Norquist: Romney made a 'mistake' in pushing individual mandate

Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist said Monday that Mitt Romney made a "mistake" in advocating the individual mandate as part of the president's healthcare reform law, but that he was encouraged that the Republican front-runner had shifted "in favor of liberty" and now opposes the requirement.

"I think it was a mistake to have said it then," Norquist said on MSNBC of a 2009 op-ed penned by Romney in USA Today that said Obama could "learn a thing or two" from the Massachusetts plan.

"He shouldn't have — the good news is he shifted on that and is running against someone who signed it into law. I'd rather have them shift in favor of liberty than against liberty … some conversions are OK," Norquist said.

The president of Americans for Tax Reform also predicted that early Republican infighting — which some polls have suggested has bruised the GOP's image among independent voters — would be washed out by tax increases likely to come with the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts months before the election.

"The good news is this conversation is happening now before the Republicans have a nominee and before the presidential election, which is in November. And November is going to be two months before the largest tax increase in American history, all set up by Obama," Norquist said.

Norquist said investors and companies were already concerned about potential increases on income and estate taxes, and that was preventing economic recovery.

"Investors don't wait until Obama's massive tax increases, they're retrenching now," Norquist said.

The conservative activist also slammed the president for "the lousiest recovery we've had from a recession."

"The job creation is worse now than during the recession … this is a very weak recovery," Norquist said.

---