Courtesy of the Rasmussen people:
Just 34% of voters nationwide support the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats if the so-called “public option” is removed. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 57% oppose the plan if it doesn't include a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers.Italics mine. This is great news or bad news, depending on whether Congress is acting to please the voters or the special interest groups. I hope they want to please the voters, because all the insurance campaign money in the world won't get you reelected if voters hate you.
Last week, Rasmussen Reports tracking found that support for the Congressional plan was at 42%.
While the tracking question did not specifically mention the public option, it referred to the bill proposed by the president and congressional Democrats now working its way through Congress. All of the congressional committees that had passed reform legislation included a government health insurance plan. Therefore, it is reasonable to compare those results with the current polling to measure the potential impact of dropping the public option.
The most dramatic impact is a sharp decline in enthusiastic support. Without the public option, only nine percent (9%) Strongly support the legislation. The earlier poll found 26% Strongly in favor of it.
10 comments:
I thought you felt Rasmussen surveys were junk?
No, just that one that ignores the moderates.
Anyway if they are, you are sitting pretty. The Democrats will be fooled into voting for an unpopular public option, and your eternal Republican majority is ensured.
No majority is assured (left or right).
I hope the public option is dropped, of course. There is no such thing as "competition" with government as one of the options.
This is an attempt to take over ALL of healthcare. Period. Obama is an outright liar to say otherwise.
No such thing as competition with government as one of the options? That's just crazy talk.
Fed Ex and USPS
Montessori Schools
Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia et al
Private Security Firms
Private Roads
Private Doctors who treat old people
Apartment buildings
These things all exist (look it up!) despite there being government-run alternatives to them. Even in foreign countries, there are things called "private clinics" which thrive despite there being universal health care.
I'm afraid this one of those things, like the collapse of marriage from gay rights, that you people live in fear of yet just doesn't exist.
Your examples are apples and hammers and sickles... er, I mean oranges.The situations you describe are not universal systems. Public housing is means tested, for instance. It isn't open for just anyone. As to schools, that pretty much skews away from your support. After all, private schools exist because public schools SUCK. Also, FedEx and UPS came about because the Post Office is a failed enterprise that doesn't serve the public. Yet, no one is compelled to use either the Post Office or public schools. That won't be true with healthcare as proposed.
Once government gets into healthcare there will be no "competition" as government will set all the rules to its own advantage.
Like they did with the post office and the public shools? 'Cause you just pointed out there is competition there.
The public option isn't a requirement. If it was, it would be called the Public Requirement.
If you imagine that the so-called public option will be "an option" you haven't really studied the plan. It WON'T be an option (except for the extremely wealthy who will be able to afford a Cadillac plan). The public "option" will become the only option for 90% of us once it gets rolling. That is simply a fat and your communist representatives KNOW and are counting on that.
You are selling the insurance industry short. They're perfectly capable of competing with a government plan, just like Kraft was able to sell cheese despite the government actually giving that stuff away.
... again, you mistake scale. Not EVERYONE got cheese. Not everyone was forced onto government cheese. Not everyone was eligible for government cheese. On the other hand, there will BE no "insurance industry" once Obamacare is forced on us all.There will be no "choice" once commiecare gets started.
Why do you think Canadians come to the US for THEIR healthcare?
I just realized - you're tricking me into defending the plan because it's too weak to compete with commercial insurance AND so strong it will eliminate commercial insurance. You people are the devil.
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