The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #128314   Message #2872036
Posted By: pdq
25-Mar-10 - 08:18 PM
Thread Name: BS: Republican response to Health Reform
Subject: RE: BS: Republican response to Health Reform
I'm sure that the "usual suspects" will say that a CNN poll doesn't count either...

CNN Poll: 59% of Americans Now in Opposition to Obama's Health Care Plan


Posted by James Richardson       Monday, 22 MAR 2010

A majority of Americans hold a generally negative view of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, according to a new CNN poll which found 59 percent of respondents now in opposition to the plan.

After a dozen pro-life Democrats hold-outs lead by Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak caved Sunday to increasing pressure from the White House, the House adopted on a strictly party-line vote the Senate's bill, which now awaits the President's signature.

Among the most salient of Republican talking points on health care, the poll showed, were the issues of cost and quality, which Congressional Republicans had said the bill fundamentally failed to address.

62 percent believed the new reforms would result in a spike in personal medical expenses, while only 21 percent said they would remain the same. In September of last year, a similar poll found 47 percent believed the President's plan would increase medical costs; 35 percent said costs would remain the same.

Democrats hemorrhaged support on the issue of quality, too. The number of those who said their families would be better off dropped nominally, while a significant margin shifted their opinion from September that their families would be "about the same" to "worse off." 47 percent held the view their families would fare worse if the legislation was implemented; 19 percent responded they would be better off; and 33 percent said they would be about the same.

Most damaging–insomuch as anything apart from legal challenges can derail the near-certain implementation of ObamaCare–is that respondents universally held the opinion that the President's reforms will increase federal deficits. 70 percent said the bill will result in higher deficits; 17 percent said it was deficit neutral; and only 12 percent said it would reduce the nation's deficit.