Some prominent Mitt Romney supporters are saying the presidential hopeful's campaign should stop sending mixed messages about the Supreme Court's health care ruling.
Romney and his staffers have been going back and forth on whether to call it a tax as an attack on President Obama or not a tax, to preserve the argument that Romney never raised taxes in his state despite having a similar health care law.
Head spinning a bit? We'll backtrack.
On Wednesday, Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said the federal health care reform mandate constitutes a "tax," contradicting the way his senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, of the Etch-a-Sketch gaffe fame, characterized his position earlier this week. But the similar individual mandate and fee he signed into law when governor of Massachusetts is not a tax, he said in a separate interview, citing the Supreme Court's decision last Thursday.
In March, Fehrnstrom made headlines for saying in a CNN interview that the transition from the primaries to the general election was "almost like an Etch-a-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again."
Some people are calling the tax chatter another Romney flip-flop. Others are calling it the Etch-a-Sketch redux. Others, like editor of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel, are saying this incident makes the previous gaffe look like solid campaign strategy.
Romney now says health mandate is a tax. Making that Etch a Sketch look downright steady,stable and full of integrity.
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Katrina vandenHeuvel (@KatrinaNation) July 05, 2012And now, plenty of people, including his supporters, are hitting Romney on the issue and letting him know that either he needs to get himself aligned with his staff on these issues, or scrap some of the staff and get a new game plan as they charge into the general election.
Media baron Rupert Murdoch, never shy on his views, tweeted that while he supports the former Massachusetts governor he believes Romney needs to shake up his staff to have a chance to beat Obama's seasoned campaign staff.
Met Romney last week. Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful.
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Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) July 01, 2012And apparently, that tweet upset the Romney campaign, which prompted Murdoch to follow up with a tweet on Monday. He said he wants Romney to win, but instead of the campaign upset about the criticism they should heed some of the good advice Murdoch feels Romney is getting about trying to get his campaign in order.
Romney people upset at me! Of course I want him to win, save us from socialism, etc but should listen to good advice and get stuck in!
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Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) July 02, 2012
Murdoch's tweets of fury were followed by agreement from Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, and then a blistering editorial from the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal.
Welch tweeted that he hoped Romney's camp would heed Murdoch's advice, noting that the Obama campaign staff is a well-oiled machine at this point.
Hope Mitt Romney is listening to Murdoch advice ont campaign staff..playing in league with Chicago pols..No room for amateurs
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Jack Welch (@jack_welch) July 02, 2012And the Wall Street Journal went further with an elaborate editorial that declared the tax or not a tax issue is indicative of larger campaign problems. The editorial says what could have easily been a choreographed way to attack Obama has essentially turned into a political defeat for Romney.
"Why make such an unforced error? Because it fits with Mr. Romney's fear of being labeled a flip-flopper, as if that is worse than confusing voters about the tax and health-care issues. Mr. Romney favored the individual mandate as part of his reform in Massachusetts, and as we've said from the beginning of his candidacy his failure to admit that mistake makes him less able to carry the anti-ObamaCare case to voters ...
His latest mistake is of a piece with the campaign's insular staff and strategy that are slowly squandering an historic opportunity. Mr. Obama is being hurt by an economic recovery that is weakening for the third time in three years. But Mr. Romney hasn't been able to take advantage, and if anything he is losing ground.
The Romney campaign thinks it can play it safe and coast to the White House by saying the economy stinks and it's Mr. Obama's fault. We're on its email list and the main daily message from the campaign is that "Obama isn't working." Thanks, guys, but Americans already know that. What they want to hear from the challenger is some understanding of why the President's policies aren't working and how Mr. Romney's policies will do better."
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Mixed mesages from Mitt???? No, say it ain't so...surprise, surprise!!
He is a Mormon and therefore must be honest....!!!
Do a wiki search on Parley P. Pratt, Mitt Romney's great grandfather. See why he was killed by a jealous husband. Oh yeah. He also had 12 wives.
Like any good republican, he takes orders from above.
Even if you don't like the ACA, or even if you hate Obama, you still know that Obama has his beliefs and convictions. Romney has no core whatsoever. He has perfected the art of pandering to his current audience and situation. When that audience and/or situation changes, so does his stance, hence the flip-flopping. He is also flipflopping in an effort to gain a larger group of followers. Also, he is counting on the amount of general hatred for Obama to be so much, that people will vote for him on that alone, NOT for anything that he has to offer for solutions.
Rupert tweeted
"Romney people upset at me! Of course I want him to win, save us from socialism, etc but should listen to good advice and get stuck in!"
Save US from socialism...what's the us stuff Ausi? When will we undersatnd that News Corp. is not American, doesn't like American, only wants to divide us. Can anyone point out a Red Blooded American on News Corp. BOD how about the top 10 share holders...they are not there!
And Old Vet, Rupert is the barometer of virtue and honesty, so what he says must be so.bawaaaaah lol.
Yup! Desperate GOP for sure!!!
I was wondering how long it would take the GOP to figure ou that Romney's "beliefs" are based entirely onwhichever way the wind is blowing. As one political observer pointed out some time ago, if Romney's target audience were cannibals, he would offer them missionaries.
It is interesting that Romney spokes people are saying it NOT that Romney had a tax on his HC, or had millions in off shore banks, or transferred jobs overseas. It is NOT about those, but what Obama has done as President. We want to focus on Obama, not Romney. I wonder why? I want to know what Romney would do about Iran, drug enforcement, jobs, economy. He doesn't seem to want to talk about those, It is about blasting Obama, Romney wants to get elected without talking about his mission for this nation or the people.
Romney is such a good flip flopper he could play in NBA
It's like there are "hands off" orders with Mitt being a Mormon. Is he a christian?
What's so hard to understand? States have the ability to levee fees and fines, so the state mandate is one of those. The federal government doesn't have the ability to levee fees or fines, so it must be a tax when coming from the top. It's so simple! For example, if you don't follow EPA guidelines then your business will be 'taxed'. If the state had similar guidelines, they'd only be able to 'fine' you.
It's all clear as mud.
Is a " Fine " a " Penalty " ? Ever hear of a " Tax Penalty " ?
Just so you know people, I'm from Massachusetts with a 6 figure salary and pay for my insurance, but if I had chosen not to buy insurance, I am still deemed "unable to afford" and would not have to pay a penalty. The bar is very high here, so it is not much of a "tax". The affordability criteria for ACA is also very high, so there is not much of a "tax" there either.
You just can't quench a thirst for knowledge with all the "froth" Republicans are pouring out. Don't believe most of what they say, because as proven by this episode, even THEY don't believe what they say.
Mike, I think you need to check your numbers and bring some facts back to the table. A few years back I was on the books for 35K, and I did NOT buy insurance. I was deemed "able to pay" and had to pay the tax.
I actually don't mind the system, but we need full discolsure here. There is no way a 6 figure salary gets labeled "unable to pay"
So then Mike with you making so much money if you chose not to buy your own insurance then everyone else who does would have to pay for you because then you would get it for free right. You know you're full of it and trying to twist the facts.
Wrong! Your 6 figure salary is more than %150 of the poverty line. For a single person, over 27 years old, your penalty is $101 a month. If you are a family of 16 making 100,000, you got me. You don't pay a penalty.
Mitt the chameleon. The only thing he believes in is his own God-Given right to power and fame.
The Presidential election does not but provide false hope to 310 million people that 1 man can be a cure all to 310 million peoples problems. Stop being lazy and vote in local elections, elections that directly affect your city. If you don't take some personal responsibility for your own city or town, then you will end up like my home town of Detroit, waiting for the government the bail you out instead of fixing it yourself. Stop sitting around pretending Obama will bring jobs back. As if he's going to show up to a local business in your town, put a gun to the owners head and say 'hire people to fix the economy or I'll kill you'.