Obamacare in Danger as Polls Show Lack of Support

It’s nail-biting time for President Obama and Democrats. If polls are any indication, support is rapidly eroding for Obama’s bold plan to cover all Americans at a sustainable cost. On Wednesday night, July 23, President Obama will pull out all the rhetorical stops to convince the American people of the merits of his plan and the unthinkable alternatives.

The Latest Polls

Here are the latest polls, followed by excerpts from a column by David Brook,”The March to Liberal Suicide,” in the July 20 New York Times.

USA/Gallup Poll, July 17-19, 1006 adults

In answer to, Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama ishandling health care policy? people answered,

• All Americans, Approve 44%, Disapprove 50%

• Democrats, Approve 74%, Disapprove 17%

• Independents, Approve 40%, Disapprove 55%

• Republicans, Approve 11%, Disapprove 86%

This answer was closely tied to how Obama was handling other domestic issues,

• The economy, Approve 47%, Disapprove 49%

• Taxes, Approve 45%, Disapprove 48%

• Healthcare Policy, Approve 44%, Disapprove 50%

• Federal Budget Deficit, Approve 41%,, Disapprove 55%

After 6 months in office, Obama‘s overall 55% approval rating puts him 10th among 12 post-World War II presidents at this point in their presidencies.

AOL News Poll, July 20

Thi is an open-ended, non-scientific poll Among 217,803 to 268,596 AOL News readers, in response to question, do you strongly approve, aomewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of Obama’s handling on these issues.

• Health care, 75% strongly disapprove

• The economy, 75% strongly disapprove

• Unemployment, 74% strongly disapprove

• Federal budget deficit, 84%

• Overall, strongly disapprove 72%

In answer to what do you consider most important issues, responses were,

• Economy 56%

• Federal deficit, 24%

• Unemployment, 12%

- Health care, 8%

Obama's overall job approval rating took a hit. It slipped to below the 60 percent mark for the first time in Post/ABC polling, to 59 percent -- a drop of six points in a month.

Sermo Poll, Sermo is a physician social networking site with over 100,000 participating members

Of 100,000 members, 7557 responded with these opinions on HR 3200, the House of Representatives Pro-Obama health bill.

• Do you support the current House Bill as it is currently written, No, 94%, Yes, 6%

• Does the AMA speak for you in endorsing the House Healthcare Bill? No, 95%, Yes, 5%

• What is the most important issue in the House Bill that must be addressed?

- Limiting 3rd parties and administrations in compromising the doctor-patient relationshis, 37%

- Malpractice reform, 33%

- Limiting NP, Physician Assistants, CRNAs in encroaching on the physician’s role. 8%

- Relieving paperwork and administrative burdens, 7%

Sermo physicians are not necessarily representative of physicians as a whole. The best survey of how physicians feel about the present system is a survey of 270,000 primary care physicians last summer and fall by the Physicians’ Foundation. It revealed deep discontent, widespread demoralization, and profound economic uncertainty. Surveys by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) have shown similar results.

As far as health reform goes, physicians in general fear federal bureaucrats will micromanage care, dictate the details of what doctors can and cannot do for patients, and lower reimbursement 20% to 40% as they now do for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Conclusion

What follows are excerpts from David Brooks column, “Liberal Suicide March,” in the July 20 New York Times,

The Democrats are losing touch with America. The party is led by insular liberals from big cities and the coasts, who neither understand nor sympathize with moderates. They have their own cherry-picking pollsters, their own media and activist cocoon, their own plans to lavishly spend borrowed money to buy votes.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Monday confirms what other polls have found. Most Americans love Barack Obama personally, but support for Democratic policies is already sliding fast.

Approval of Obama’s handling of health care, for example, has slid from 57 percent to 49 percent since April. Disapproval has risen from 29 percent to 44 percent. As recently as June, voters earning more than $50,000 preferred Obama to the Republicans on health care by a 21-point margin. Now those voters are evenly split.
Most independents now disapprove of Obama’s health care strategy. In March, only 32 percent of Americans thought Obama was an old-style, tax-and-spend liberal. Now 43 percent do.

We’re only in the early stages of the liberal suicide march.

Every cliché Ann Coulter throws at the Democrats is gloriously fulfilled by the Democratic health care bills. The bills do almost nothing to control health care inflation. They are modeled on the Massachusetts health reform law that is currently coming apart at the seams precisely because it doesn’t control costs. They do little to reward efficient providers and reform inefficient ones.

The House bill adds $239 billion to the federal deficit during the first 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It would pummel small businesses with an 8 percent payroll penalty. It would jack America’s top tax rate above those in Italy and France. Top earners in New York and California would be giving more than 55 percent of earnings to one government entity or another.

Last week, the administration announced a proposal to take Medicare spending decisions away from Congress and lodge the power with technocrats in the executive branch. It’s a good idea, and it might lead to real cost savings. But there’s no reason to think that it will be incorporated into the final law. The chairmen will never surrender power to an administration they can override.

And so here we are again. Every new majority overinterprets its mandate. We’ve been here before. We’ll be here again.