Perry (Brett Flashnick/AP)Rick Perry took a not-so-subtle swipe Thursday at Mitt Romney for supporting a state-sponsored health care program in 2005, when Romney was governor of Massachusetts. "I think Mitt is finally recognizing that the Massachusetts health care plan that he passed is a huge problem for him," Perry, the Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate, told radio host Laura Ingraham. "And yeah, it was not 'almost perfect.' I truly believe that you have to have the free market in play with our health care. I think Obamacare, which was modeled after the Massachusetts plan, was an absolute debacle."
Romney's plan--which included a government mandate that individuals purchase health insurance and a state health care exchange program--resembles President Barack Obama's national health care reform that that passed last year.
Switching to the topic of Obama's current summer vacation in New England at the end of the interview, Ingraham asked Perry to pledge that he will "never vacation on Martha's Vineyard."
"I'm not even sure I know where it is," Perry said.
