Romney, Obama Clash On Health Care Future
By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press | |
Associated Press |
Obama focused his attention in the pivotal state of
Romney also said in an interview Sunday with
In his first appearance on
"I'm not getting rid of all of health care reform. Of course, there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place," Romney said in the interview taped Friday and Saturday. He cited guaranteed coverage for people with preexisting medical conditions, coverage for young people up to age 26 on their parents' plans and new insurance marketplaces.
The Obama plan, dubbed "Obamacare" by opposition Republicans, used as a model Romney's overhaul of the health insurance system in
Romney's
Romney now insists, in line with the stance of his Republican party, that the so-called individual mandate must be repealed, but he offered no proposals on funding his health care plan.
While the race remains tight, several daily tracking polls show Obama picking up a lead of a few percentage points over Romney in a contest that most voters say depends on which candidate they feel is best prepared to revive the struggling U.S. economy. Obama appeared to have benefited from last week's
In a financial bounce, Obama and the Democrats raised more than
Romney's campaign reported it raised
The Obama campaign has been trying to change the subject from the economy after a weak government report on employment on Friday, the day after the convention closed.
Romney's views on health care include major changes to the
In his second day of a campaign bus tour of
Obama told about 3,000 supporters in
In broadcast interviews, Romney and Ryan kept the heat on Obama on the economic front, warning that across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect at the start of 2013 could devastate the defense budget. Half of the cuts are to be taken out of defense spending if
But Romney's attacks on the president for signing the deficit-reduction measure had some collateral damage for Ryan, who as
"I thought it was a mistake on the part of the
With an eye toward undecided voters dismayed by the lackluster economic recovery, Romney and Ryan faulted Obama for failing to provide the tax relief they say holds the key to the creation of millions of jobs. Romney has pledged to lower tax rates by 20 percent for all Americans _ including the wealthy.
Romney has said he will pay for those cuts by eliminating loopholes and deductions for higher-income earners. But both Republicans were unyielding in saying that specifics on their tax plan would come only after the
Drawing attention to his opponents' reticence, Obama shot back hours later, saying Ryan and Romney deserve a failing math grade instead of accolades for bold leadership.
"It was like two plus one equals five," Obama said, prompting incredulous chuckles from the crowd in
For Obama,
Romney attended church services in
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