Thread: What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls

What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls

Saturday, July 04, 2009

The U.S. Senate returns to Washington this coming week to tackle two major pieces of legislation that have the potential to make enormous changes in the lives of nearly all Americans.

Senate Democrats will be finalizing the details of a health care reform plan worked out with President Obama, which in all likelihood will include a government-run health insurance company to compete with private insurers.

Voters remain closely divided over the health care reform plan proposed so far: Fifty percent (50%) are at least somewhat in favorite of it, but 45% are at least somewhat opposed. While the overall numbers favor the plan, those with strong opinions tilt the other way. Twenty-four percent (24%) strongly favor the plan, but 34% are strongly opposed.

Likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last week pointed to the state health reform plan he initiated as governor of Massachusetts as a better alternative to the national Democrats’ plan, but Bay State voters beg to differ. Just 26% of Massachusetts voters say their state’s health care reform effort has been a success, while 37% say it’s been a failure. Only 10% of Bay State voters say the quality of health care has gotten better as a result of the plan.

The Senate also will be taking up the historic climate change bill that narrowly passed the House just before the July 4 recess. Americans have mixed feelings about the bill aimed at fighting global warming, and 42% say it will hurt the U.S. economy. Only 19% believe the climate change bill will help the economy. While estimates vary on how much the plan will cost individual Americans, 56% say they are not willing to pay more in taxes and utility costs to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming.

It will be interesting to watch how these critical issues are worked out and what impact they will have on voters’ views of the Congress. Right now, just 18% of voters say Congress is doing a good or excellent job, down from 23% in May.

Al Franken’s arrival will give Democrats a 60-seat majority in the Senate, strengthening their control of that body. They already have a sizable majority in the House to work with the new Democratic president. But 45% of voters say it’s better for the country if the White House and Congress are each run by a different political party. Twenty-seven percent (27%) disagree and say it’s better to have one political party running both branches of government, as is now the case.

As for Franken, 44% have an unfavorable opinion of the former “Saturday Night Liveâ€

"Likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last week pointed to the state health reform plan he initiated as governor of Massachusetts as a better alternative to the national Democrats’ plan, but Bay State voters beg to differ. Just 26% of Massachusetts voters say their state’s health care reform effort has been a success, while 37% say it’s been a failure. Only 10% of Bay State voters say the quality of health care has gotten better as a result of the plan. "

"while 37% say it’s been a failure."

Right. There will always be people who are negligently destroying their own health who will be dissatisfied until the State is 100 percent supporting them and curing all of their silly-a-- problems.

That is what is so worrisome about Obama's plan. The people who expend effort to take care of their own health will pick up the tab--not only for those with catastrophic illnesses--but also for those who really don't give a rip about the future and preventing illness.