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Poll: Centrist Position On Health Care Is To Back Public Plan With Higher Taxes
Lots of people have commented on the striking poll that The New York Times released yesterday finding overwhelming support for a public insurance option as part of health care reform.
But I wanted to point you to the poll’s internals, which provide a lot more detail and context and show that the depth of support for a public plan is stronger than the poll’s toplines reveal. The internals show that:
* Fully 50% say government would do a better job than private insurance companies in “providing coverage,” versus only 34% who pick the insurance companies.
* A large majority (59%) say government would do a better job than private insurance
companies in “holding down health care costs,” versus only 26% who pick the insurance companies.
* A similarly large majority (57%) is “willing to pay higher taxes so that all Americans have
health insurance that they can’t lose no matter what.”
The point here is that when it comes to the underlying philosophical differences over whether or not to have a public plan — differences involving the proper role and effectiveness of government intervention in health care, and whether it’s worth paying for — majorities embrace the general ideas that underpin the public plan option.
And yet, as Paul Krugman notes today, wariness of a public plan among some Senate Dems is routinely described as the “centrist” position, because it falls between what a majority of Republicans and Dems think in the Senate, as opposed to outside of it. It’s another reminder that the term “centrist,” in Beltway parlance, has no relationship to public opinion at all.
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Update: It gets better. As HuffPo’s Jason Linkins points out, even 50% of Republicans favor a public option.
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*Republicans heads explode*
Mike, what I don’t get is why the state of public opinion isn’t used more often by Dems as a talking point.
Public opinion is irrelevant. The conservadems in the senate have been paid. They’ll water down any legislation that threatens the bottom line. Then they’ll win reelection with Obama’a support.
I’m not sure if Greg linked to the recent Pew poll but I think it provides an interesting perspective versus 1993 attitudes (it does not seem to address the public option):
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http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1534
I don’t get that either, Greg. Nor do I understand why proponents and the administration fail to present the fact that Canadian, Brit, and all other western nations’ electorates who enjoy such a medical insurance system have UTTERLY refused to support any party which might propose their return to a US-like system.
Public opinion is irrelevant because too many people want to eat too much, drink too much, sit on their A$$es and hope the medical experts and pharmaceutical companies will allow them to keep on living that way without them having to pay for their laziness and stupidity.
Bernie: a great point. In Canada you can get certain services from private providers: catscan; knee repair and other services if you don’t want to wait. With the horror stories in all the systems the Canadian, Brits, French, Germans, Aussies and Kiwi have all opted for a public/govt plan. Here we have both the horror stories and no guarantee of a basic level of care for all their citizens. The go to the emergency malarkey is just that. I wish a Senator is told to go to the emergency. Why: he/she gets to go to the Bethesda Naval Hospital 5 star operation.
We do not top the developed nations when it comes to health care. That is shameful. But our Senators and Congresscritters don’t have that problem, do they?
This was a very interesting segment on the Young Turks about how to get ConservaDems in line on health care.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHiYw1XZpwQ
Morning Joe w Jack Welch this a.m. moaning about spending. Said Times/CBS survey flawed because it skewed to polling Obama voters. I’d love to see Nate Silver’s crunch of this. The fear and loathing of the Repubs, insurance cos, etc in the face of this is wondrous to behold. I hope the fast track isn’t too fast to keep us from mobilizing.
I pay a lot in taxes & I don’t want to pay more. The Feds never seem to take into consideration all the OTHER taxes that are paid. State Income Tax, State Sales Tax, Local wage taxes, property taxes etc – they are infinite.
They tax smokers until they all die or quit – maybe we should tax potato chips & soda – candy too. Get people to start eating healthy.