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

Anybody who is acceptable to the majority of Massachusetts voters cannot possibly be good for America. 

As far as Democrats are concerned, how sweet it is to have a prominent Republican who eagerly champions a significant part of their agenda.

This is almost certainly why Romney has already been declared  the 2012 GOP nominee by the media.