Republican candidates bash health reform law in first debate

Health care came up early in the Republican presidential contender debate, which included: Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts; Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota; Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House; Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota; Representative Ron Paul of Texas; Herman Cain, former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza; and Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press: "Republican White House hopefuls assailed President Barack Obama's handling of the economy from the opening moments of their first major debate of the campaign season Monday night and pledged emphatically to repeal the administration's year-old health care law. ... In general, the Republicans on stage steered away of criticizing one another, and even the evident differences among them were expressed in muted terms. Santorum said he wholeheartedly supported Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal to turn Medicare into a program in which the government subsidizes beneficiaries who would seek coverage from private insurance companies" (Elliott, 6/13).

Politico: "CNN's John King just asked Tim Pawlenty four different ways, including finally head-on, to repeat his "ObamneyCare coinage from Fox News on Sunday, but to no avail. The exchange began with Mitt Romney getting asked about the criticism, which he declined to discuss but did call Obama's plan 'terrible.' It was also a moment that Pawlenty needed to turn effectively, and with strength, and he failed to do it. ... TPAW: "President Obama is the person I quoted ... Using the term 'Obamneycare' was a reflection of the president's comments"  (Haberman, 6/13).

Reuters: "Romney defended the plan, which has become a lightning rod for conservative critics, as different from Obama's healthcare overhaul in part because it did not raise taxes and was state-based. 'If people don't like it in our state, they can change it. That's the nature of why states are the right place for this type of responsibility,' Romney said" (Whitesides, 6/13).

The New York Times fact-checked some of the responses: "Health care also drew misleading or incomplete answers ... Mr. Romney flatly declared that he would 'repeal Obamacare,' although the president's health care law has strong similarities to the law that Mr. Romney pushed through when he was governor. ... Asked about the similarities, Mr. Romney said at the debate that Massachusetts, unlike Washington, did not finance its plan with a tax increase. But since Mr. Romney left office in 2007, the state has had to raise taxes to keep the program afloat. ...  Mr. Pawlenty obscured his own changing position on mandates. In a 2006 speech on health care, he called mandates 'potentially helpful' and 'a worthy goal,' though he stressed that by themselves they would not solve the problem of getting more people insured" (Cooper, 6/13).