Want to know what a colossal disaster Obamacare is going to be? Just consider what a colossal disaster Romneycare already is:
As governor, Mitt Romney accomplished a feat that most Republicans would have thought impossible. With the single stroke of a pen he convinced the liberal population of Massachusetts that they, too, hate government-run health care.
As a health care plan, Romneycare is an unmitigated fiasco. It has caused costs to skyrocket, insurance premiums to soar and nonprofit providers like Blue Cross to suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
But as a political policy, Romneycare is nearly unparalleled in Republican history. It has destroyed one front-runner's presidential hopes (Romney's) and helped undermine an entire presidency. For, as Barack Obama's supporters keep reminding us, Romneycare was the precursor to Obamacare.
"Destroyed one front-runner's presidential hopes" is exactly right, but Romney doesn't to get it. He's just announced formally for the 2012 nomination, and he seems to think he can explain Romneycare away as a valid exercise in federalism -- universal health care is wrong for the nation, but individual states should be free to experiment. Indeed, they should, but those responsbile for failed experiments have to be held accountable for them. No Oval Office for you, Mitt!
