Once they get it, people like universal health insurance
Buried in the results of last week’s poll of Massachusetts votersby the Washington Post was a number that explains a lot of the politics behind the health-insurance reform controversy.
The pollster asked the following question:
As you may know, Massachusetts has a law that is aimed at assuring that virtually all Massachusetts residents have health insurance. Given what you know about it, in general, do you support or oppose the Massachusetts Universal Health Insurance Law?
A startling 68 percent of voters in an electorate that seated a Republican said they support the state’s universal health care system, while only 27 percent oppose it. Even among Scott Brown voters, 51 percent supported the law and 44 percent opposed it.
Once implemented, in other words, universal health insurance became overwhelmingly popular (the Mass. law was passed in 2006). That’s the Republicans’ worst nightmare; that’s one big reason they are fighting this so hard.
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242 comments Add your comment
Paul
January 28th, 2010
3:48 pm
Yossarian – GG
America – where we laugh at the politics that would get us imprisoned or killed in other countries or cultures.
Bosch
I still can’t figure this single payer stuff out, though… who’s the single person who’s gonna pay for all this? And why does it have to be a single person? Why not a married person? Is ‘married person system’ really so difficult to say? You’re gonna have an awful lot of singles getting married right before this goes through…. just sayin’ -
TaxPayer
January 28th, 2010
3:48 pm
Even Republicans like universal healthcare. Now that is scary.
Scout
January 28th, 2010
3:49 pm
Saw a bumper sticker today:
“I already have a Saviour,
What I really need is a president”
Jake
January 28th, 2010
3:50 pm
It’s actually near universal health insurance not universal health care, which we already have. Massachusetts reports overcrowded emergency rooms and overworked primary care physicians and has requested $1.5B for three yars funding from the Federal government. But, everyone likes it……..
Jenifer
January 28th, 2010
3:51 pm
Here’s a lie from thinkprogress…
http://politicsandcriticalthinking.blogspot.com/2009/03/from-think-progress-to-think-lies.html
That took like .0000002 seconds to find.
Politics and Critical Thinking HA! HA! HA!
Thanks for trying though.
josef nix
January 28th, 2010
3:51 pm
PAUL–
Well, my resolution was “be calm in the face of all common disgraces and know what they’re doing it for..”
Seriously, though, our “knowledge” of history has been reduced to a game of trivial pursuit. I posted something the other night in relation to the leftist origins of National Socialism and the Roehm Putsch…Unmentionable burst out laughing when I told him and said, “…and just how many of them do you think have ever heard of the Roehm Putsch, much less would understand how close their own ideologies come to the Surmabteilung?”
Jenifer
January 28th, 2010
3:54 pm
“Here’s a lie from thinkprogress…
http://politicsandcriticalthinking.blogspot.com/2009/03/from-think-progress-to-think-lies.html
That took like .0000002 seconds to find.”
Politics and Critical Thinking – OMG!
Oh I may not get over this one.
You cannot be serious.
No,you probably are.
Too, too funny!
Bosch
January 28th, 2010
3:54 pm
Paul,
Hehehehe. Good one.
Paul
January 28th, 2010
3:54 pm
Bosch
FIRST!!
thbppttt
Scout
January 28th, 2010
3:55 pm
Headline: “Afghan Men Struggle With Sexual Identity, Study Finds”
Hummmm …………………. Don’t Ask Don’t Jihad?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/28/afghan-men-struggle-sexual-identity-study-finds/
Paul
January 28th, 2010
3:56 pm
josef
Unmentionable has it right. Ignorance is comforting!
Bosch
off to the cinema. Later -
TaxPayer
January 28th, 2010
4:05 pm
Wow. Scott Brown says he will not be just another no vote. What have the Republicans gone and done. This guy is already a turncoat and he has not even been seated yet.
chuck
January 28th, 2010
4:05 pm
Sorry Paul, been in a meeting. Yes, that is exactly what the enumerated powers clause means. Specifically the 10th Amendment states:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Pretty Plain as far as I can see. Not ambiguous at all.
pat
January 28th, 2010
4:06 pm
http://patterico.com/2008/06/29/extra-stop-the-presses-think-progress-lies-about-mccain/
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/09/will-ferrell-pygmy-horses-and-health-insurance/
two more thinkprogress lies….
josef nix
January 28th, 2010
4:08 pm
scout–
Interesting read. It’s fairly common here in the “enlightened” USofA, too. It’s what Mort Crowley called in Boys in the Band, “the G-d was I drunk last night syndrome.” One of his characters says that it strikes regardless of race, creed or color “though I have found it more prominent among Mormons.”
Joey
January 28th, 2010
4:09 pm
Late to the show, but a response to a post asking if Active Duty and Retired Military would be willing to give up their medical care:
Medical care for Active Duty and Retired Military is provided by their employer. Similar but probably not as good as the health care provided to Congress and the Senate.
@@
January 28th, 2010
4:11 pm
josef:
You shared knowledge doesn’t always go to waste. Just about every time you post something with which I’m unfamiliar, I research. Roehm was a homosexual under Hitler’s command. Hitler had him executed. Up until his execution, he and Adolph were close. Don’t know what the “Putsch” thing is though….just know it means punch or blow in German.
Granny Godzilla
January 28th, 2010
4:15 pm
pat
“a lot”….wow
of course the fact that Citizens for Tax Justice says it worked out to be 300 billion more a year than President Obamas means nothing to you.
http://www.ctj.org/pdf/housegopplan20090327.pdf
or that he did the same stumble mumble when interviewed on C Span in March.
my favorite part of Ryans plan? cut taxes for the average CEO by $1.5 million per year and do nothing at all for a minimum wage worker OR Over a fourth of taxpayers, mostly low-income families, would pay more in taxes under the House GOP plan than they would under the President’s plan.
can’t pick…which is your fav?
I say no lie, just semantic hissy fit.
Disgusted
January 28th, 2010
4:17 pm
Congress shall have power to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.
I don’t see any ambiguity here. Congress has the power to regulate insurance, since it is commerce. Congress, however, delegated by statute that power over insurance to the states. What Congress has delegated by statute it can take back by statute.
And before anybody gets excited about “buying across state lines,” better think of the consequences. The states right now are the ones setting forth the requirements for insurance companies to sell within their boundaries. If that is changed, then the regulation of insurance falls within the federal sphere, as it does now for insurance policies that contain equity elements.
Do conservatives really want that?
pat
January 28th, 2010
4:22 pm
Here ya go granny…Both idiotic bills drive up costs…
http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1109/CMS_House_bill_increases_health_care_costs_.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/12/rising-costs-predicted-in-health-care-bill/
pat
January 28th, 2010
4:29 pm
CTJ? Really, can somebody post non-liberal sites to prove their point? I can surely pull info from RushLimbaugh.com. But I don’t I use news organizations, not political activist sites.
josef nix
January 28th, 2010
4:31 pm
@@
That is the meaning of Putsch…it’s used by a lot of left-liberal historians and commentators to refer to a right wing coup…the French equivalent…
As for Roehm and Hitler–he was the only member of the inner circle that Hitler ever used the familiar pronoun “du” with and while I’m not trying to draw too close a parallel here, it is interesting to watch as the current administration moves right, it’s throwing a lot of its “du” buddies off the bus…we see a very similar thing at work with the ouster of Trotsky by Stalin…the left, and I am a leftist, does not seem to grasp that once it has served its purpose in rallying the masses to bring “the party” into power, they are a liability and must be dealt with…
The not-so-closeted elements are particularly valuable when it comes to the purge phase. You can get rid of a lot of internal challengers by claiming you’re cleaning house of “those people.”
TaxPayer
January 28th, 2010
4:31 pm
I see the Republicans are also standing united against “pay-go”. In other words, just more of the same from the GOP. Charge it and let future generations figure it out. After all, folks like McCain and other GOPer’s will be dead and gone just like their leader, Reagan, before it all hits the fan. We need a way to resurrect their old dead bones once they’re all gone and put them to work busting rocks to pay off their debts. Or just make puppets out of them and let Dunham have his way with them. Let’s see, he could have a segment for Reagan the economic terrorist and… .
TaxPayer
January 28th, 2010
4:42 pm
So, McDonnell’s rebuttal last night was 53% funded by the financial giants on Wall Street. That certainly helps to explain why the Republicans do not want to mess with folks like that CEO at Goldman that does God’s work. Their wall street lords on high might smite them down if they get out of line and withhold funding. Then, the poor little Republicans would be totally helpless.
Hillbilly Deluxe
January 28th, 2010
4:47 pm
Josef
I was going to comment the other night on what you posted that Teddy Roosevelt said about the Indians but I got to reading about LaFayette Baker and got side tracked. It’s interesting that TR had the view he had, which is about 180 degrees from what I get out of the journals of Lewis and Clark. According to what they wrote, the honesty and trustworthiness of the tribes was in direct correlation to how much exposure they had to white men. The tribes that had had little or no contact with whites were the most trustworthy and least likely to steal and the tribes that had had the most contact with whites were the least trustworthy and most likely to steal. That’s my interpretation of reading them anyway. And of course TR’s attitude didn’t take into account all the things that had happened in the meantime. If I’ve been abused for a century or two, I’m not going be real charitable towards those who did it to me either. If TR encountered Indians that acted the way he said, maybe it’s because they learned it from us. Anyhow, it’s a couple days late but that’s my $.02.
jewcowboy
January 28th, 2010
4:48 pm
Whacks Eloquent,
“So maybe they don’t have a unified message, other than kick out the incumbents.”
“The idiots who blindly vote for their party year after year without looking at or examining records, but just basing it on personality, they are the ones who have allowed us to stay in this quagmire…”
I would say those who simply wants to throw out every incumbent is in the same category of fool that blindly votes for their party.
ROLLERGIRL
January 28th, 2010
4:51 pm
Feinstein says Obama should move terror trials from New York City….
Ok boys and girls, this is where those with a political survival skill..DiFi…read the tea leaves or recent election results and make a change..
Those who are TONE DEAF and got where they are simply because of rhetoric, political correctness(”he’s black and not ghetto..it makes my leg tingle!!!…chris matthews”), and Bush fatigue, trudge on stubbornly…Chocolate the clown.
md
January 28th, 2010
4:57 pm
“Feinstein says Obama should move terror trials from New York City….”
According to the mayor, security would cost 200 million a year. How much security can we buy at gitmo for 200 mill ????
@@
January 28th, 2010
4:57 pm
Wuh Oh!
Community bankers to Obama on TARP: Thanks, but no thanks
So what….is he gonna cram it down their throats?
jewcowboy
January 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
“Feinstein says Obama should move terror trials from New York City….”
Hmmm..it seems the only New Yorkers who are against the terror trails being held there are old white Republicans….big surprise there.
http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/misc/nycpolls/c091116/Terror%20Trial%20in%20NYC_Good%20or%20Bad%20Idea.htm
jewcowboy
January 28th, 2010
5:10 pm
@@,
“So what….is he gonna cram it down their throats?”
Interesting article. Very much a double edged sword…the companies that need the loans to survive or expand are the ones that are not attractive to lenders, and are therefore not eligible. Perhaps instead of moving unpopular TARP funds to community banks who can’t lend due to regulators, focus the funding on the SBA.
Jenifer
January 28th, 2010
5:15 pm
“http://patterico.com/2008/06/29/extra-stop-the-presses-think-progress-lies-about-mccain/
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/09/will-ferrell-pygmy-horses-and-health-insurance/
two more thinkprogress lies….”
Good grief! This is unreal! Have you any idea of what “data” is? I think not.
jewcowboy
January 28th, 2010
5:26 pm
Jenifer,
From the 1st aricle:
“Later in the interview, McCain says:
I’ve been on the campaign trail for so long I don’t remember when I last filled up my own gas tank, but I certainly did for many, many, many years and I understand the difficulties and challenges that it poses for the people of California and my home state of Arizona.
Think Progess cites this as evidence of “McCain’s cluelessness about gas prices.”
But McCain isn’t saying he doesn’t know the price of gas. He is saying that he doesn’t remember the last time he pumped his own gas, and how much it cost then.”
So does that mean that McCain was not talking about the “difficulties and challenges that it poses for the people of California and my home state of Arizona” he is really talking about the difficulty and challenge of pumping one’s own gas back when it was a certain price that he can’t remember?
Jenifer
January 28th, 2010
5:29 pm
jewcowboy
January 28th, 2010
5:26 pm
You cracked me up with that one!
@@
January 28th, 2010
5:34 pm
jewcowboy:
I’ll let Obama respond to your suggestion. At a townhall meeting in Florida today:
A business owner says it’s too hard to get loans these days. “We are tired of dealing with banks,” he says and asks why the government can’t provide more loans directly to business owners.
Obama says the Small Business Administration loan program has increased, though “it’s still not enough.” Notes that SBA loans are run through local banks and that administering them through the SBA would require a “huge bureaucracy.” Obama tells the man he is pressuring banks to provide more loans, and he wants to help them do that with borrowers who may pose credit risks.
This was a funny one:
An Orange County commissioner asks when we’re going to learn the specifics of the high-speed rail program.
Obama lauds high-speed rail in general, saying it creates jobs and will assist the economy when built by making it easier to move goods and people. Adds it will help reduce car congestion (and pollution).
He defers to Biden, who compares developing the rail plan to the building the Interstate highway system in the 1950s.
He defers to Joe? Is there any substance at all to Obama? Does he ever offer specifics?
Not to my way of thinking, he doesn’t. All hat, no cattle.
@@
January 28th, 2010
5:37 pm
Oops! switched my italics out.
Oh well…
md
January 28th, 2010
5:46 pm
“focus the funding on the SBA.”
Ever dealt with SBA? these companies will go belly up before they ever see a dime.
jewcowboy
January 28th, 2010
5:58 pm
“He defers to Joe? Is there any substance at all to Obama? Does he ever offer specifics?”
I’m sorry…but you are ridiculing Obama for not knowing the construction schedule for a local transportation program?
@@
January 28th, 2010
6:02 pm
jewcowboy:
Obama lauds high-speed rail in general, saying it creates jobs and will assist the economy when built by making it easier to move goods and people. Adds it will help reduce car congestion (and pollution).
Do ^^^ those sound all too familiar to you?
I doubt if Joe did much better and I LIKE Joe. I’ve developed a strong dislike for Obama.
Dave R.
January 28th, 2010
6:54 pm
Before you get all warm and fuzzy about the Massachusetts health care plan, yeah, people are satisfied with it, but the first signs of “rationing” are now coming to the forefront as costs are beginning to escalate. In fact, estimates are that health care in Mass. will cost about $3,000 per year per person MORE than the national level in the next 5 years.
So, all in all, not so great.
Robert
January 28th, 2010
8:01 pm
Obama, Reid, Pelosi parody song
Washington Hillbillies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR75PodzQgo
Peela
January 29th, 2010
8:01 am
Granny Godzilla,
Since you apparently CAN’T read, I said that different dr.’s in the same group is what we have now. What we had when my son was in government healthcare was a different dr. in a different practice every month. There was no going to the same practice to see the same group of dr.’s. Different dr.’s/different groups = shoddy healthcare because you’re always transfering records from practice to practice meanting that there is no consistent healthcare being given. MAYBE, just maybe you’ll read the entire post next time, but I doubt it.