Can't Is Not an Option, by Gov. Nikki Haley: on Health Care

Barack Obama: OpEd: ObamaCare passed by constitutionally suspect tactics

People in South Carolina were outraged by what they were seeing in Washington. As far as I was concerned, the health-care law was a part of the same DC mentality that had given us the bailouts: Don't fix the problem, just throw it back on the taxpayers and have them pay for it.

Mitt Romney: OpEd: RomneyCare courageous but not for every state

Many have criticized Governor Romney for his stance on health care in Massachusetts. While I wouldn't choose his plan for South Carolina, I appreciate that he had the courage to try it. I also appreciate his belief that healthcare reform is a state's right and shouldn't be a federal mandate. I often think about how different our country would be if Governor Romney were in the White House.

Nikki Haley: Dead set against ObamaCare: We can't split the cow

I had pledged, as governor, to lead a coalition of governors to fight Obamacare and allow the states to offer real solutions to our health-care crisis. I was dead set against Obamacare, but Sheheen wanted to have it both ways. Pressed on the issue in the debate, he claimed to support some parts of the Obama plan but not others. There were "good and bad" parts of the bill, he insisted.

"Senator, you can't split the cow," I replied. "You can't say you like certain parts of it and not other parts. We're stuck with the whole cow."

Sheheen's answer was petty and insulting, even for him. "We need a governor with the intelligence and the ability to say when things are good and things are bad," he said. He was calling me unintelligent! The crowd got it and booed the cheap shot.

Nikki Haley: ObamaCare is wrongheaded and unconstitutional

I have been consistent as a candidate and as governor in my position to Obamacare. The president's approach is wrongheaded and unconstitutional. He's pouring more costs into the system through federal mandates instead of taking costs out of the system through transparency and individual responsibility.

But there is one bright side to the president's plan: It has sparked a conversation about health care that is badly needed. Our healthcare problem is real. In South Carolina we have a large Medicaid population, and health care is the main driver of our budget deficit. But our health-care problem is also unique to our state--it's not the same as the health-care challenges in states like MA or NE. Our challenges are mainly poverty and education.

Nikki Haley: ObamaCare opt-out rules disallow state opt-out

We have good services, but we need to educate people on how to better utilize them and on how to pay more attention to their health.

I told Obama that his health-care plan imposed mandates that South Carolina just couldn't afford. Our annual budget is $5 billion, and we had calculated that his plan would cost us $5 billion over the next 10 years. We expected to see 30% to 40% of our private companies drop their employees' coverage and force their workers into the public system. My question had 2 parts, I told the president. Would he repeal Obamacare? And if not, would he allow South Carolina to opt out of the system?

Tea Party: OpEd: ObamaCare & bailouts both just throw money at problem

People in South Carolina were outraged by what they were seeing in Washington. For the Tea Party and many others, ObamaCare was just one more in a long train of Washington abuses that had begun with the TARP bailout. I shared their outrage. Everything I had fought against in Columbia was happening in Washington, and, what's more, the taxpayers would soon be handed an outrageous bill for it. As far as I was concerned, the health-care law was a part of the same DC mentality that had given us the bailouts: Don't fix the problem, just throw it back on the taxpayers and have them pay for it.

Tim Scott: Fight the billion-dollar mandate of ObamaCare