GOP shows plenty of hypocrisy on health care reform

Dwayne Morton, Las Vegas

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 | 2:02 a.m.

In reference to the recent Republican attempt to repeal the health care law, I did a little homework on the GOP’s previous attempts at health care reform.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon proposed universal coverage, cost containment and the like. It was killed by the Watergate fiasco.

A lot of information is out there about former Gov. Mitt Romney’s work in Massachusetts. It appears to be the prototype of the 2010 federal law, but absent the cost-containment measures.

Right-wing talk show host Hugh Hewitt wrote the following about Gov. Romney’s individual mandate requirement: “This brilliant bit of legislating was born from a partnering between Romney and his policy team with the conservative Heritage Foundation. Put simply, the problem of the uninsured is a problem for everyone, as the uninsured still consume health care and the costs of that care must be covered from somewhere, usually general fund tax revenues and in the form of higher premiums assessing the covered population.”

I could continue with former Sen. Bob Dole’s work on a bipartisan bill in 2009, but you get the point.

Is it true that an individual mandate is wonderful from a Republican, but horrible from a Democrat? And I thought imitation was the most sincere form of flattery.

We all know our health care system is way overpriced ($2.5 trillion), has underperformed, has double the developed world’s infant mortality rate, and our life expectancy is near Cuba’s. So to all in the GOP on fixing all of this: Lead, follow or get out of the way!