In fact, Nixon's second proposal was met with enthusiasm in the Senate ... until a little thing known as Watergate obliterated any chance of "Nixoncare" entering the national lexicon.
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Plus, everyone forgets Nixon's plan to turn Watergate into affordable housing.
Not that the Republicans owned the idea. Even before Nixon came along, Democrat Harry Truman tried and failed to get universal healthcare passed. Republican Dwight Eisenhower then pushed for tax breaks to get insurance companies to cover poor people, and for employers to cover their workers.
Thirty years after Nixon's failed proposals, Republican and future presidential candidate Mitt Romney enacted what amounted to Nixon's plan in his home state of Massachusetts. Romney believed his ... wait for it ... Romneycare program was "essential for bringing the health care costs down for everyone and getting everyone the health insurance they need."
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"Even if 47 percent of them can kiss my ass."
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