Who You Gonna Believe, the Mittwit or Your Lyin' Eyes?

I can't believe it. Our esteemed governor Mitt Romney (R - Ut.) has been accused of -- gulp -- lying to the voters of Massachusetts about his position on abortion!

Adviser says governor faked stance on abortion
Asserts Romney not 'pro-choice'

Governor Mitt Romney's top political strategist has told a prominent conservative magazine that his client has been ''faking" his support of abortion rights in Massachusetts.

'He's been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly," Romney adviser Michael Murphy told the National Review in a cover story hitting newstands today titled ''Matinee Mitt."

Murphy, a prominent Republican consultant, issued a statement of regret yesterday afternoon after a prepublication copy of the article circulated among political strategists and reporters and threatened to overshadow the positive exposure Romney was getting from appearing on the cover of two conservative magazines this week.

''The quote in the National Review article was not what I meant to communicate," Murphy's statement said. ''I was discussing a characterization the governor's critics use. I regret the quote and any confusion it might have caused."

Romney ran for US Senate in 1994 pledging to keep abortion ''safe and legal in this country." As a 2002 candidate for governor, Romney said he would not change the state's abortion laws. But in recent months, he has described himself as ''personally prolife" to out-of-town political audiences. And last month, he told USA Today that he is in a ''different place" on abortion than when he ran in 1994 against US Senator Edward M. Kennedy. A Romney spokeswoman said he had ''evolved over time," but would not elaborate.

Hey, the guy claimed to be a Massachusetts resident to run for governor, even though he was filing taxes as a resident of Utah, getting a break on taxes on his Utah home, and had a Utah driver's license. I've never believed a word that came out of his mouth.

It's The Insurance Companies, Stupid

How is it that people trust insurance companies more than lawyers? I guess because insurance companies have more money & have bought more laws in their favor. Most people don't even know that it's generally ILLEGAL to mention the existence of insurance in a trial. Automatic mistrial, baby. Juries decide cases every day without knowing the true parties to the lawsuit.

They really think that when Grandson is suing Grandma because he fell at her house, he's suing Grandma! No he's not! He's suing Allstate (smallstate) or whoever her home insurer is. You pay premiums dutifully for years expecting that when you have a claim it will just get paid.....but NooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. That's not what happens.

I've interviewed jurors after verdicts & had them tell me that they thought insurance had already paid & the plaintiff was just looking for a little extra.

And then there's this phony medical malpractice insurance crisis. Lawsuits driving up the cost of medical care? Are you kidding me? Lawyers have abandoned medical malpractice cases in droves. Go ahead, try to bring a medical malpractice case where liability is clear, as in, you can prove definitively that the doctor did it, caused the injury, but the damages are less than $100,000. There's not one lawyer in their right mind who would take such a case. You can't put in the hours & pay the experts such a case requires & make any money, for the lawyer or the client. So many cases just don't get brought at all.

So the insurance industry, which has spent 15 years on TV & radio advertising to convince us that there's a "medical malpractice" crisis, has been making money hand over fist. Except for all their bad investments. So what have they done about them? Raised the medical malpractice rates they charge doctors!

Read all about it in the Boston Globe: Rising doctors' premiums not due to lawsuit awards: Study suggests insurers raise rates to make up for investment declines