Friday, July 17, 2009

Public Support Of Health Care Takeover Plummeting

And plummeting fast, per Rasmussen:

Just 35% of U.S. voters now support the creation of a government health insurance company to compete with private health insurers.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 50% of voters oppose setting up a government health insurance company as President Obama and congressional Democrats are now proposing in their health care reform plan. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.

In mid-June, 41% of American adults thought setting up a government health insurance company to compete with private health insurance companies was a good idea, but the identical number (41%) disagreed.

That's a 15-point swing in about a month!  I'm guessing that's why Obama is now begging Congress to move fast:

After another intense day of closed-door negotiations, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and other senators emerged from a meeting Thursday to admit they had not reached the finish line.

"We're ready when we're ready but we're not going to be ready today," Baucus told reporters. "We're very close to reaching agreement. By close, I mean it's a matter of couple, three or four days, maybe."

That may not be close enough for Obama, who has repeatedly said he wants both the House and Senate to approve their respective versions of healthcare reform before Congress departs for its August recess…

Following the White House gathering, the urgency of Baucus's work appeared to intensify. But in announcing the senators had not made a deal, Baucus also said they would not meet again until next week…

"It takes time and that's what I expressed to the president today, that I hope we can have flexibility on the timeframe so that we can make the best decisions possible on this monumental challenge," [Olympia] Snowe said. "Well, I don't know that he necessarily agreed."

The longer this goes on, the less likely it is that he'll be able to pass this socialist America-killer, and he knows it.  You can help slow it down by taking an active part in the debate and calling your Senators and Rep, and demanding answers, demanding real debate and transparency, demanding they support the Coburn Amendment, and the other things previously mentioned on this blog.

But back to the Rasmussen poll.  In a completely unshocking non-revelation, Democrats are the only ones who want a nanny state government, and the numbers are overwhelming all around:

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Democrats favor the creation of a government insurance alternative. But Republicans (73%) and voters not affiliated with either party (62%) are opposed.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of liberals like the plan for a government insurance company, while 76% of conservatives are against it.

In honor of those poll numbers, I'd like to make a proposal.  Since Democrats want this, I think we should give it to them.  Go ahead and create Obama's government-controlled health care plan, and call it the Democrat Universal Medical Bill.  All Democrats will be required to sign up for it, but Republicans and Independents will stick with their current situation (nothing changes for them).  How will this program be enforced and funded?  Simple - add a blank to all tax returns to indicate party affiliation.

And yes, I know that many rich and powerful Democrats "forget" to pay their taxes, but that's why they have to show their documentation (
a legitimate Democrat registration and tax return) to get the 'free' health care.  Otherwise, they must clearly be trying to game the government system, and that's just not fair, so they'll either be turned away or get arrested for insurance fraud against the government.

Anyway, Democrats will have access to 100% government-funded health care as long as they can show their papers (pay no attention to the Soviet-era phraseology here) at the time of serviceThe IRS will then examine all registered Democrats' tax returns on an annual basis and assess whatever tax increases are projected as necessary to fund the DUMB program for the upcoming year, but those tax increases will be leveled solely on Democrats since they are the only ones utilizing the system.  Just make it a direct deposit thing, straight out of the tax return.

This is a win-win situation, and everyone will be happy after the DUMB program is implemented.  Democrats will get that warm fuzzy feeling they crave through dependence upon government -- with the additional cuddly, fuzzy blanket joy of paying higher taxes, which they always seem to want -- and the rest of us will get that warm fuzzy feeling we crave through the government going as far away from us as possible.  It really is a beautiful system.  We'll do this for ten years and evaluate it; if the DUMB program is a success, we'll expand it to Reps and Indies, too.  If not...well, that can't possibly happen, so I guess this is just a pilot program to prove to all the ignorant rube hick Reps and Indies that this system is far superior to what they have.  So there.  Ha!

An interesting side note - my number-crunchers' projections also show that over time the DUMB program will drastically increase the number of registered Republicans and Independents.  Hmmm...what a strange and unexplained side effect...


There's my two cents.

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