NYC Letter: Mystery Solved! -- Unpopular Obamacare

Day 1,151 of CHOPE

This is a big f*cking deal.

Joe "Hot Mic" Biden,
giddily turning the dais over to Mr. Obama
SIGNING OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM BILL
WASHINGTON March 23, 2010 (Guardian)

Or maybe not.

PRESIDENT HAS NO PLANS TO MARK
TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF OBAMACARE
March 19, 2012 (WFB)

No plans to mark the two-year anniversary of Obamacare? Why is that?

At the ceremonial signing Mr. Biden said:

Mr. President, you are -- to repeat myself -- literally about to make history

Mr. Obama stepped into the historical moment:

Today, after almost a century of trying; today, after over a year of debate; today, after all the votes have been tallied –- health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America. (Applause.) Today.

... And we have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care. (Applause.) And it is an extraordinary achievement that has happened because of all of you and all the advocates all across the country.

And with that Mr. Obama proceeded to sign the historic bill into historic law using no less than 22 historic pens.

[We don our party hat.] Sounds like a "big f*cking deal" to us. Wha--? Why no party cake? [We remove our party hat.] Here are some clues.

MAJORITY SUPPORT OBAMACARE REPEAL, POLL FINDS
Highest Level In More Than A Year

POLL February 23, 2012 (WFB) - A new Quinnipiac poll finds that support for repeal of President Obama’s signature health care law is growing. Voters support Congressional efforts to repeal the law by a 52 to 39 percent margin, the poll shows. Independent voters support repeal 50 to 38 percent.

... An even larger percentage of Americans—56 percent—disapproves of the president’s handling of health care in general, the poll finds, the highest level in more than a year; just 40 percent approve.

56% FAVOR REPEAL OF HEALTH CARE LAW

POLL March 19, 2012 (Rasmussen) - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the national health care law next week, and the number of voters who Strongly Support the law’s repeal is now at an eight-month high.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows that 56% at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law, including 46% who Strongly Favor it. Thirty-nine percent (39%) oppose repeal, with 29% who are Strongly Opposed.

The measure has never polled majority support in the Rasmussen surveys.

TOSS INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE MANDATE, POLL SAYS

POLL March 19, 2012 (WaPo) - [According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll] more than four in 10 — 42 percent — want the high court to throw out the entire law, 25 percent want to do away with the mandate alone and a similar proportion [26%] wants the justices to uphold the entire law.

Just over half the public thinks the mandate is unconstitutional (51 percent), according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released last week. In that survey, fewer than three in 10 (28 percent) said they think the mandate is constitutional.

... In a basic assessment, 41 percent of Americans support the health-care law, while 52 percent are opposed. The measure has never scored majority support in Post-ABC polls.

YG POLL REVEALS VOTER DOUBTS ABOUT
THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE UNDER OBAMACARE

POLL March 20, 2012 (WFB) - The poll indicated that registered voters are confident that the Affordable Care Act will raise taxes, the federal deficit, and the cost of health care, while few think that Obamacare will increase the quality of the care they receive.

No group polled believed that plan would lower the average household’s health insurance premiums by $2,500 per year, as President Obama promised and as Health and Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius has recently reiterated—overall, 21 percent of respondents still believe the claim; 67 percent believe it is false. Among Democrats polled, the split was 36 percent to 47 percent. Independents overwhelmingly believe that the promise of savings is false, with 68 percent doubting the claim.

Fully 69 percent of all those polled believe the federal government "does not have the authority to require every American to buy health care insurance or pay a fine." Fifty-three percent of respondents "think Congress should … repeal and replace the health care reform law passed in 2010," including 56 percent of Independents and 82 percent of Republicans polled.

No party for Obamacare because it is not popular with voters. Mr. Obama and Democrats stuck it to voters, and the voters stuck it right back to them. Best to let the anniversary quietly slip by. BUT -- not before Democrats make excuses for their unpopular junk law.

Q: On Ben's question about health care -- it's supposed to be the President's signature domestic achievement, so the idea that he may not speak about this on the anniversary seems odd. ... The White House has been talking for two years about educating the public, talking about the benefits of this. Doesn't this polling data suggest that people are not buying it?

Well, the polling data suggest in part the hundreds of millions of dollars that was spent attacking it. And what we're focusing on is implementing it so that more and more Americans see the benefits that it brings. I didn't make any announcement one way or the other about what the President's schedule will hold on this issue, but we are focused on implementing the bill, not on discussing anniversaries, particularly -- although I'm sure others will want to discuss this.

Jay Carney,
WH press secretary and frontline excuser,
explaining Obamacare is unpopular because
the WH can't spare a dime to beat back its critics
WASHINGTON March 19, 2012 (White House)

It's not the law. It's the critics! Mystery solved!

Q: Right now it does seem like you are at a net deficit overall on the perception of the bill, even if individually some things poll test very well.

Well, let me say that the Republicans are very good at fanning the flames of discontent. Their whole campaign is predicated on fanning flames of discontent, so it's not surprising that they do that here.

David Axelrod,
blaming Republicans for what he styles the administration's
Obamacare "communication challenge"
March 20, 2012 (RCP/MSNBC)

It's not the law. It's this darn two-party system! Mystery solved!

The Democrats thought they could simply push this mess on the public, and when the public sensed its impenetrability, it would shrug and lose interest and let government grind along. It didn't work with Hillarycare, what made Democrats think it would work with Obamacare? [Pause to consider the apparent folly.] Oh, right. Because Democrats think you are this stupid.

There are lots of reasons, singly and severally, why Obamacare is unpopular with the public. Grace-Marie Turner at Forbes does an excellent summary.

OBAMACARE: IF POSSIBLE,
THE NEWS IS GETTING WORSE
By Grace-Marie Turner

March 13, 2012 (Forbes) - After the 2010 election drubbing, the president rarely talked about his signature legislative achievement and even when he did, he only spoke about the small early provisions... But ObamaCare is back to center stage this month, and the more people learn about the law, the more unpopular it becomes. Here are just some of the recent revelations:

• Soaring costs. ObamaCare will cost $1.76 trillion over a decade, according to a new projection released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office, rather than the $940 billion forecast when it was signed into law.
  
• Lost coverage. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) released a statement saying that the CBO’s estimate also shows that the new health law will dramatically increase Medicaid spending and result in 4 million fewer people getting health insurance through their jobs. So much for being able to keep the coverage you have now “no matter what,” as the president promised.
  
• Opposition locked in. An AP-GfK poll taken early this month shows that only about a third of Americans (35 percent) support the health care law, while nearly half (47 percent) oppose it. That’s about the same split as when it passed.
  
• Anti-conscience mandate. A new poll from The New York Times and CBS News reveals that a substantial majority of Americans — 57 percent to 36 percent — favor an exemption for religious-affiliated employers. And a sizable majority — 51 percent to 40 percent — still favors a religious and moral exemption for all employers. This is the same poll that shows the president’s approval rating dropping to 41 percent.
  
• Loss of 25 Dem seats. A new study by American Politics Research found that at least 25 members of Congress lost their seats in Congress during the 2010 elections precisely because they voted for ObamaCare.
  
• Bi-partisan opposition to ObamaCare is brewing. When the House of Representatives votes next week on repealing ObamaCare’s unaccountable, unelected IPAB board, at least some Democrats are likely to support repeal.
  
• Employers will drop coverage. A new study of employers conducted by Willis Human Capital Practice found that employers expect higher health costs for both employers and employees as a result of ObamaCare, and many expect to shift employees into taxpayer-paid coverage once the option is available. That shift would certainly exacerbate the exploding costs of the law.

... The list goes on: If public opposition is hardening now against ObamaCare, just wait until the mandate kicks in on January 1, 2014, when everyone will be required to purchase expensive government-dictated health insurance under penalty of federal law. And as seniors find it harder and harder to find a doctor who can afford to see them. And as they begin to fear the impact of the cuts of ObamaCare’s rationing board. And as states find it is impossible to provide basic services because the mandate to vastly expand Medicaid is gobbling up virtually all of their budgets. And as the unemployment rate refuses to drop because employers are frightened about the huge costs they are facing with the employer mandate. And as taxpayers see the gusher of red ink that will explode the federal budget deficit as ObamaCare’s subsidy costs explode.

CHOPE.

Waiting for the repeal party.

Posted by Damian at March 20, 2012 11:45 PM