US election: Mitt Romney is struggling with ObamaCare 'problem'

Mitt Romney is struggling to mount an effective response to the US Supreme Court's approval of Barack Obama's health care reforms due to his inconvenient record on the issue, Republican strategists have admitted.

Mitt Romney now claims that he never believed it should be used across the US, in fact he said in a 2007 speech that it was 'a model for the nation' Photo: AP

The Republican presidential nominee has been unable to join in his party's sharp new line of criticism on Mr Obama's law, which mandates all Americans to buy health insurance and was redefined as a tax by the Court last week, because he himself pioneered the policy.



Mr Obama is accused of breaking a 2008 pledge to not raise taxes on households earning less than $250,000 (£159,000). "This is a middle-class tax increase," said Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

However, Mr Romney finds himself unable to similarly criticise Mr Obama because he himself introduced a health care "mandate" as governor of Massachusetts in 2006, yet denies raising taxes.

Asked repeatedly if Mr Romney agreed with Mr Obama and his Democratic party that the fine for Americans who do not buy insurance was a penalty rather than a tax, Mr Romney's spokesman told MSNBC: "That's correct."

It highlighted a weakness in Mr Romney's candidacy on a campaign issue that has enraged grassroots conservatives, who maintain that the federal government has no right to force them to buy goods and services such as insurance.

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