At GOP presidential candidate forum, focus is on Romney and health reform

At a forum in South Carolina Monday, five GOP presidential candidates debated health care reform, among other issues.

Los Angeles Times: GOP Hopefuls Court 'Tea Party' Conservatives In South Carolina
In a Labor Day warm-up for this week's presidential debate, a partial cast of Republican contenders argued Monday for turning back the clock on legislation passed at the federal level, starting with President Obama's health care law and going back nearly a century (West, 9/5).

The Washington Post: Know Your Constitution: A Tea Party Test For GOP Field In South Carolina
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney called for the repeal of a raft of federal legislation that he believes overstepped the government's authority, from the health care overhaul to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Gardner, 9/5).

NPR: Perry Skips S.C. Tea Party Forum, 5 Others Appear
[Sen. Jim] DeMint poked Romney on one of his thorniest issues: "You know if you're our nominee, the president's gonna say you implemented Obamacare in Massachusetts. How would you describe what Massachusetts did?" With less than a minute to respond, Romney insisted his law was much more limited than the federal, which he says is "Simply unconstitutional." "It's bad law," Romney went on to say. "It's bad medicine. And on day one of my administration, I'll direct the secretary of health and human services to grant a waiver from Obamacare to all 50 states. It has got to be stopped and I know it better than most" (Rose, 9/6).

The [Columbia, S.C.] State/Miami Herald: Romney Tells Forum He'd Let States Opt Out Of Health Care Law
[Romney] said his plan impacted only 8 percent of people in his home state who lacked coverage, not all Americans as Obama's plan eventually would do (Smith, 9/5).

CNN (Video): Romney: Health Care Will Be One Of My 'Best Assets'
Romney said Monday that the issue of health care will be "one of my best assets" if he goes on to win the Republican nomination and debate President Barack Obama in the general election. "And I'll say to him, why didn't you give me a call? I would have told you what to do right and what not to do," Romney said to laughter at Sen. Jim DeMint's forum in South Carolina Monday (Hornick, 9/5).

Fox News: Bachmann Swipes At Romney, Calls State Health Care Mandate 'Unconstitutional'
[Rep. Michele Bachmann] extended that criticism to similar requirements at the state level. "I believe it is also unconstitutional for states to mandate as a ... condition of citizenship, that an individual would have to purchase a product or service even at the state government's behest," she said at a GOP presidential candidates' forum in South Carolina (9/5).

The Texas Tribune: Interactive: Comparing the Republican Presidential Contenders 
Gov. Rick Perry has risen to GOP front-runner status in the primary polls, but the other presidential contenders are still hot on his trail. The Tribune created this interactive to help voters compare him to other top Republican candidates on everything from their personal histories and governing experience to their stances on [health care reform, abortion,] gay marriage and immigration (Aaronson, Chang and Hasson, 9/6).

The New York Times: G.O.P. Candidates' Stances On Health Care Mask Their Records As Governors
The three most prominent current or former governors running for president -; Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Jon M. Huntsman Jr. -; are firmly united in their commitment to repealing President Obama's health care law. But that unanimity masks a broad divergence in their approaches to the issue while in office, spanning the spectrum of Republican positioning (Sack, 9/3).

Related from KHN: GOP Presidential Hopefuls: Where They Stand On Health Care