Willard just can't resist the lie, especially when he's desperately trying to save himself. Today was no exception. Mittens, Ryan, or surrogates appeared on every single Sunday show this morning to avail themselves of the free advertising while hoping not to hang themselves on their own self-braided ropes.

When it comes to health care, that rope is long and tangly and even a little magical.

I'm sure the resounding cheers for the Affordable Care Act from Charlotte were heard by the Romney campaign just about everywhere they went. So Mitt, who would sooner die than tell the truth about anything, said this:

MITT ROMNEY: Well, of course not. I say we're going to replace Obamacare. And I'm replacing it with my own plan. And even in Massachusetts when I was governor, our plan there deals with pre-existing conditions and with young people.

DAVID GREGORY: So you'd keep that part of the federal plan?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, I'm not getting rid of all of healthcare reform. Of course there are a number of things that I like in healthcare reform that I'm going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. Two is to assure that the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like. I also want individuals to be able to buy insurance, health insurance, on their own as opposed to only being able to get it on a tax advantage basis through their company.

My, how generous of him! Except for one small detail. Affordability in Mitt-land and affordability to everyone else are worlds apart. Something has to give, and in Mitt's plan, it's affordability.

Here's the dirty secret about Romney's "replacement": It's no different than what existed before the Affordable Care Act passed. Not one whit. Romney's plan allows people who are already covered by insurance and have pre-existing conditions to pay for it themselves. That's called COBRA continuation. Under HIPAA, individuals who paid their 18 months of COBRA continuation could continue their coverage too.

Yes, they could continue their coverage. For a price. A hefty one, a price no one could possibly afford unless, of course, they were Mitt Romney with his bazillions to spend each month. Nothing to see here, move along.

Did anyone notice what he didn't mention? Lifetime caps on coverage would be reinstated. Co-payments wouldn't be limited. No federal subsidies for low-income insureds. No Medicaid expansion. In fact, this is what would happen on the day the Affordable Care Act was repealed:

• Lifetime and annual coverage limits would be reinstated.
• Young people under the age of 26 but over age 18 (if not a student) would lose their coverage on the day of repeal.
• Senior citizens would pay more for prescription drugs.
• Insurers would not be required to spend 85 cents of every premium dollar on benefits, nor would they have to refund excess premiums.
• Young people under age 19 with pre-existing conditions would be dropped or forced into high risk pools which are not subsidized with federal funds.
• Others with pre-existing conditions who are covered via the federally funded high risk pools would be dropped immediately.
• Anyone with pre-existing conditions would not have the right to coverage and could not buy coverage if they are uninsured currently.
• $800 billion would be added back to the national debt to pay insurance companies a bonus for adding no value to Medicare.

Health care is the largest wealth transfer there is right now from the middle class to the 1 percent. And Mitt Romney wants to augment and reinstate it by repealing legislation which not only protects all of us from financial ruin for getting sick, but actually punishes people for daring to be sick.

And he calls that a plan. It's not a plan, it's magic. It's magic Mitt mumbo-jumbo mixed in with a hefty lie, but that's not stopping conservatives from having a meltdown over what he said. Via Daily Kos, check out this amazing comment by a conservative:

Sigh. Coverage of pre-existing conditions is perhaps the worst part of Obamacare. That's not insurance anymore, it's welfare.

Got that, peons? If you have the misfortune to get sick but still want to PAY for insurance and actually can, it's welfare.

In the interest of fairness, I'll add this one to the bunch. It's right and it's wrong:

Requiring coverage of pre-existing conditions without a mandate would bankrupt the insurance industry.

Oh, hell no. It would bankrupt the middle class, but never the insurance industry. They'll survive no matter what.