dimanche 26 septembre 2010

Uh....about that "The American people want health care reform repealed" line...

It's amazing how the media have been willing to just parrot the GOP line about how the American people don't want any health care reform, that they like the current system just fine, and how THEY in the GOP are going to give the people what they want by repealing reform and going back to the good old days of now, when the emergency room is regarded as health insurance for the uninsured, kids with cancer can be denied treatment by their family's insurance company, and employees of insurance companies who drop patients for no reason at all are praised.

There's just one problem.

That isn't what people want
:
President Barack Obama's health care overhaul has divided the nation, and Republicans believe their call for repeal will help them win elections in November. But the picture's not that clear cut.

A new AP poll finds that Americans who think the law should have done more outnumber those who think the government should stay out of health care by 2-to-1.

"I was disappointed that it didn't provide universal coverage," said Bronwyn Bleakley, 35, a biology professor from Easton, Mass.

More than 30 million people would gain coverage in 2019 when the law is fully phased in, but another 20 million or so would remain uninsured. Bleakley, who was uninsured early in her career, views the overhaul as a work in progress.

The poll found that about four in 10 adults think the new law did not go far enough to change the health care system, regardless of whether they support the law, oppose it or remain neutral. On the other side, about one in five say they oppose the law because they think the federal government should not be involved in health care at all.

The AP poll was conducted by Stanford University with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Overall, 30 percent favored the legislation, while 40 percent opposed it, and another 30 percent remained neutral.

Those numbers are no endorsement for Obama's plan, but the survey also found a deep-seated desire for change that could pose a problem for Republicans. Only 25 percent in the poll said minimal tinkering would suffice for the health care system.

Barack Obama, in his "never met a fight he didn't want to cry 'uncle' at before the other guy even threw the first punch" way, took single payer off the table at the beginning. Then he pulled the public option off the table. He never asked whether the American people wanted those. He just assumed, because a bunch of talking heads on television said so, that we didn't.

And that is the problem with living in the bubble.

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