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Subscribe to RSSHUDSON, NH -- With an-off-the-cuff comment about liking "being able to fire people who provide services to me" ricocheting around the internet -- and with at least one GOP rival using it to brand the former Massachusetts governor as "out of touch" -- Mitt Romney held a rare press avail this afternoon to say the remark had been taken out of context.
"I was talking about insurance companies. Yeah, we like to be able to get rid of insurance companies that don’t give us the insurance we need. I don’t want to have to live in a world where we have Obamacare telling us which insurance we have to have, which doctor we can have, which hospital we go to," Romney said. "I believe in a setting as I described this morning where people are able to choose their own doctor choose their own insurance company. If they don’t like their insurance company or their provider, they get rid of them. That’s the way America works."
While speaking to a group of business leaders at a breakfast in Nashua this morning, Romney was asked a question about how he would replace Obamacare. He responded, in part:
"I want individuals to have their own insurance that means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy; it also means if you don’t like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn’t give me a good service that I need, I want to say I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service to me."
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who has risen to third place in some recent polls out of New Hampshire and has long made Romney a target of his jabs from the stump, weighed in hours later at his own press avail.
"Gov. Romney enjoys firing people; I enjoy creating jobs," Huntsman said.
Later, Huntsman's campaign looked to further capitalize on the moment, emailing a statement to reporters.
"Today, Mitt Romney reminded voters why he's one of the weakest front-runners in presidential history. 'I like being able to fire people' doesn't exactly scream electability," Huntsman senior strategist John Weaver said in a statement. "Voters are looking for someone they can trust. That's Jon Huntsman, not Mitt Romney."
Also today, the Rick Perry campaign offered on its website a downloadable ring tone repeating "I like being able to fire people."
At his own press conference, Romney said rivals taking comments out of context simply "comes with the territory."
"You know the context of what I was saying, which was we all like to be able to choose our own insurance company. And if they don’t do the job for us being able to get rid of them and that’s what I was referring to," Romney said. "I understand in politics people can decide to grasp at anything and take it out of context and make it something it’s not. That’s the nature of the process. I’ve got to be an adult about it and recognize it comes with the territory."
Later in the day, Romney's campaign released a memo to reporters, saying: "Our opponents are taking Gov. Romney’s comments completely out of context. Gov. Romney was talking about firing insurance companies if you don’t like their service. That is something that most Americans agree with."
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This whining from the Romney people who put up a false ad against the President? LMAO
Pink slip Mitt (and Rick Scott)!!!!!
Don't forget Scott Walker! ;o)
Can't stand Perry, but, I do think he deserves an 'A' for creativity! lol
My bad for forgetting Scott Walker! Once all these guys get their "pink slips" we need to have a big old party - with pink slips as decorations!!!!
Wow! A creative thought from the Perry campaign. Is it the apocalypse?
Hey Mr. FLOP What are you going to FLIP - FLOP on today?
Mitt ought to be the Tea Party's favorite! They like firing people, too. People like fire fighters, police officers, teachers....
I'm with that phinephancy.
by the way--ROLL TIDE!
Mitt believes that he is always entitled to two bites of the apple...
Mittens was a Corporate Raider. Lots of people lost their jobs. I think we will hear from some of them over the next couple of months.
He was not a "job creator." He destroyed livelihoods.
Let's see NewDay,
Of the over 100 companies serviced by Bain, two were liquidated while the remainer moved forward.
No why do companies go to organizations like Bain in the first place. Could it be that they are failing in the first place and are looking for capital and management to get them out of the hole?
You forget the first rule of business: The business of a company is to stay in business.
At least 'Mittens' was a better facilitator to keep companies in business than Obama who lost taxpayer dollars with his solar companies, his car industry and his financial services losses.
Okay, let's assume for the sake of discussion that "I like being able to fire people" was taken out of context.
Why on earth is nobody questioning this part of Romney's rebuttal? :
"I don’t want to have to live in a world where we have Obamacare telling us which insurance we have to have, which doctor we can have, which hospital we go to," Romney said. "I believe in a setting as I described this morning where people are able to choose their own doctor choose their own insurance company."
There's a big difference between an off the cuff comment being taken out of context and a completely outrageous and totally intentional LIE!
What off-world planet does Romney live on. Explaining his "fire people" statement, he discusses insurance. Maybe I am the exception, but I have only 2 choices of of insurance companies offered through my employer, and I certainly can't fire them 'at will'. The only option I have to change is during open enrollment.
Of course if I had Romney's access to money, I could shop for insurance. But that luxury is in reality, only an option for those who do not participate in employer offered benefits.
Don't get me started on that wide-open field of choosing a doctor. That hasn't existed in decades for average Americans.
JoAnne in PA,
You are so right. His characterzation of the Health Care Reform Act is a lie, a stump speech one liner that is only based on Romney's imagination.
It's heartening that so many of these comments point out the real issue here, Romney's complete lie about health insurance and Obamacare. As other people have said, very few people have a choice about their health insurance provider as it's either provided by their employer or if they're self-employed, they likely have a couple choices, if any. Obamacare provides for regulated insurance marketplaces where people WILL be able to choose among different options. As usual with Republicans, their lies are the complete opposite of reality.
All of you are right!!!! This is what he's good ladies and gentlemen either from the right or left!!!
making money for his corporate friends is going to be his top priority!!!
Yeah that's true JoAnne: isn't one of the main goals of Obamacare is to open up the market for people to get the best insurance available like the people in Congress have???!!! Mitt, Mitt, Mitt you're going to learn not to step in it as Rick Perry says real soon or get run over by the President.
I have in mind quite a few people to fire...and they live and work in D.C. And in November, I hope to be writing that pink slip!
Someone needs to point out to the Romney-bot that it isn't the Health Care Reform Act that tells us which doctor or hospital we have to use. It is his precious private insurance companies that have those restrictions. Ever hear of in-network vs out-of-network, Willard? Of course not - he is far too rich to have ever given such mundane issues a single thought. Remember - RichRomney is the corporate raider, not the job creator!
He hasn't tried to switch health insurance companies lately, has he?
LOL. Too late Mitt. Your very first campaign ad deliberately took Obama out of context... your campaign admitted it and you said that was fair game since it was "his words". Then you criticized Obama for saying that Americans were "lazy"...even though that was also out of context and everyone knew it.
Whoo boy... Live by the sword, die by the sword. This is gonna be fun. Game on.
I'm with you Wm.
Yes he probably misspoke and was probably taken out of context but what is worse is his assumption that if you don't like your health insurance company you can just go and get another. Sure - go ahead and try that! Especially if you are sick. Even if you can find it there is no way you can afford it.
Mitt Flip Flop Romney, the one time governor of Liberal Mass. Has supported Abortion, Gay Rights, Gun Control, Stem Cell Research and has reverse himself on all of these issues.
He took both sides on the financial bailout, the stimulus bill, the auto loan package;
His biggest Flip-Flop of all Health Care Reform The national Law is modeled on the one that he championed as governor in Mass that requires every citizen to have health insurance. Now he has Flipped-Flopped Mr. Flop has taken a hard slide to the right pandering to the tea party.
Mitt Flip-Flop Romney, a wishy-washy, flip flopping politician without any core convictions, principals or believes a man who will say or do anything to get elected telling one crowd one thing and another crowd another. You simply can’t trust this guy to tell you the truth.
The only good thing that would happen if Flip-Flop were to get elected It would prove that Conservatism is dead as Flip-Flop would stab the Conservatives in the back.
Mitt Flip Flop Romney LMAO!
Taken-out-of-Context ?
The right-wing wacknutz have long-played that one out way back with Palins' Blood Libel allocution ...
Just admit you're loon-bat wingnutz and get on with the next wackadoo'ry ...
LOL.
How many of us ordinary people could really "fire" our insurance companies? Only rich people actually purchase insurance on the open market. The rest of us, if we are lucky, have insurance with our employers who pretty much decide who and how much insurance we get. "Firing" our insurance company would mean quitting our jobs...not likely. What's more revelant is how clueless such a statement is and how unconnected many elites are from the lives of us ordinary Americans.
Actually, I hope this business keeps on going. 30 percent of the American people will vote for whoever the GOP picks as their nominee regardless of their talent or electability. These primaries and debates have caused all of the candidates to go so far to the right, and have provided such a library of sound bites that once the actual campaigning starts, they'll have no ability to appeal to the middle 30 percent who'll go back to the president. Add to that a likely year of slow but steady growth, and the president is almost certain to get reelected. Just keep up the idiotic statements Mittens, you'll hear it all again once you're nominated.
" Yeah, we like to be able to get rid of insurance companies that don't give us the insurance we need"
My Insurance company has always been picked by the company that employs me.
Must be nice to be so wealthy and out of touch that you think working people can just jump to another insurance company when they're dissatisfied with their coverage. This guy is clueless!
"My Insurance company has always been picked by the company that employs me."
Mine, too, Sniderman. And a few years back when I fell and shattered my right elbow and needed extensive surgery, I made the mistake of doing that on the weekend in between them switching carriers - without asking us, of course - and because they'd delayed filing all the paperwork, I was technically not covered by either one the day I went in for the surgery. It took months and months worth of phone calls and paperwork before we got everything straightened out.
I'm guessing that's never happened to Mitt Romney, though.....
It may have been taken out of context, but the real problem is what he was actually saying. Pay attention here. Taken in context what he is saying is much worse for middle and working class Americans. Why isn't the media reporting on this?
He is advocating for the disbanding of the employer based health care insurance system by saying it would be better if individuals did not get their health insurance through their employer because then you could choose your health care insurance provider and drop them (which is what any normal person would have said) should they not be satisfactory instead of your employer deciding who your health care insurance provider will be.
Of course he neglects to mention how we would all be at the mercy of the insurance companies in this health care insurance free market trying to purchase health insurance with no consumer protections. Not to mention our employers are not going to provide us the money they have been spending on health insurance so we would have to somehow come up with the thousands of dollars for high deductible and out-of-pocket crappy plans with no additional income.
Watch the entire clip. This no employer health insurance system he is advocating was proposed by Paul Ryan after his Medicare elimination budget bombed and is a gold mine for health insurers as they will charge whatever they want, turn down whoever they want, drop whoever they want, etc.
This is the republican solution to the health insurance problem in our nation.
I'd say god help us all but I hear he's a republican.
I've got news for Romney….once you have insurance you keep it regardless of whether it is any good or not! My deductible just went from $3500 to $4200 and of course the premium went up. I want some government control of health insurance costs and choices….it's the only way we won't be at the mercy of the companies. As a self employed person I don't have the luxury of an employer benefit…I pay and can't even deduct my out of pocket health costs because I don't spend enough!
Try firing your health insurance company and getting another one. If you have any illness at all they won't touch you. The insurers will only insure people who don't use the insurance. If you get an illness they dump you. If you are ill and trying to get insurance you will probably not be able to afford the rates if they will take you at all. Romney knows the free market doesn't work in health care which is why he started Romneycare in Massachusetts. And, he does like to fire people! That's how he made his millions.
Why the American voters, even in these primaries continue to vote for these rich @!$%#s who don't give a damn about them is beyond me. Romney can't even hide the fact that he enjoys destroying jobs. This man has not suffered a day in his life for anything and he's going to know how it feels to be jobless, homeless, poor? Not for one god damn minute.
An individual cannot 'fire' a business, they can only stop using them: a company does not lose its job when one customer stops patronizing them. If enough customers stop patronizing a given business that business *might* be in trouble (it helps to be 'too big to fail'/politically/socially-connected, but for those that aren't, they might be in trouble).
And I certainly can't 'fire' my insurance company on demand and expect negative consequences for anyone but myself. So it is Romney that does not understand the context that the regular joe lives in.
All I can say is that any of the debates that I watched,NEWT was THE ONLY ONE OF ALL THE CANDIDATES that gave an accurate and detailed answer to every question that was asked !! ALL of the other candidates did not answer the questions,but went off into how they would be so great as the next president,and MITT was the worst of all of them!!NEWT deserves to be the winner!!
Ah! It would be so nice to live in Romney's world! Fantasy abounds! This fool doesn't even know about employer provided insurance policies! He had better get a "refresher" on the subject. Or tell him not to discuss health care, just to be safe!