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Healthcare battle continues - US politics live coverage Healthcare battle continues - US politics live coverage
(40 minutes later)
12.30pm: Via BuzzFeed Politics's Andrew Kaczynski, here's a PowerPoint presentation by a Massachusetts politician on what a healthcare-related individual mandate – or "personal responsibility principle," as he dubs it – would look like.
Who is that mysterious Massachusetts politician? Why, it's former Bay State governor Willard Mitt Romney – the 2006 model, that is.
12.18pm: Rick Perry, governor of Texas, has a not entirely-insane op-ed in the Austin-American Statesman on immigration in the wake of the supreme court's decision on Arizona's SB1070 legislation:
I'll be among the first to say Arizona's immigration law might not have been for every state, but let's not overlook what it was: an earnest attempt by Arizonans to deal with a very real problem.
However, rather than put resources in place so that Arizona wouldn't have to expend state time and resources on this federal responsibility, the Obama administration decided instead to sue them to stop enforcing the laws the administration itself was not willing to enforce.
Perry also says: "I've recently renewed my call to pass legislation banning sanctuary cities here in the Lone Star State," which suggests a tougher line in Texas.
12pm: The Associated Press's Kasie Hunt went along to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints service attended by the Romney clan on holiday in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, yesterday:
At church, Romney sat next to his wife, with grandchildren occupying the rest of the row. He sang along during the service's three hymns, holding his iPad underneath his navy blue hymnal. Some of the kids – who range in age from a few weeks old to 16 years – grew restless during the long service. At different points, several walked over to receive a kind smile and quiet word from their grandfather. At one point, Romney took charge of a Ziploc bag of colored cereal, offering it to a grinning blond toddler.
11.33pm: The Romney campaign appears to be cutting across the Republican talking points on the issue of the supreme court decision – that the individual mandate was a tax in fact if not in name.
Republicans have seized on the new-look mandate as a tax as a useful stick to beat the Obama administration with. But Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom tied himself into knots trying to explain his candidate's position – and the position Romney took on the issue while governor of Massachusetts:
Chuck Todd MSNBC: The governor does not believe the mandate is a tax — that's what you're saying?
Eric Fehrnstrom: The governor believes what we put in place in Massachusetts was a penalty and he disagrees with the Court's ruling that the mandate was a tax....
Todd: But he agrees with the president that it is not — and he believes that you should not call the tax penalty a tax, you should call it a penalty or a fee or a fine?
Fehrnstrom: That's correct. But the president also needs to be held accountable for his contradictory statements. He has described it variously as a penalty and as a tax. He needs to reconcile those two very different statements.
It's hardly Watergate but it does show how difficult it is for Mitt Romney to exploit healthcare as an issue, given his history supporting a policy that was all but identical as governor
11am ET: With both presidential candidates taking early Fourth of July holidays and Congress in recess for the same reason, attention remains fixed on the battle over healthcare, with Republicans intent on stoking the fires.11am ET: With both presidential candidates taking early Fourth of July holidays and Congress in recess for the same reason, attention remains fixed on the battle over healthcare, with Republicans intent on stoking the fires.
Here's a summary of the latest news:Here's a summary of the latest news:
• Barack Obama is heading to Camp David with his family this week. On Wednesday they will return to the capital to celebrate by holding a picnic on the White House lawn with US military service members. On Thursday, Obama will take off on a two-day bus tour of Pennsylvania and Ohio.• Barack Obama is heading to Camp David with his family this week. On Wednesday they will return to the capital to celebrate by holding a picnic on the White House lawn with US military service members. On Thursday, Obama will take off on a two-day bus tour of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
• Mitt Romney has headed to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, where his family gathers at their lake house each year on Independence Day. There they will participate in the Romney Olympics, an event that pits the male Romneys against the females in a variety of traditional biking, swimming and running events, as well as series of less-traditional activities such as who can hang onto a pole the longest, who can throw a football the farthest and who can hammer the most nails into a board in two minutes; activities supposedly conjured up by Mitt himself after he failed to dominate in other areas.• Mitt Romney has headed to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, where his family gathers at their lake house each year on Independence Day. There they will participate in the Romney Olympics, an event that pits the male Romneys against the females in a variety of traditional biking, swimming and running events, as well as series of less-traditional activities such as who can hang onto a pole the longest, who can throw a football the farthest and who can hammer the most nails into a board in two minutes; activities supposedly conjured up by Mitt himself after he failed to dominate in other areas.
• News Corporation head Rupert Murdoch chimed in on the US presidential elections over the weekend.• News Corporation head Rupert Murdoch chimed in on the US presidential elections over the weekend.
Met Romney last week.Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful.Met Romney last week.Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful.
Murdoch suggested Romney may be ill-equipped to challenge Obama. Later Murdoch decided to take on Scientology, proving that he was in the mood for a weekend Twitter fight.Murdoch suggested Romney may be ill-equipped to challenge Obama. Later Murdoch decided to take on Scientology, proving that he was in the mood for a weekend Twitter fight.