1. Mitt Romney Urged Obama to Embrace the Individual Mandate

2. Further Proof Romney Supported a National Individual Mandate In 2009

3. We Are at War. Is the Media Scared to Really Cover It?

4. This Goes Both Ways, Right? Some Republicans Start Rooting for Conservative Defeat.

5. Libertarian Ed Crane Decides to Act Like a Liberal. Will It Destroy the Cato Institute?

1. Mitt Romney Urged Obama to Embrace the Individual Mandate

Had Michigan not been as close, the Democrats would have waited to spring this on us in the general election. Luckily we have it now and I hope Ohio voters are paying attention.In July 2009, Mitt Romney wrote an op-ed in USA Today urging Barack Obama to usean individual mandate at the national level to control healthcare costs.On the campaign trail now, Mitt Romney says the individual mandate is appropriate for Massachusetts, but not the nation. Repeatedly in debates, Romney has said he opposes a national individual mandate.But back in 2009, as Barack Obama was formulating his healthcare vision for the country, Mitt Romney encouraged him publicly to use an individual mandate. In his op-ed, Governor Romney suggested that the federal government learn from Massachusetts how to make healthcare available for all. One of those things was “Using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages “free riders” to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others.”Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Further Proof Romney Supported a National Individual Mandate In 2009

Back in 2009 Mitt Romney took to the pages of USA Today to tell President Obama that as he came up with a healthcare plan he should consider using “tax penalties” as Massachusetts did or “tax credits, as others have proposed” to help cover the costs of health care.The “tax penalties” is Mitt Romney’s individual mandate, a key portion the Obama Administration has credited all along as having been embraced in Obamacare.Since pointing out yesterday that, in his own words, Mitt Romney supported a national individual mandate, his supporters have gone totally insane on twitter fully denying and trying to spin their way out of this story. Despite Romney’s own words in his editorial, Mitt Romney’s supporters are denying Romney’s own words.But Romney did not just write an op-ed. He went on Meet the Press too. You can hear Mitt Romney on Meet the Press recommend the President take one of two approaches in formulating health care.The first approach Romney suggests is Romneycare, which Mitt Romney now claims was never intended to be a model for the nation.The second approach Romney suggests is the Wyden-Bennett health reform measure then pending in the United States Senate. Wyden-Bennett, like Romneycare, contained an individual mandate.Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. We Are at War. Is the Media Scared to Really Cover It?

Journalists are much more tolerant of attacks on Christianity than Islam. It is a fact.ABC is airing a television show called “Good Christian Bitches.” Never mind the outrage over the recent Sandra Fluke business, but there is a double standard. And let’s not fool ourselves as the media would never tolerate a story where “Muslim” was substituted for “Christian” in that show.The media’s present politically correct excuse is that Islam binds certain minority group’s cultures in a way Christianity does not. First, that is crap and speaks of a secular ignorance about many Christian communities even in this country. Second, it is an excuse so the media does not have to admit it is scared of muslims. You’ll see a news story about Christ in a jar of urine, but don’t ever expect to see a cartoon of Mohammed on the nightly news. The reporter doesn’t want to get murdered.I am starting to wonder if the same holds true in the present war our country finds itself in that too few reporters are really brave enough to cover. We are at war on our southern border with Mexico and the press is really not doing justice to coverage of the war.The latest story points out just how much of a war it is and just how badly our government and Mexico are handling themselves.Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. This Goes Both Ways, Right? Some Republicans Start Rooting for Conservative Defeat.

Chris Cilizza as an interesting story in the Washington Post in which some Romney supporters are openly wondering if the Republican Party needs to be wiped out in 2012 in order to win big in 2016.”I’d personally enjoy all the ‘we can’t nominate another Republican In Name Only’ crowd getting a stomping by an incumbent with an 8.5 unemployment rate,’ said one senior party strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly, warning of nominating a strictly conservative candidate like former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.”My only wonder is if this is a two way street. Because the party is finally deciding to rally to Mitt Romney. I suspect he will win Ohio and, with it, he will begin wrapping up the nomination. And then I think we will see the Democrats unleash unmitigated hell on him in a way in which the GOP is ill prepared.The Mormon Church will be the first major attack. Then Bain Capital and all the individuals who blame Mitt Romney for their unemployment. Then we’ll get into Romney’s flip-flops. Etc. Etc. Etc. It will be nasty. It will be ugly. And Romney will be left to complain about just how unfair it is that the media isn’t paying as much attention to what Barack Obama’s policies have done to the nation.And he will lose unless the economy, driven by gas prices and Europe, begins to decline again.So I hope this is a two way street. If Romney gets stomped by an incumbent with an 8.5% unemployment rate, I hope we can be rid of him and people who give the Washington Post these sorts of quotes.Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Libertarian Ed Crane Decides to Act Like a Liberal. Will It Destroy the Cato Institute?

A friend of mine asked me last week why I hadn’t written about the Cato Institute lawsuit business with the Koch Brothers. I told him I hadn’t seen it pulsing up anywhere, so why should I give it any attention. Ed Crane, the President of Cato, has no viable legal argument and it seemed to me he was just taking advantage of the current left-wing hate against the Koch’s to try to garner some sympathy for an organization nobody has really cared about in more than a decade.Then suddenly there was a flurry of stories and I think they prove me right. The Politico had one of the few stories written before the weekend. The the Washington Post ran a big story. The Boston Herald referenced it. The Los Angeles Times was ahead of them all.When the news broke last week, Dave Weigel gave a pretty good overview.All of the stories show a pretty terrible sense of history and make rather clear that had the Koch Brothers not been involved, there wouldn’t be much interest. This is a vendetta with journalists too happy to play along.Please click here for the rest of the post.