Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found. Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position. Candidates are listed by party and in alphabetical order by last name. Black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria for inclusion.
Are the March 2010 federal health care reform laws ("Obamacare") good for America?
Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, stated the following in his June 14, 2011 video "Gary Johnson Reponds to Every Question Asked in CNN Debate He Was Excluded From," available on You Tube:
"I would do everything I could to repeal President Obama's health care plan. I think that very simply we can't afford it…The long-term solution to health care is a free market approach to healthcare. And by the way, healthcare in this country is about as far removed from free market as it possibly could be." June 14, 2011 Gary Johnson
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, stated the following in "Remarks by President and Vice President at Signing of the Health Insurance Reform Bill" on Mar. 23, 2010, available at www.whitehouse.gov:
"Today, after almost a century of trying... health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America...
This year, tens of thousands of uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions, the parents of children who have a preexisting condition, will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need...
This year, insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people's coverage when they get sick. They won't be able to place lifetime limits or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care they can receive...
Once this reform is implemented, health insurance exchanges will be created, a competitive marketplace where uninsured people and small businesses will finally be able to purchase affordable, quality insurance." Mar. 23, 2010 Barack Obama
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated at the Aug. 11, 2011 Republican presidential debate in Des Moines, IA:
"We put together a plan that was right for Massachusetts. The president took the power of the people and the states away from them and put in place a one-size-fits-all plan. It‘s bad law. It‘s bad constitutional law. It‘s bad medicine. And if I‘m president of the United States, on my first day, I‘ll direct the secretary of HHS to grant a waiver from Obamacare to all 50 states." Aug. 11, 2011 Mitt Romney
Jill Stein, MD, former Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated the following in a Project Vote Smart "Political Courage Test," available at www.votesmart.org (accessed July 13, 2012):
"I will replace ACA with improved Medicare for All, which provides quality care while saving money... ACA makes a profit-driven system even more expensive by adding complexity ('exchanges') to an already massive bureaucracy. Crafted by insurers, it provides $400 billion in taxpayer subsidies for stripped-down policies that enrich insurers while forcing consumers to buy the inadequate plans through a mandate. Costs continue to skyrocket, as seen with the Massachusetts plan (on which ACA is based), impoverishing consumers, businesses and government while draining resources from safety-net hospitals and threatening care for tens of millions who'll remain uninsured." July 13, 2012 Jill Stein
Michele Bachmann, US Representative (R-MN), stated the following during the Sep. 22, 2011 Fox News/Google Republican presidential debate held in Orlando, FL:
"The signature issue of Barack Obama and his presidency has been the passage of Obamacare. This week, a study came out from UBS that said the number one reason why employers aren’t hiring is because of Obamacare. That’s why I introduced the bill to repeal Obamacare. And as president of the United States, that’s the very first thing I would do, is repeal Obamacare." Sep. 22, 2011 Michele Bachmann
Herman Cain, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Chairman of Godfather's Pizza, stated the following in "Repeal and Replace Health Care 'Deform,'" available on www.hermancain.com (accessed on Sep. 28, 2011):
"Under the guise of making health care a ‘right' for all people, President Obama and the liberals in Congress instead extended the tentacles of government, expanding their control and diminishing patients' rights. They have also made it more difficult and more expensive for doctors to practice medicine, including specialized practitioners who are desperately needed to save lives. In reality, their attempts at reforming the system have actually deformed it." Sep. 28, 2011 Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives (R-GA), stated the following in "Solutions," available on his campaign website (accessed on Oct. 11, 2011):
"The big government Obamacare approach does not address the root causes of America's health care crisis. Instead, it creates layers of new taxes, regulations, and bureaucracies that will ultimately make our problems worse, not better." Oct. 11, 2011 Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, stated the following in the Aug. 12, 2011 "Jon Huntsman Statement on ObamaCare Ruling by Appeals Court of the 11th Circuit," available on www.jon2012.com:
"The individual mandate included in ObamaCare is an unconstitutional assault on the individual liberty of the American people, and I support today's ruling by the Appeals Court of the 11th Circuit. When I was Governor of Utah, I signed free-market healthcare reforms designed to help small businesses and individuals, rather than burden them with mandates, fines and massive bureaucracies. As President, I will repeal ObamaCare and put an end to the economic uncertainty that it has created." Aug. 12, 2011 Jon Huntsman
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), stated the following in the Mar. 22, 2010 "Texas Straight Talk: Health Care Reform Passes," available at paul.house.gov:
"Following months of heated public debate and aggressive closed-door negotiations, Congress finally cast a historic vote on healthcare late Sunday evening. It was truly a sad weekend on the House floor as we witnessed further dismantling of the Constitution, disregard of the will of the people, explosive expansion of the reach of government, unprecedented corporate favoritism, and the impending end of quality healthcare as we know it...
[T]he most troubling aspect of this bill is that it is so blatantly unconstitutional and contrary to the ideals of liberty. Nowhere in the constitution is there anything approaching authority for the Federal government to do any of this. The founders would have been horrified at the idea of government forcing citizens to become consumers of a particular product from certain government approved companies. 38 states are said to already be preparing legal and constitutional challenges to this legislation, and if the courts stand by their oaths, they will win." Mar. 22, 2010 Ron Paul
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, stated the following in the Dec. 13, 2010 press release "Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on U.S. District Court Ruling on Health Care Act," available at governor.state.tx.us:
"The federal government's attempt to force every American to buy government-approved health insurance is an egregious violation of our Constitutional rights. The 10th Amendment and individual liberties must be protected, and I am committed to fighting the overreach of Obamacare and challenging these unconstitutional mandates, which have gone far beyond both the letter and spirit of the Constitution." Dec. 13, 2010 Rick Perry
Buddy Roemer, former Governor of Louisiana, stated the following in his campaign site posting, "Reforming Healthcare," available at www.buddyroemer.com (accessed Oct. 26, 2011):
"Healthcare reform under President Obama fell victim to special interests, and failed to address the underlying causes of costs in the system… Buddy Roemer’s healthcare reform would eliminate Obamacare, but keep insurance coverage of preexisting conditions." Oct. 26, 2011 Buddy Roemer
Rick Santorum, former US Senator (R-PA), stated the following in the Sep. 18, 2011 "Candidate Santorum Gives Constitution Day Speech in Boiling Springs," available at goupstate.com:
"If Obamacare is implemented… you will be the generation that will have handed freedom, opportunity, prosperity (and) the greatness of America… away, and you will have given your children a country that looks more like George III's – King George's – England, than Ronald Reagan's America." Sep. 18, 2011 Rick Santorum
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