ABC News Poll: More Americans Prefer Public Option to Bipartisan Bill

51 percent . ..only a smidgen over half .. personally, I don’t think the country knows what you are asking about. They haven’t a clue because all of it is so difficult to decipher .. too many people talking about; so many versions .. don’t believe the poll as a reality; as a political tool, they will use it with glee.

my GOD, when is ABC CBS CNN and MSNBC , going to become news organizations and not Obama worshipers, What a question to decipher,

Gibbs didn’t give a straight answer! GASP! Imagine that.
Ask the to get the exact language used in the poll’s question. You can get the poll results you want if you phrase the question just so. Q: Is it better to have nationalized healthcare that will devastate our economy or would you rather be living in Afghanistan right now?

Obama has a mandate because he was elected. Thus we should have the health care he had in mind when people elected him. Whether the program is fiscally solvent does not matter since we are so broke already. The money will just be create or borrowed like it always is. Just don’t know what the future holds. To me it does not look good at all.

Stupid question–even so it didn’t produce the strong pro-government run health care result Obama wants.

But the CBO says that public plan premiums are likely to be higher than those of private plans. So your poll question (“…health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance…”) is invalid.

I still don’t understand how this
makes healthcare better or less
expensive. There is no point in any of
this. Almost 2000 pages to this bill
and this is what will run our health
care? This will be a bureaucratic
nightmare that costs time, money and
timely health decisions. Scrap this
junk and start again.

It is true only people that dont have insurance will be able to have the so called public option or watever Pelosi calls it. If you currently have insurance you can NOT have that option. The insurance compnies gain 47 million customers most paid for with your tax dollars.

You ask questions of a group that is 51% Democrats, and it’s news when 51% of them support a Democrat plan?

Wow. What a loaded question of a poll. how about the Rassmussen poll from 4 days ago that stated 57% Say Health Care Plan Will Increase Costs, 53% Say It Will Reduce Quality of Care, 45% Favor Passage. 18% say passage of the congressional plan will reduce costs, while only 23% believe it will lead to better care and that support has stayed between 41% and 46% since July. Of course I expect ABC News to promote a poll supporting Obama’s agenda. They have prostrated themselves and sold out their journalistic integrity to Obama long ago. The media in the US is a propaganda machine for Obama and not much else.

Why is this news? Support for a limited public option has been so strong and consistent in polls that it is now a running joke when opponents trot out the outlier – the lowest of a dozen polls – to spin it otherwise.
Politicians get elected based on an accurate poll taken in Nov. They aren’t being confused by the spin.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 30% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9.

Did my post just get deleted?

“They are going to put this bill online for a week arent they before they vote on it so the american public will be able to view it. That was one of Obamas big deals during his campaign.”
jim | Oct 30, 2009 10:31:24 AM
No it wasn’t. Find the quote where Obama said bills would be posted for a week before being voted on by Congress. It doesn’t exist. Just another Republican lie.
Obama actually pledged:
“will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.”
That pledge has NOTHING TO DO WITH CONGRESS. And he has actually broken it, so why do you feel the need to lie and exaggerate by claiming he said it about Congress? Is lying really that instinctive for Republicans now, or are they really that ignorant of reality?

Amazing. The same number of people who will vote for a democrat want the public option. Nothing wrong with ABC’s polling.
Axey | Oct 30, 2009 10:13:29 AM
In case you missed the last election, more Americans will vote for a Democrat than a Republican, period. The poll would be extraordinarily suspect if it had a disproportionate number of the smallest party dominating. Perhaps you prefer Rasmussen’s policy polls, where he arbitrarily deletes the answers from Democrats until it better matches the desires of his clients.

“I dream of a day going by on the Political Punch board without someone accusing another commenter of lying.”
MayBee | Oct 30, 2009 10:44:04 AM
I dream of the day that commenters do not post easily debunked and documented lies, but rather actually debate reality.

===I dream of the day that commenters do not post easily debunked and documented lies, but rather actually debate reality. ===
You mean like posting the actual poll question and you calling us liars for doing so?

Yeah, anyone that disagrees with you is a liar. Typical behavior from libs. So childish.

Concerned,
You are right, I used the word public option and that wasn’t used in the question asked.
In the same poll, as I posted earlier, the plan that congress and Obama are developing right now has 45% support and 48% opposed. Whether that means they support a public option or oppose it, I don’t know, since Obama won’t say whether he is pushing the public option or not.

“Would you favor or oppose creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that
would compete directly with private health insurance companies?”
48% Favor/42% Oppose – NBC/WSJ: Oct. 22-25
“If Congress passes a health care bill, do you think it should or should not include a public, government-run insurance plan to compete with plans offered by private insurance”
50% Should/46% Should Not – USA Today/Gallup Oct. 16-19
“Now thinking specifically about the health insurance plans available to most Americans, would you favor or oppose creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies?”
61% Favor/38% Oppose – CNN/Opinion Research Oct. 16-18
“Would you support or oppose having the government create a new health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans?”
57% Support/40% Oppose – ABC News/WaPo Oct. 15-18
“Now I’m going to read you some different ways to increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance. As I read each one, please tell me whether you would favor it or oppose it… Creating a government-administered public health insurance option to compete with private health insurance plans”
57% Favor/39% Oppose – Kaiser Family Foundation Oct. 8-15
“Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government-administered health insurance plan — something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get — that would compete with private health insurance plans?”
62% Favor 31% Oppose – CBS News Oct. 5-8
“One of the points being debated is whether or not the government should create a public health insurance plan as an alternative to private insurance plans. Which of the following is closest to your opinion? It is necessary to create a public health insurance plan to make sure that all Americans have access to quality health care. Access to quality health care for all Americans can be achieved without having to create a public health insurance plan.”
53% Necessary/42% Not Necessary – Ipsos/McClatchy Oct. 1-5
“Do you support or oppose giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans?”
61% Support/34% Oppose – Quinnipiac Sept. 29-Oct. 5
“Now I’d like to ask you about some of the specific proposals being considered to address health care. Would you favor or oppose… A government health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans”
55% Favor/38% Oppose – Pew Sept. 30-Oct. 4
Rasmussen said in their analysis: “46% favor the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed.”
46% Favor /37% Oppose – Rasmussen Oct. 4

You mean like posting the actual poll question and you calling us liars for doing so?
Posted by: Axey | Oct 30, 2009 10:46:57 AM
What are you talking about? Where did I call someone a liar for posting the poll question, or even putting forward the opinion that responses from the poll should have been deleted until the answer fits your personal opinion of how many Republicans are in America? Citation please – all my comments are still on this page.
Jake WAS oversimplifying or lying about the response to question 38 when he presented it as defining the responder as a Republican or Democrat – that was NOT the question at all.
Jim WAS flat out lying when he claimed one of Obama’s ‘big deals’ during the campaign was having Congress post bills for a week before voting on them.
Where did I call anyone a liar for “posting the actual poll question”? Your post claiming I did so is just another example of the Right wing exagerating and lying in a VERY easily disproven way. I have 5 (legitimate – I see the name spoofers are home from school today) on this thread. You implied I had accused some of lying for posting the actual poll question:
“You mean like posting the actual poll question and you calling us liars for doing so?”
Again, I only have 5 earlier posts here – it’s not hard to PROVE that you are exaggerating, lying or mistaken in even that comment.

“When the question was asked about the public option, the was NO option to vote opposed.”
wheresmymoney | Oct 30, 2009 11:05:02 AM
That was asked as an independent question, and the clear majority supports a public option (as they have since June – not sure why this is suddenly news).
“8. Would you support or oppose having the government create a new health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans?”
57% support / 40% oppose
This question was asked prior to the detail question about a bipartisan bill vs public option (which did have some responses of neither, but neither was not a prompted option).

“JHW539 will use Rasmussen for a reference when it benefits him but when others reference a Rasmussen Poll JHW539 will attack it as biased.”
I don’t like Rasmussen for issues polling – their proprietary ‘likely voter’ adjustments chips away at the foundation of random polling.
“He does not tell you that the sampling poll for Rasmussen is 32% Republican 37% Democrat. Some polls are weighted as much as +13% for Democrats.”
You DO NOT know what Rasmussen uses for their weighting – no one knows exactly how they define a “voter”. Their (claimed) secret formula for figuring out who to delete from the poll is actually one of their selling points.
“So we voice our dissatisfaction and do not support our candidates when they betray our trust! Can Liberals say the same?”
nobama12 | Oct 30, 2009 11:17:01 AM
? Perhaps you’ve missed the numerous smacks the ‘liberal’ Congress has already given Obama – no help on closing Gitmo, fought the stimulus tooth and nail, and now with a massive majority they won’t even hang together on the signature issue of health care.
Compare that to President Bush’s rubberstamp Republican Congress (or record-setting filibustering Republican Senate protecting the Bush agenda for his last two years). Don’t project Republican’s blind obedience onto liberals – the willingness of liberals to ‘turn on their own’ is a very well documented weakness even over the last 9 months. And before that, just look to Lieberman’s last campaign. There is a reason he’s not a Democrat.

I thought for sure you’d label Obama’s visit to Dover two nights ago as a political stunt and PR move.
CTgirl | Oct 30, 2009 11:22:39 AM
It SHOULD have been a PR move – it is entirely appropriate for the President to publicly honor and bring the country’s attention to the fact men and women are dying for us, right now.
And honestly I don’t see an upside to him in this trip beyond doing his duty as commander in chief – the right accuses him of dithering on reinforcement while men die, and the left accuses him of dithering on pulling them out of a quagmire while men die. In NO case do I see highlighting the return of fallen soldiers as a PR win for Obama, but it is a PR duty of the Commander in Chief.

Somebody should do a poll asking what the top priority should be:
Lowering healthcare costs OR
Insuring everyone
The first step should be lowering healthcare costs, not expanding coverage. Don’t expand coverage until after the costs are under control. And I still don’t understand why we need to spend $900 billion to get costs under control.

but it is a PR duty of the Commander in Chief.
Posted by: jhw539 | Oct 30, 2009 11:29:28 AM
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is NOT! And the fact that you and Obama see it that way is sickening.

Posted by JHW539 – Jim WAS flat out lying when he claimed one of Obama’s ‘big deals’ during the campaign was having Congress post bills for a week before voting on them.
*********
Obama promised bills would be posted 5 days before he signed them. He has repeatedly broken this promise. There is really no need to call people liars. How childish.

Care to share the internals of the poll? What was the ID breakdown? The weighting? Did you poll likely voters, registered voters or just adults?

Once again, America think, does anyone really believe that this Health Plan will be free of taxes on us, really, public option or no public option the main point is who is paying for this? The Seniors lose, fact, there is not enough millionaires to cover costs, fact, Employers will bail on offering health insurance to employees, fact, that leaves the Govt. plan and believe me the doctors will bail, fact. There is not enough doctors currently to provide service to the ones who do not have insurance, fact. Medicare plus accounts will be cut massively, fact we will all be on the medicare system within 15 years at a cost unsustainable, fact. Another fact medicare will be out of money in approximately 8 years. Let’s scrap this whole thing, fix the systems we have in place, get tort reform, oh we can’t touch that it will hurt the cronies in Wash. This is why congress stinks and they all and I mean all need to go.

jhw539–”Compare that to President Bush’s rubberstamp Republican Congress (or record-setting filibustering Republican Senate protecting the Bush agenda for his last two years). Don’t project Republican’s blind obedience onto liberals – the willingness of liberals to ‘turn on their own’ is a very well documented weakness even over the last 9 months.” —-
Your kidding right? This has to be a wellcrafted satirical joke..
First, Bush had a DEMOCRATIC Majority his last two years.. not republican… Now give a few examples of how the Dems turn on themselves? Has Chris Dodd been punished for his sweetheart deal with countrywide? – NO. Supposedly, it was investigated, but no councel was called and they did not even supoena the records. Was Charlie Rangle held accountable for his fialure to “declare income and properties? – NO. Was any of the Members in the Democratic party who have been caught in some form of tax evasion over the last few years been held accountable? – NO. Pelosci was never questioned about the defense contracts awarded to her husbands company from the committe she sat on.. when the mortgage crisis broke, she stated that she would make sure that congress investigated and held the responsible parties accountable, but when an internal inquiry located 0 Repubs to hang the crisis on, but raised huge flags against Barney Frank and Maxine Waters.. NO investigation was ever conducted.
Your post is laughable..

I want the Dems to own it.
All of it.
They went behind closed doors and made it clear that Repub ideas were not wanted. They don’t need Republicans anyway except to have someone else to blame.
So let Obama own this train wreck.

my GOD, when is ABC CBS CNN and MSNBC , going to become news organizations and not Obama worshipers, What a question to decipher, Janet Meints
I couldn’t agree with you more Janet,but you left out NBC,don’t forget those clowns.

The wording on these polls is very important. Note that this poll did not indicate that the public insurance option “administered” by the government would be paid for by taxes and cuts to medicare, etc..
I’d like to a see a poll that was more faithful to the bill in congress:
“Would you support a government-administered health care insurance plan subsidized by $71,100,000,000 in additional yearly taxes and penalties and paid for by $48,600,000,000 in yearly cuts to Medicare and other programs?”
I’m sure there would be plenty of support in Congress for a government-administered healthcare plan that didn’t cost taxpayers anything…but that is simply not what the current plan is.

jhw539: What no reply? Your teleprompter break down? So your lost without the Whitehouse talking points in front of you?

I believe the results of the poll, but to gain a TRUE measure of how the public feels about this issue, the question should be phrased as follows:
“Which of these would you prefer:
(a) a plan that includes some form of government-sponsored health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance, but is approved without support from Republicans in Congress, and WILL INCREASE THE NATIONAL DEBT AND TAXES PAID BY AMERICANS (despite what Queen Pelosi says…)
(b) a plan that is approved with support from Republicans in Congress, but does not include any form of government-sponsored health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance
============
I think the results of the poll would be different if additional relevant information is provided…

“General Question to the readers:
why do dopes keep reprinting numbers from more than 1 month ago?”
I hope you’re not referring to the numbers I posted. All polls in the list were released this month and are the most current on the public option issue.

How do you expect us taxpayers to pay more for less? Enough is enough. We are not going to take it anymore, you liberals marxists are destroying the United States
Alba | Oct 30, 2009 11:57:44 AM
Out of curiosity, you do realize that taxes in America haven’t been this low for almost a century, right? That we’ve been charging the true cost of being a first world nation to the federal credit card/debt so politicians could spend the last 30 years cutting taxes?
America is the most powerful and prosperous free country mankind has ever seen. It is about time we start to pay to support her up front.

Welcome to California and “Healthy Families” state sponsored health care system…BTW..IT’S FAILING…with the rest of the state…

“Posted by: Numeros | Oct 30, 2009 12:22:42 PM”
Thanks Numeros.

What a ridiculously worded poll. They aren’t offering a public option so poor people can get coverage. They are forcing coverage on everyone (fines or prison if you don’t comply) and forcing private companies out of business. Why don’t you ask it this way: do you want gov’t to take over the health care industry?

“More Americans Prefer Public Option to Bipartisan Bill”
But that’s only a small part of the story. The full story is that a large majority of Americans are happy with their current healthcare coverage. Makes any polls regarding a public option moot.

If they were comfortable with the plan as is, they wouldn’t feel the need to build in “cover.”
Anonymous | Oct 30, 2009 12:47:57 PM
There is also the issue that Democrats do NOT have a 60 seat supermajority in the Senate. Lieberman isn’t even a Democrat in name – he’s campaigned for multiple Republicans (include McCain), had a Democratic challenger last election, and is entirely in the pocket of the insurance industry.
Democrats alone do not have the votes to break the Republican filibuster.

“Well, all they need do is look at this poll conducted by ABC. It clearly gives them the cover they need to pass their bill. Why are they hesitating?”
Pretty much every poll out there shows support for the public option.
The GOP can go into 2010 as the party of No.
No solutions.
No compromises.

So that means we should have had SS reform in 2005? Since the guy who very openly ran on SS reform was put in the WH.
Axey | Oct 30, 2009 12:39:05 PM
Yes. Something that at least met the very vague plans put forth during the ’04 election (Rove was extraordinarily cagey about providing details since the slightest cut would lose Florida).
How did the November poll in 2006 judge the Republican’s failure to deliver?

Olympia Snowe is known as a RINO (Republican In Name Only). She does not bring “bipartisan support” to anything. For all intents and purposes, she’s a Democrat. Her support of the Democrat plan for government-run healthcare is only the latest proof of this.”
The GOP really does want permanent minority status.
As Newt said they can be very vocal 20% that will never govern just whine.

What people do not understand is a Public option will result in only one choice a Government Run choice. Medicare is Government run healthcare and look how well it is doing!

Topson, Obama may have abc, nbc, etc covering everything for him, but he does not (and never will) have FOX….Fox is the only channel telling anything true about what Obama’s real plan seems to be for America. True Americans (you know the ones that don’t want a hand out) watch FOX< Try it one time, you will be in shock!!!

America is the most powerful and prosperous free country mankind has ever seen. It is about time we start to pay to support her up front.
Posted by: jhw539 |
Classic left wing tripe. The federal gov’t doesn’t spend too much it just doesn’t tax enough.

During the campaign, Obama argued for giving what Congress has to everyone.
“If it’s good enough for Congress…” he would say.

How did the November poll in 2006 judge the Republican’s failure to deliver?
Posted by: jhw539 |
It wasn’t about Social Security reform.

The GOP really does want permanent minority status.
Posted by: Ryan C |
Actually there are more registered Republicans than there are self-identified liberals.

It wasn’t about Social Security reform.
Foghorn Leghorn | Oct 30, 2009 1:08:10 PM
I disagree. And I think the 2010 elections will be, in part, about health care reform.

jhw539: “Democrats alone do not have the votes to break the Republican filibuster.”
Wrong.
1. The Democrat caucus currently has a 60-vote majority which would defeat a Republican filibuster.
2. Senator Reid has already threatened the use of reconciliation (aka the nuclear option) to override any possible filibuster.
In summary, there’s nothing stopping Democrats from passing a public-option (or any option) health-care bill except Democrats. The party of “no” is as it has always been, the Democrats. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

“Actually there are more registered Republicans than there are self-identified liberals.”
ROFLMAO!
Give Fred Thompson an award for nonsensical comparisons!
Though you bring up a funny point.
Right now self identified liberals constitute roughly 20% of the electorate as they have for a couple of decades.
Self identified GOPers has fallen to the mid 20′s.
Question for Fred Thompson, are there more registered Democrats or Republicans in this country?

Ryan C: “The GOP can go into 2010 as the party of No.”
Unsurprisingly, you have things backwards again. It’s the Democrats who have a majority, and you still can’t get a bill passed. All the while, you foolishly and dishonestly blame Republicans. Even those that don’t follow politics know better than that. The party of “no” since at least 2007 continues to be the Democrats. I can’t say I’m surprised.

Nice question, ABC. You should have included a mention about the $1T price tag for the public option and the likelihood that a public option will destroy the private insurance industry, leaving Americans with no choice other than government run health care in about ten years. I think you would get very different responses considering single payer (government run health care) polls at less than 20%.

Give Fred Thompson an award for nonsensical comparisons!
Posted by: Ryan C |
I wouldn’t expect that someone who can’t identify a single corrupt Democrat would have trouble making sense out of sensible things.
Are the majority of Americans Democrats?

Here’s a slight re-sort for those who don’t trust news organizations.
News Organization Polls
Favor/Oppose
48%/42% NBC/WSJ Oct. 22-25
50%/46% USA Today/Gallup Oct. 16-19
61%/38% CNN/Opinion Research* Oct. 16-18
57%/40% News/WaPo Oct. 15-18 ABC
62%/31% CBS News Oct. 5-8
53%/42% Ipsos/McClatchy* Oct. 1-5
Non-News Organization Polls
Favor/Oppose
57%/39% Kaiser Family Foundation Oct. 8-15
61%/34% Quinnipiac Sept. 29-Oct. 5
55%/38% Pew Sept. 30-Oct. 4
46%/37% Rasmussen** Oct. 4
*Tied for most accurate pollster in the 2008 national Presidential election results.
**Choice pollster of conservatives.

Another Lie from those in Obamas pocket.

jhw539: “You can play word games all you want, but the FACTS . . .”
Stating the facts is not a “word game.” Even if you discount the 60-vote majority, you can’t deny (but apparently you can conveniently ignore) the fact that Democrats could use reconciliation (aka the nuclear option) to pass anything they want.

Lizzie, if you’re interested, page back to my post at 11:03:10 AM to see exact wording in all the polls.

===I disagree.
Posted by: jhw539 |===
Of course you do. Because it had nothing to do with the culture of corruption, Iraq, overspending, etc. It was because Bush failed to deliver on SS reform. I clearly remember democrats running on that platform.

I just did a really quick google search and couldn’t find where anyone even asked the failure to reform ss by Bush was a factor in their vote. Maybe jwh could tell us where she gets her opinion that it was a factor?

“you can’t deny (but apparently you can conveniently ignore) the fact that Democrats could use reconciliation (aka the nuclear option) to pass anything they want.”
Anonymous | Oct 30, 2009 1:45:31 PM
That is true to an extent. Reconciliation does have structural limitations, but Democrats could use. First time I’ve heard it called the nuclear option though – that usually refers to actually eliminating the filibuster. Reconciliation has been used over a dozen times in the last few administrations (and was a favorite of both Reagan and Bush).

You think that is why republicans lost the 2006 elections? You are the only one.”
I woudl say it was a combination of issues.
SS reform lost the GOP seniors.
The racism on the right during the immigration reform discussion cost them severely with Hispanic voters.
Add to that the half dozen GOP members of Congress who were indicted/convicted for fraud and you have a butt whoopin.

“Poll was 51% Dem and 39% Republican.
Once again Dem’s are vastly oversampled.”
ROFLMAO!
That was the generic congressional ballot not numbers of Dems vs GOPers in the poll.
The right wing…stuck on stupid.

So many so-called conservatives would rather just “fight the liberals” than work to make their country stronger and healthier.
Rather than fighting “the liberals” why don’t they fight ignorance, poverty, and disease?

Axey…Rasmussen certainly does post his questions. Just because you don’t like the results doesnt mean you should make crap up…

Democrats won 65+ demo 50 to 48 in 2006.
They lost that same demo 53 to 46 in 2004
(using CNN national exit poll for House of Reps)

I am only going to say this once. Republicans need to get their heads out of where the sun doesn’t shine. They will get steamrolled on this topic. Those numbers supporting this type of health care reform have been there all along. They just thought that by spreading their lies and misinformation they could turn the tide in their favor. The whole story here? The common man, all of us middle class people need health care reform. We need “portability” on “affordable” options. We need as many possible people in the “risk pools” as possible. If the free enterprise greed monsters do not want to provide it, then folks, we need someone to help us and our government appears to be our only option and protector.

“Are we talking about the same poll?”
Numeros, that guy seems to be looking at the generic congressional ballot question.

“Rasmussen certainly does post his questions.”
Where did Rasmussen post the question used in his Oct. 4th analysis where 46% were in favor and 37% were opposed to a public option?

“Numeros, that guy seems to be looking at the generic congressional ballot question.”
:-D

Add to that the half dozen GOP members of Congress who were indicted/convicted for fraud and you have a butt whoopin.
Posted by: Ryan C |
Is that why the Dems refuse to credibly investigate congressional corruption any more? Or did you even know that congress is ate up with corruption?

“Where did Rasmussen post the question used in his Oct. 4th analysis where 46% were in favor and 37% were opposed to a public option?”
Its at the very bottom of any article.
Here’s that question
“Would you favor or oppose the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option that people could choose instead of a private health insurance plan?
Then there’s the Republican push poll question
“2* Suppose that the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option encouraged companies to drop private health insurance coverage for their workers. Workers would then be covered by the government option. Would you favor or oppose the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option if it encouraged companies to drop private health insurance coverage for their workers?”

“What are the odds that the same number of people that intend to vote for a democrat in 2010 is also the same number of people who could care less if republicans are on board with any proposal?”
“we’re not gonna propose any reforms ourselves just oppose any reform brought up” is not a winning political strategy.

Where did Rasmussen post the question used in his Oct. 4th analysis where 46% were in favor and 37% were opposed to a public option?
Never mind, I found it!

” That is my point in claiming this is a crap poll.”
Axey | Oct 30, 2009 2:22:24 PM
Well, you can make the EXACT same point about the 2008 elections then. They were crap elections since based on the House of Representatives, 59% of the people who participated were Democrats (accepting the definition that has been argued here, that who you would support in the next house vote is your affiliation) and only 41% were Republicans – strangely close to the break down of this crap poll. Why do you think that solidly documented fact matches the poll result so closely?

Is that why the Dems refuse to credibly investigate congressional corruption any more”
I realize you’re kind of slow Fred Thompson.
But maybe you missed this in the news today.
“House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.”
Posted by: Ryan C |
What does the word “credible” mean to you? I bet you think Chris Dodd is ethical.

“Those “greed monsters” you are referring to make an average of 5% profit annually.”
Of course 5% equals BILLIONS of dollars but the insurance companies rather that we consider their “meager” profit margin of 5%.

“The news media is conveniently NOT covering this administration’s BOTCHED job of H1N1 vaccine. They have 26 million shots available. That is less than 10% of the population that is receiving shots”
ROFLMAO!
In a bit of right wing pretezel logic, its the government fault for not ORDERING private companies to produce a swine flu vaccines faster.

A public option? 2,000 pages. If it was only a public option it would take only a few pages. What else wonderful ideas are in the bill? How about subsidizing a family of four making over 80,000. How is that helping the poor who cannot afford health care? That, my friend, is nothing about health care. It is about changing America to a socialist country, I smell a rat.

In a bit of right wing pretezel logic, its the government fault for not ORDERING private companies to produce a swine flu vaccines faster.
Posted by: Ryan C | Oct 30, 2009 2:58:44 PM Yes when it was listed as a Pandemic, I forgot thinking ahead is not the strength of the Democratic Party that would require them to think instead of just looking at the daily opinion polls for the cause of the day.

I have a better way to pose this question.
“Would you support health care reform that addresses tort reform, an emphasis on reducing Medicare fraud and abuse, while providing care to the most vulnerable Americans?”
We want reform, not reinvention.

what was the wording of the question?
im assuming it was framed just as democrats like to frame it, all “choice”, no “rationing” or “tax payer bailout”

“government-sponsored” is not the wording that should be used.
Instead, ask the public “government owned & operated”… see how the experience with government inefficiency works its way in there.
Very few polls can be claimed as a true representation.

=== Why do you think that solidly documented fact matches the poll result so closely?===
It doesn’t match “exactly”. Close only counts in horseshoes and elections where republicans aren’t ahead by double digits when the votes have been counted.
59% of those who voted democrat in 2008. Can you tell me what percentage of those were in conservative districts? That will return to conservatives if the democrat proves too liberal? Like Delay’s seat did in 2008? I don’t think you will see another election like 2008, not even with Obama running in 2012. He has record to run on next time around. I don’t think hope and change is going to do it for him.

wheresmymoney | Oct 30, 2009 3:27:24 PM: You cant use logic with Liberal they view success and profit as bad words no wonder they are running up a record deficit! Liberals do not understand simple facts like the following. Last year all we heard about was record profits for big oil, the evil of big oil! Can someone explain to these Liberals that just because you obtain record profits does not mean obscene profits! You can obtain record profits without raising your GMR (Gross Margin Rate) from the previous year.

wheresmymoney..if you want to be like every other conservative conspiracy thinker and blame the administration for manufacturers being unable to manufacture the amount of vaccine needed, that it is up to you. Conservatives have served up such a cottage industry of hate,fear and distrust of governmment for only one reason. To get people to believe in a convoluted concept of “free market enterprise” where the entrepeneurs will “police” themselves – and that concept (20 years in the making) just about took us under the past two years. They are just scared of the competition
and what it will do to their fat salaries and bonuses. We need government back in our lives. Good government with sound regulations and the right people to administer them.

“Perhaps you’d be interested in buying one of the other nine polls released this month showing support for a public option. Maybe Rasmussen, choice pollster of conservatives, would be more to your liking. They had it 46% to 37% in favor.”
So you want to pass a 1,900 page piece of legislation affecting every single American in very personal ways with plurality support among voters?
This thing ain’t passed yet, not by a long shot.

RCP October 22:
“In the aggregate, the polls present a very mixed picture. These numbers are good for reform efforts, but other numbers are bad. For instance:
-Respondents don’t generally approve of the reform bills. In some polls, a majority disapproves.
- Respondents give mixed marks to Obama for his handling of the issue.
-Respondents strongly disapprove of the job Congress is doing with health care.
-Only a small portion of respondents believes they will actually be helped by the health care reform proposals.
-All in all, since the health care debate really heated up in July, Obama’s job approval has dropped in the RCP Average from about 59% to 52%. His disapproval rating has gone from about 34% to 43%.”

Read the wording of the question then look at the results. One of the choices is: a plan that includes some form of government-sponsored health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance,…
Notice that reffers to people who can’t get insurance not a public option that competes with private insurance. I think most on each side of the fence, Dem or GOP, wants those who can’t get insurance to have an option.
Where the problem comes in is when people who like what they have that worry the Gov option will come in and undercut the plan they have an force them onto the gov plan. Only the government can run a business at a loss.
So ABC please release the details of how many of those polled belong to which party and who did they vote fore in the last election. Are the results skewed?

And finally this from RCP re Rasmussen:
“Then Rasmussen asks this follow up:
“Suppose that the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option encouraged companies to drop private health insurance coverage for their workers. Workers would then be covered by the government option. Would you favor or oppose the creation of a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option if it encouraged companies to drop private health insurance coverage for their workers?
“What happens when this Republican argument is substituted for the Democratic argument? Support for the public option plummets dramatically. Nearly 3/5ths of all respondents voiced opposition to the public option when it was phrased in this way.
“Additionally, Rasmussen asked whether respondents thought the public option would save taxpayers money (they didn’t), whether they thought it would offer better health insurance than private insurance (again, no), and whether people preferred to have a public option or a guarantee that nobody will lose their current coverage (the guarantee won in a landslide).
“These results are very consequential. After all, Rasmussen is holding a lot of factors constant, enabling us to observe: same poll + same methodology + different frame for the question = different answer. That strongly suggests that the frame used for the public option question goes a long way in determining the answer the public gives.”
Glad to see that many people here are well aware that you have to watch these poll questions like a hawk, and bring a bit of intelligence to bear. The ABC poll, like so many others, simply will not bear scrutiny.

We need government back in our lives. Good government with sound regulations and the right people to administer them.
Posted by: CND FOX | Oct 30, 2009 3:54:51 PM
********
Now I’m REALLY laughing. Would the right people be Countrywide VIP Crooks Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad? Or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac star Barnie Frank? Or tax cheats Charlie Rangel and Tim Geithner?
I’d rather take my chances with those evil profit making private companies. If Private companies did what these “good government” people did, they would be in prison. These guys use the excuse, “We didn’t know” and are still in office.

I also will repost to avoid confusion:
Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group. Changes among political independents appear to be the main reason the percentage of conservatives has increased nationally over the past year: the 35% of independents describing their views as conservative in 2009 is up from 29% in 2008. By contrast, among Republicans and Democrats, the percentage who are “conservative” has increased by one point each.

In addition to the increase in conservatism on this general ideology measure, Gallup finds higher percentages of Americans expressing conservative views on several specific issues in 2009 than in 2008. Perceptions that there is too much government regulation of business and industry jumped from 38% in September 2008 to 45% in September 2009. The percentage of Americans saying they would like to see labor unions have less influence in the country rose from 32% in August 2008 to a record-high 42% in August 2009. Public support for keeping the laws governing the sale of firearms the same or making them less strict rose from 49% in October 2008 to 55% in October 2009, also a record high. (The percentage saying the laws should become more strict — the traditionally liberal position — fell from 49% to 44%.) The percentage of Americans favoring a decrease in immigration rose from 39% in June/July 2008 to 50% in July 2009. The propensity to want the government to “promote traditional values” — as opposed to “not favor any particular set of values” — rose from 48% in 2008 to 53% in 2009. Current support for promoting traditional values is the highest seen in five years. The percentage of Americans who consider themselves “pro-life” on abortion rose from 44% in May 2008 to 51% in May 2009, and remained at a slightly elevated 47% in July 2009. Americans’ belief that the global warming problem is “exaggerated” in the news rose from 35% in March 2008 to 41% in March 2009
From what I see the shift is moving to the right not the left and that is a good thing for 2010 & 2012 .

I don’t see the relavence of the question just because I Rep. Senator from a state with an apparent poorly run health care system who’s just trying to get her 15 minutes of fame. There are still many people who don’t want this and it’s still NOT a wise time to be doing this just because people who are apparently too scared or lazy to breath without having the government tell when to do it. We are putting an undo burden on the American people which is being purpetrated by people who will probably never have to pay the taxes for it. You can call this ring wing nut or racist or whatever you want but it wouldn’t make it any less true. This is the worst time to pass this. The dems, once again, don’t seem to care about this though just getting THEIR agenda passed, no matter how idiotic and undemocratic. I’m truly ashamed of the government at this point. The current administration is obviously one of the most self-possessed administrations we’ve ever had.

I don’t know too many conservatives serving up a cottage industry of hate, fear and distrust of governmment to protect their fat salaries and bonuses”
You’re right.
I would call those people rabid wingnuts versus conservatives since I perceive conservatives as at least having some principles though I may disagree with them.
They would be your Rush, your Hannity, your Beck etc.

recall lieberman

Alot of companies don’t make their profits by denying sick people care after taking their money.
I would consider that evil.
Right wingers obviously think that’s a great business plan.
Posted by: Ryan C | Oct 30, 2009 4:39:21 PM
*******
Fear Mongering? Prove your statement Mr. Marxist.

Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group. Changes among political independents appear to be the main reason the percentage of conservatives has increased nationally over the past year: the 35% of independents describing their views as conservative in 2009 is up from 29% in 2008. By contrast, among Republicans and Democrats, the percentage who are “conservative” has increased by one point each.

tierra: “People have already had enough of the Republicans.”
Then, why do you continue to bang on about them incessantly? Since Democrats have a majority, Republicans are irrelevant in passing a health care bill. If you are upset a bill hasn’t passed yet, you need only direct your anger at Democrats.

Alot of companies don’t make their profits by denying sick people care after taking their money.
I would consider that evil.
Right wingers obviously think that’s a great business plan.
Posted by: Ryan C | Oct 30, 2009 4:39:21 PM
*******
Fear Mongering? Prove your statement Mr. Marxist.
__________________________________
If you haven’t been hearing the stories of people screwed over by the insurance companies, coverage dropped, cut off or payments denied – then you haven’t been listening.

The House Bill eviserates Medicare breaking every promise government made to Seniors. So when government takes over the rest of Health Care expect government to break all of the promises Nancy Pelosi made yesterday to the American people.
Pelosi promised:
– Lower costs, instead expect Higher costs
– Higher quality, instead expect Lower quality,
– More Choice, instead expect Less Choice
– More competition, instead expect Less Competition
Bottom line, it is impossible to provide quality health care for 30 million more people and at the same time lower costs and increase quality. The reality is the opposite will happen and anyone who says otherwise is a liar.
Below is a summary of what’s in the bill:
Total cost: $1.055 trillion
New Taxes: $572 billion
Cuts to Medicare: $426 billion
Not included: $247 billion needed to stop Medicare payments to doctors from decreasing, pledged to be passed in a separate bill to keep this bill “revenue neutral”
Pages: 1,990
The word regulation appears in the bill 181 times.
The word fees appears in the bill 103 times.
The word tax appears in the bill 214 times.
“As we all know, nothing says ‘affordability’ like higher taxes and fees.”
The word “shall” – as in “must” or “required to” – appears over 3,000 times. “The word, alas, is never preceded by the patriotic phrase “mind our own freaking business.” Not once.”
From Dow Jones Newswires:
“The $1.055 trillion estimate also does not include $245 billion needed to stop Medicare payments to doctors from decreasing, which the House plans to address through separate legislation introduced Thursday.
The costs of the bill are fully offset by cuts to existing spending programs– including the Medicare?Advantage and other programs–saving $426 billion through 2019, and by tax increases raising $572 billion over that time, CBO said. In fact, the combined impact of provisions in the bill would be a net deficit reduction of $104 billion in the next decade, according to CBO.”

Insurance companies profits are only 2% so how can insurance cost go down without putting insurance companies out of business? As the saying goes you can’t get blood out of a turnip. In addition, if the people understood that they will lose their private insurance plan if this bill is passed they would all be against the bill. With only a 2% profit, it will be impossible for private insurance companies to compete with a government run public option as government can make up all the rules and by forcing insurance companies to cover all comers and not make any adjustments to their prices to compensate for the higher costs, they will be run out of business. Than what the people are left with is government controlling all of the health care dollar and being the decider on who gets what health care if any. The only thing the people can count on is that all of Obama’s, Pelosi’s and Reid’s favorite special interests groups will be first in line to any health care that is left over once the corrupt and inefficient government gets their share of the take.

People should know what is in the House bill, before they start criticizing it.
Here is a brief list:
1. SAVES $104 BILLION during the first 10 years, according the official scorekeeper, the CBO. Saves more in the next 10 years.
2.BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE — Reduces the donut hole by $500 and institutes a 50% discount on brand-name drugs, effective January 1, 2010.
3.IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL) — Creates a temporary insurance program until the Exchange is available for individuals who have been uninsured for several months or have been denied a policy because of pre-existing conditions.
4.BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage.
5.ENDS RESCISSIONS—Prohibits insurers from nullifying or rescinding a patient’s policy when they file a claim for benefits, except in the case of fraud.
6.EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 27TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE— Requires health plans to allow young people through age 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice.
7.ELIMINATES COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTIVE SERVICES IN MEDICARE—Eliminates co-payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program.
8. IMPROVES HELP FOR LOW-INCOME MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES—Improves the low-income protection programs in Medicare to assure more individuals are able to access this vital help.
9.PROVIDES NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE— Prohibits Medicare Advantage plans from charging enrollees higher cost-sharing for services in their private plan than what is charged in traditional Medicare.
10.IMMEDIATE SUNSHINE ON PRICE GOUGING—Discourages excessive price increases by insurance companies through review and disclosure of insurance rate increases.
11.CONTINUITY FOR DISPLACED WORKERS—Allows Americans to keep their COBRA coverage until the Exchange is in place and they can access affordable coverage.
12.CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long-term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled.
13. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a $10 billon fund to finance a temporary reinsurance program to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64.
14. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years.
15.INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS — Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.

Another popular idea, which is not in the House or Senate bills, is that of ‘Tort reform’, meaning limitations imposed on those who sue for medical malpractice.
This is what the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says about the effect of Tort reform on health care expenditures (and therefore premiums) in the country.
“CBO now estimates that implementing a typical package of tort reform proposals nationwide would reduce total U.S. health care spending by about 0.5 percent”

As the Harvard study (45,000 Americans die every year because of lack of health insurance) demonstrates, having health insurance saves lives.
Jesus said “Heal the sick”
If you are Christian, you should support health insurance for every American.
If you are pro-life, you should support health insurance for every American.
If you are a moral person, you should support health insurance for every American.

“Section 2531, entitled “Medical Liability Alternatives,” establishes an incentive program for states to adopt and implement alternatives to medical liability litigation. [But]…… a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes caps on damages.”
If your purpose is to increase the percentage of Americans with insurance and reduce the rate at which premiums are increasing, tort reform is irrelevent.
This is what the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says about the effect of Tort reform on health care expenditures (and therefore premiums) in the country.
“CBO now estimates that implementing a typical package of tort reform proposals nationwide would reduce total U.S. health care spending by about 0.5 percent”

John, Promises, Promises. Sorry, I do not believe anything government promises. Just look at how the House Bill is eviscerating Medicare which will severely cut Health Care to Seniors. The bottom line is that the government cannot increase coverage and benefits to 30 million more people without reducing quality of care for all, increasing costs and eviserating Medicare. So instead of believing the pie and the sky promises of govern;metn which cannot be kept, start living in the real world and do everything in your power to preserve what we have which includes making Medicare whole so it does not go bankrupt, preserving private insurance which 80% of the people are happy with and not spending the US into further debt that we cannot afford.

Being way off other polls + their numbers add up to 101%.

Oh yea heavy headwinds.
The stimulus bumped things up for this quarter. Just look at states that don’t have auto related jobs. The country will do the same as ours- massachusetts next quarter. You see we don’t have an auto industry, and we were -1%, and I am sure this is complicated for you, but what we had was a temporary pop. That’s all.

John, You must be living in an alternate universe. 1.4 trillion dollar debt, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security going bankrupt and unemployment at near 10% and rising and everything is coming up roses? I don’t think so. Just tell me one thing. Why would anyone in their right mind say that Medicare is not a disaster waiting to happen and go along with Obama, Reid and Pelosi ‘ idea of making Medicare the best model to emulate when it comes to their government run Health Care Reform plans is just not serious or worse. If you don’t think Medicare is a problem, just tell us who will buy the $37 trillion in U.S. bonds that will be needed to finance this model. Than tell me who will be paying the bill when the even bigger Government Run Health Care Reform Bill gets passed????

John, Sorry, what you say is not true . Americans do not want Medicare to be cut by 500 billion. Americans to not want their insurance costs to go up. Americans do not want their taxes to go up. Americans do not want to lose their private insurance plans. Americans do not want some bureaucrat in DC to come between them and their physician. Americans to not want rationing of health care and long waiting lines.

“Americans to not want rationing of health care and long waiting lines.”
Psssst private insurance RATIONS care.
They will only insure healthy people.

“John, You must be living in an alternate universe. 1.4 trillion dollar debt, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security going bankrupt and unemployment at near 10% and rising and everything is coming up roses?”
I just report the facts. The word ‘bankrupt’ does not describe these programs.
The federal government is running on borrowed funds, but no economist in his right mind would say ‘stop the spending’ in the middle of a severe recession such as the one we have (are) experienced.
For example, if the Federal government had not provided substantial aid to the states, they would have laid off hundreds of thousands of workers. Rebuilding some of our collapsing infrastucture created hundreds of thousands of jobs.
And more laid off workers is the last thing this economy needs. We want employers to start hiring and employers want to see customers before they start hiring.
Try to remember that it was Democrat Bill Clinton who balanced the budget just before Bush took office. But there is a time and place for everything and the time to reduce the spending is when you are out of recession.
That is pretty conventional thinking amoung economists, by the way.
ANYONE WHO is concerned about the federal deficit should be happy to learn that the CBO estimates that the House bill will REDUCE the federal deficit by $104 Billion over the next 10 years. (And more than that the next 10 years.)
Of course, you could save even more if you kill Medicare, for example. But you could save EVEN MORE than that if you reduced the military budget 20%.
Neither of those things is going to happen, by the way!

Americans do not want some bureaucrat in DC to come between them and their physician”
Answer: Find me a senior that tells me that their medicare is coming in between him/her and the doctor.

c says: “Answer: Find me a senior that tells me that their medicare is coming in between him/her and the doctor.”
LOL Are you kidding me? Seniors complain all the time about the ever increasing number of doctors who are dropping medicare because it pays so little and they are complaining about the ridiculous rules and restrictions on their treatment.

“Ignorance is why such a large number answered in the affirmative on the public option.”
Have you actually *read* the questions you are criticizing?
There is simply no way for a conservative to reconcile the wording of these questions (and their numeric results) to their preconceived ideas about America.
For example, here is a question from a company that does regular polls in Maine:
“”Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan – something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get – that would compete with private health insurance plans?”"
Yes: 57.4%
No: 37.2%
Would a conservative, like yourself, ever say yes to a question offering a “government administered health insurance plan”? Of course not.
The logical conclusion is that the people in Maine just don’t think like you. The same can be said of national polls, like the ABC poll featured here.

John, If you think government run health care is so great why is government runb Medicare and Medicaid about to go bankrupt? Is is because government is such a good manager of the people’s money that there is no fraud, waste and corruption in government? As to you being ok with cutting 500 billion from Medicare by using the argument that the GOP is for the same cuts is just precious. The truth is that cuts to Medicare are not being used to make Medicare whole ans fiscally sound, as the GOP wants, it is being used by the Democrats to help fund another big spending government program that the US cannot afford to pay for.
Bottom line, government can never be3 trusted to keep their promises and will use the tax payer dollars to their own benefit, not the peoples. That is their track record now and for ever more3.

“John, If you think government run health care is so great why is government runb Medicare and Medicaid about to go bankrupt?”
I don’t believe I said ‘government run health care is so great’.
I did list a couple of things that the House bill does.
Many of these prohibit painfully bad practices on the part of the health insurance companies.
What it comes to is this: NO AMERICAN SHOULD EVER BE DENIED MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL OR INSURANCE STATUS.
I really don’t know how anyone can disagree with this assertion. After all, do you think an ambulance should throw someone to the curb half way to the hospital when the medics determine their patient cannot pay for treatment?
But once you agree to this just leads to another question. When the patient can’t pay for treatment for an trauma or cancer or corinary bypass, who should pay?
How about the next bloke to be admitted with insurance? Somehow that doesn’t seem workable, though we do something like that today, by means of cost shifting to the insured patients.
Without getting into too much detail, the results are less than satisfactory, and frankly create an incentive to shuffle off very sick, but financially lacking, patients to someplace else, sometimes even when they are in very, very sick.
It should be clear that this moral obligation is not one that belongs to the next patient in line, nor to the hospital the unfortunate soul happened to be admitted, but an obligation of our entire society.
And that leads to two possibilities: We can make sure that everyone in this society is insured, or we could just pay for all these services with federal tax dollars.
Of the two possibilities, the second one is known to be both simpler and more efficient. So naturally, we are selecting the other possibility.
Know this, the Pelosi bill would only be, maybe 250 pages long if we could all agree to fund all health care in America with federal tax dollars.
I guess we just love complexity.
(I have also said that every family should have the option to select a public insurance option. I’ll defend that some other time.)

Pelosi Health Care Bill Blows a Kiss to Trial Lawyers
by Capitol Confidential
The health care bill recently unveiled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi is over 1,900 pages for a reason. It is much easier to dispense goodies to favored interest groups if they are surrounded by a lot of legislative legalese. For example, check out this juicy morsel to the trial lawyers (page 1431-1433 of the bill):
Section 2531, entitled “Medical Liability Alternatives,” establishes an incentive program for states to adopt and implement alternatives to medical liability litigation. [But]…… a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes caps on damages.

everyone who talks about insurance companies rationing care MUST be talking about an HMO. i’ve never had a PPO plan deny me anything i ask for. i pay through the nose for it, but i’ve never been denied any treatment, and have rarely even had a hassle with a PPO…outside the stupidity in billing that plagues health care, which is also the central problem. we could fix the whole mess by simply regulating the billing practices and setting up interstate health purchasing. overhauling the entire system is both unnecessary and stupid.

davidfrat21… “honestly believe government can provide equal quality care”… YES!! The government already provides affordable good healthcare; elected officials in Congress and military members have access to government run/controlled healthcare. I have no problems with my healthcare coverage or cost and neither does my family… I don’t see why people insist on saying “our government can’t run healthcare” we can bomb a nation into the stone age, spend billions on weapon systems, classify ourselves as a super power “on paper” but can’t provide affordable healthcare?

Getting health insurance is one incentive to get a job. As a former social worker I watched many families caught in a generational cycle of living off state and federal programs, who choose not to make more money lest they loose their handouts.
Every similar gov. program I know of requires low income and low savings and investments to qualify. That is hardly a safety net for the middle class who has to loose everything before being helped by the government.

The polling question you use is leading and “guilts” the respondent into a false belief that those without insurance only have the government to save them. Anyone faced with the question of providing or denying poor people with insurance with obviously want to insure them. The real question should be “Do you support a government takeover of health care or a private industry alternative combined with subsidies to the poor to guarantee insurance for all Americans?” You would get a very different polling result. This question addresses the true alternatives. I would also point out that this poll is 6 points lower than the one announced last week (57% support) and shows that most people are very unsure and results vary based on the wording of the question.

It seems to me that noone but the Insurance Lobby, and the Paid off Party of No, could be against an option — Both France and Ireland both have Public and Private plans– Just like we have Public and Private Hospitals,Schools,Postal Service and Fed Ex. It would be good if they also could include Interstate Insurance, and tort reform, but perhaps in the Future!!! Oh the Poor Big Insurance Conglomerates don’t like the Public option — Lets shed a few tears for them!!! Then Pass the darn thing!!!

The Dems don’t seemed to be too concerned about cost. Every govt run enterprise is losing money. This is just another ponzi scheme just as SS and Medicare. The postal service is losing money. We’re on the road to spending 70% in taxes to afford the Dems programs and the costs will still not be controlled.

73% of physicians support public option. Check out New England journal of medicine. Why ? They know that the insurance companies need real competition. They are exempted from federal antitrust law since 1945. They can fix price and get away with it. So what if u can buy across state line. They’ll just collude and fix the price. Free market only works when there is true competition.

Please defeat this health care reform bill. If it passes, many insurance company CEO’s will have to sell their homes on the French Riviera. They also may have to reduce the number of servants to only 5 or 6 per vacation home. Please, please support the insurance company CEO’s so they can maintain a high standard of living. I absolutely DO NOT want to stop paying exorbitant insurance premiums and receiving minimal service. It is up to us to maintain high premiums and minimal service from the insurance companies. Please also support Joe Lieberman as he turns his back on millions upon millions of working class citizens. Joe has sold his soul to satan to ensure working class citizens will not receive affordable health insurance.