Now I want tosay something these last four pages by the Rasmussen Reports to me are straw votes because they only contacted 1000 voters to me that is a drop in the bucket. Unfair and not typical of a broader geographical survey....That's my opinion and that's all I have to say about that.....
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
President Obama and congressional Democrats are citing a jump in rates by a California health insurer as grounds for getting their national health care plan back on track, but voters are still more fearful of the federal government than private insurance companies when it comes to health care decisions.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 51% fear the federal government most when it comes to such decisions. Thirty-nine percent (39%) fear private insurance companies more.
These views are unchanged from early August when many congressmen went home to town hall meetings filled with voters angry about the proposed health care plan.
A new provision in the plan proposed this week by the president is “a Health Insurance Rate Authority to assist and oversee state efforts to review ‘unreasonable rate increases’ and ‘unfair practices’ in the industry,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The largest public health insurer in California has just announced rate increases up to 39%.
Forty-one percent (41% ) of voters favor the proposed health care plan, while 56% oppose it. Just 23% Strongly Favor the plan while 45% are Strongly opposed. Support for and opposition to the plan are at the same levels they’ve been at since just after Thanksgiving.
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Among those who strongly support the health care plan, 80% fear private insurance companies most when it comes to health care decisions. But 86% of those who strongly oppose the plan are most fearful of the federal government.
Male voters are more fearful of the government than female voters. Whites are twice as likely as African-Americans to fear the government most.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of Democrats have a greater fear of private insurance companies, while 77% of Republicans and 52% of voters not affiliated with either major party fear the government most when it comes to health insurance decisions. That’s partly why most Democrats favor the proposed legislation while most Republicans and unaffiliated voters are opposed.
Similarly, 62% of Mainstream voters worry most about the government, but 64% of the Political Class fear private insurers most.
From the beginning of the health care debate, one of the challenges facing reform advocates has been the fact that most Americans have insurance and are generally happy with their coverage. As Scott Rasmussen noted in a Wall Street Journal column last year, “Most of these voters approach the health care reform debate fearing that they have more to lose than to gain.”
In December, 52% of those with insurance feared that passage of the health care plan proposed by the president and congressional Democrats could force them to change coverage.
Only 25% of voters agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last summer when she described America’s health insurance companies as “villains.”
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This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 21-22, 2010. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence (see methodology).
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Is Our Government Really Broken?
A Commentary By Tony Blankley
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
If you want to see broken government, consider the fall of the constitutional Roman Republic and the rise of Julius Caesar: "Fortune turned against us and brought confusion to all we did. Greed destroyed honor, honesty and every other virtue, and taught men to be arrogant and cruel, to neglect the gods. Ambition made men false. Rome changed: A government which had once surpassed all others in justice and excellence now became cruel and unbearable." So said the historian Sallust at the time.
But in retrospect, while moral decay surely played its part, the more complete explanation for the fall of the Roman Republic lay in the consequences of the successes of Rome's vast Mediterranean conquests. The flow of wealth into Rome from the conquered empire -- which had been built to protect the city-state of Rome -- undercut the republic it was built to protect. The Roman constitution had been designed to govern a city-state, but with the wealth of empire came severe economic inequalities that the Roman Senate would not, or could not, resolve. Demagogues arose, private armies were formed -- and finally force of victorious arms replaced republican government.
Another familiar example of broken government was our Washington government in the 1850s, which failed to peacefully resolve the matter of slavery. Once again, force of arms was required to resolve an existential crisis of a republic. Six hundred thousand Americans died during our Civil War. Although I and most Americans (at least outside the South) think Abraham Lincoln acted wisely and saved the republic -- and we returned to more or less constitutional government in 1865 -- it cannot be denied that America got its first real, sustained taste of authoritarian government under Lincoln.
We had better hope our government isn't broken -- or we are likely to have more to worry about than 10 percent unemployment.
In fact, as many have observed recently, our government is working just fine -- blocking the enactment of unpopular laws by a government that is out of step with the people. There is nothing new in that. I served in the Reagan White House and with Newt Gingrich in the 1990s. I recall feeling both times that government was broken -- the filibuster was blocking our majority rule -- because we couldn't get "vital" legislation enacted. (In fact, both times I was involved, inter alia, in the failed effort to close down the Department of Education, saving only its essential student loan functions.) We overreached. We got a lot done, but only that with which the public was comfortable.
Other administrations, including Jimmy Carter's, complained that government was broken because they generally were incompetent to lead.
However, a form of government and the public are functioning adequately not only when they block bad or unacceptable law (as currently is the case) but when they are able to solve great dangers to the nation. We may soon get a test on that second matter.
There is broad agreement (as close to a universal agreement as we have seen on a great issue) that if we don't get our national debt and deficits to sustainable levels, we may never recover our prosperity -- and will then lose our military strength and our great sovereign freedom.
If, as many expect, the Democrats lose effective or actual control of Congress in the November elections, it is likely to be because the public has risen up and rejected the party that has brought us these intolerable multitrillion-dollar deficits with a budget proposal that fails even to propose a path out of the morass.
Although many hard decisions will have to be made, everyone agrees that at the core, we have to reduce vastly the current estimated $50 trillion of unfunded liability that exists in our entitlement programs -- Social Security and Medicare particularly.
So, should the election play out as described, 2011 will be the year that will test whether our government is broken, because a pretty good definition of a broken government (or more accurately, a broken polity -- a government and its electorate) is one that agrees on a great threat to society, agrees broadly on what needs to be done -- and cannot do it.
While many of us have for years complained of our failure to get entitlement costs under control, in fact, only starting in 2011 will the true test of our polity begin. Because only now is there a strong majority that sees the danger.
Until the 1990s, federal deficits were the concern merely of the green-eye-shade part of the Republican voters. Most Democrats, independents and some Republicans didn't vote based on that issue. Then Ross Perot came along and ran on the deficit issue, thereby expanding the part of the electorate that really cared about deficits. Then in 1994, Newt Gingrich and the new Republican majority championed trying to get to a balanced budget (and succeeded, with Bill Clinton in 1997).
Still, only about half the electorate really cared about deficits. However, during the George W. Bush presidency of 2001-09, most Democratic voters came -- for the first time -- to loudly, emphatically and constantly attack deficits. Thus, in 2009, for the first time since the rise of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a big majority of the public is alive to the dangers of excessive debt and deficit. And just at this moment, we get these staggering multitrillion-dollar-per-year deficits.
Now the danger is manifest. Assuming the November election plays out as suspected and the public manifests its deepest concern -- if the public will not support or the government of 2011 does not enact genuine structural reductions sufficient to honestly project our debt to be under control for the long term -- then we can honestly say that our government is broken. Then we will know that we are in for a hellish future.
Tony Blankley is executive vice president of Edelman public relations in Washington.
COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
Views expressed in this column are those of the author, not those of Rasmussen Reports.
Health Care Reform 41% Favor Obama’s Health Care Plan, 56% Oppose
Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama share a laugh at the health care summit on Thursday. | AP
Health Care Reform
41% Favor Obama’s Health Care Plan, 56% Oppose
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 41% of voters favor the proposed health care plan, while 56% oppose it. Those figures include 45% who strongly oppose the plan and just 23% who strongly favor it.
Support for and opposition to the plan are at the same levels they’ve been at since just after Thanksgiving.
Democrats continue to strongly support the health care plan much while it is opposed by Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party. Seventy percent (70%) of the Political Class strongly favor the plan, while 57% of Mainstream voters strongly oppose it.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of all voters say a better strategy to reform the health care system would be to pass smaller bills that address problems individually. Twenty-seven percent (27%) still think passing a comprehensive bill that covers all aspects of the health care system is a better idea. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of those who strongly support the president’s plan favor a comprehensive approach, while 85% of those who strongly oppose the current plan say smaller, individually-focused bills are a better way to go.
Earlier this month, just after the president called for a bipartisan summit meeting to get his health care reform plan back on track, 61% of voters said Congress should scrap that plan and start all over again.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The latest findings, from a survey Sunday and Monday nights, come as the president prepares to convene the nationally televised summit meeting on Thursday. Obama is struggling to get some Republican support after the shock GOP win last month in Massachusetts’ special Senate election forced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to admit that she didn’t have even enough Democratic votes to pass the plan.
But despite the president’s efforts since then to draw Republicans into the health care effort, voter opinions seem unchanged.
Just 38% of voters now think it is at least somewhat likely that the plan proposed by the president and congressional Democrats will become law this year, the lowest level of confidence in the bill’s passage to date. That number includes 13% who say passage into law is very likely. But 51% believe passage of the plan this year is unlikely, with 33% who say it’s not very likely and another 18% who view it as not at all likely.
Only 35% of voters believe Congress should pass health care reform before the upcoming midterm elections anyway. Fifty-four percent (54%) say Congress should wait until voters select new congressional representatives in November.
Interestingly, 63% of voters also think it would be better for the country if most incumbents in Congress were defeated this November.
This backlash against Democratic Senate incumbents in particular is being found in a number of states where Rasmussen Reports has been surveying recently, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters now rate the president’s handling of the health care reform issue as good or excellent, while 50% think the president has done a poor job. These findings are comparable to voter feelings last month just after the Massachusetts special election.
Not surprisingly, most Democrats give Obama good or excellent marks, while most Republicans and unaffiliated voters rate his performance on health care as poor. Ninety-two percent (92%) of the Political Class say the president has done a good or excellent job. Sixty-one percent (61%) of Mainstream voters think he’s done a poor job on the health care issue.
Just 24% of voters now say health care reform is the budget priority the president is most likely to achieve, the lowest finding in a year of surveying.
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| Date | Favor | Oppose |
| Feb 21-22 | 41% | 56% |
| Feb 9-10 | 39% | 58% |
| Jan 20-21 | 40% | 58% |
| Jan 16-17 | 38% | 56% |
| Jan 8-9 | 40% | 55% |
| Jan 3 | 42% | 52% |
| Dec 29 | 39% | 58% |
| Dec 27 | 40% | 55% |
| Dec 18-19 | 41% | 55% |
| Dec 12-13 | 40% | 56% |
| Dec 4-5 | 41% | 51% |
| Nov 29 | 41% | 53% |
| Nov 21-22 | 38% | 56% |
| Nov 13-14 | 47% | 49% |
| Nov 7-8 | 45% | 52% |
| Oct 30-31 | 42% | 54% |
| Oct 24-25 | 45% | 51% |
| Oct 16-17 | 42% | 54% |
| Oct 10-11 | 44% | 50% |
| Oct 2-3 | 46% | 50% |
| Sep 24-25 | 41% | 56% |
| Sep 16-17 | 43% | 56% |
| Sep 15-16 | 44% | 53% |
| Sep 14-15 | 42% | 55% |
| Sep 13-14 | 45% | 52% |
| Sep 12-13 | 51% | 46% |
| Sep 11-12 | 48% | 48% |
| Sep 10-11 | 47% | 49% |
| Sep 9-10 | 46% | 51% |
| Sept 8-9 | 44% | 53% |
| Aug 25-26 | 43% | 53% |
| Aug 9-10 | 42% | 53% |
| Jul 26-27 | 47% | 49% |
| Jul 20-21 | 44% | 53% |
| Jul 10-11 | 46% | 49% |
| Jun 27-28 | 50% | 45% |
This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 21-22, 2010. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence (see methodology).
Congressional Performance 71% Give Congress Poor Rating
Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters February 19-20, 2010 How would you rate the way Congress is doing its job?
Excellent Good Fair Poor
9% 1% 18% 71%
Excellent Good Fair Poor
9% 1% 18% 71%
| Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Congressional Performance 71% Give Congress Poor Rating Voter unhappiness with Congress has reached the highest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports as 71% now say the legislature is doing a poor job. That’s up ten points from the previous high of 61% reached a month ago. Only 10% of voters say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Nearly half of Democratic voters (48%) now give Congress a poor rating, up 17 points since January. The vast majority of Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party also give Congress poor ratings. Seventy percent (70%) of voters say Congress has not passed any legislation that would significantly improve life for Americans, up 10 points over the past month and the highest level of dissatisfaction measured in regular tracking in over three years. Only 15% say Congress has passed such legislation. Forty percent (40%) of voters nationwide now say it is at least somewhat likely Congress will seriously address the most important issues facing the nation. That’s down from 59% last March. Only 9% say it is Very Likely Congress will address these issues. These numbers are consistent with the analysis provided in Scott Rasmussen’s new book, In Search of Self-Governance. Scott notes that “Today, Americans are united. United in the belief that our political system is broken, that politicians are corrupt, and that neither major political party has the answers.” He adds, “Some of us are ready to give up; some of us are ready to scream a little louder. But all of us believe we can do better.” The book has received positive reviews from across the political spectrum. In Search of Self-Governance is available from Rasmussen Reports and at Amazon.com. Other recent polling also reflects voter disappointment in Congress. Earlier this month, 63% of voters said it would be better for the country if most incumbents in Congress were defeated this November. Just 27% of voters say their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job. Three out of four voters (75%) report being at least somewhat angry at the policies of the federal government. Part of the frustration is likely due to the belief of 60% of voters that neither Republican political leaders nor Democratic political leaders have a good understanding of what is needed today. Still, voters believe Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have a plan for the future. Regardless of which political side voters are on, just 21% believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed. As Congress continues to hash out the health care reform plan proposed by the president and Congressional Democrats, just 41% of voters favor the plan while 56% are opposed. Sixty-three percent (63%) of all voters say a better strategy to reform the health care system would be to pass smaller bills that address problems individually. Just 9% of voters believe most members of Congress are genuinely interested in helping people, which ties the recent low in December. Eighty-one percent (81%) say most members of Congress are more interested in their own careers, a new multi-year high. The plurality of voters (42%) continues to believe most members of Congress are corrupt, a result that has remained fairly consistent over the past several months. One in three U.S. voters (32%) does not see most congressmen as corrupt. Another 26% are undecided. In 2010, Republican candidates have consistently held an advantage over Democrats in the Generic Congressional Ballot. Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed Senate races in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Florida, Connecticut, Pennyslvania, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. Most show a troubling political environment for the Democratic candidates. Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) or follow us on Twitter or Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news. | |||||||||||||
White House Health Care Summit, Part 2
Blogging the Health Care Summit
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
He is blogging during the summit, take a minute and take a peak for his view point.....
White House Health Care Summit, Part 1(my opinion has an update)
I listened to all six hours and twenty two minutes. I am not sure who won, but I did hear alot of agreeing but with no consensus, and the republicans used their same old talking points especially with scrapping the voted upon health care bills from both house and senate and starting from scratch. Now why would democrats scrap what has already been voted on. Now tort reform is something both need to rethink, also pre-existing conditions also medicare and medicaid. I am on Medicare and medicaid and I do not want to lose my insurance. And I know alot of people right along side of me that can not afford to lose it. The republicans seemed to be trying to score points for the 2010 election, and the democrats trying to score points with the elect rite. They could meet in the middle on some of their talking points if they cared about WE THE PEOPLE. The republicans talked and talked about how the American people did not want the health care bill as written, I have heard differently from different sources, and if I can find them I will put them in my blog. I was disappointed that nothing was really accomplished, the republicans did not want to see reconciliation on the bill, but the democrats are now more determined to put this bill through. As a stated earlier there were talking points that I believe they should both do further talking on, that either side do not want, and it is imperative to the PEOPLE. They can not seem to come together on the budget differences, they rely on the CBO for their bipartisan input, but without all the little nuances that can be in the bills later they can only give a summary of what the cost, saving, debt of what they currently have before them. I could say the republicans only care about their meal ticket the insurance companies and denying the AMERICAN PEOPLE the same kind of insurance coverage that they have for themselves and their families. Do not understand that one. I do not want to see the democrats ram through a bill, just to spite the republicans, but I do not think the republicans can demand that the congress scrap the bills and start all over again. That would be insane,
UPDATE: 2/26
I have been reading alot of articles today and have added several, the congress I believe does not do for us their constituents what we want them to do to take care of us. If they do not consider what we want then in November we should fire them all and try to put people in who will listen to their constituents WE THE PEOPLE
I want to apologize for saying that most Americans want this health care bill as written, evidently they don't want the existing bill. They want both the House and the Senate to scrap both bills and start over with the points that they both agree on. That is going to take a long time and the sticking points are going to drag it out, if they do that most of the American People will be behind them 100%, as long as they have Tort Reform, pre-existing conditions, a form of Public option whether it is one payer, a pool, or what the congress gets for health care, being able to buy across state lines, the People want options. And some way that medicare and medicaid are re-enforced, and stabilized and not costing billions that the states and federal government cannot cope with. The insurance companies have bought and paid for most republicans and they do not want the public option, or competition, or the idea that we could buy across state lines because some companies have a monopoly in certain states.
What I want to see is the President of the United States to stand up for the people of this country and by letting both the House and Senate know just exactly what He wants to have in the bill which should include a public option which some articles say he pledged on in his campaign as a promise. I put a video in my blog from Fox News with a focus group made up of democrats and republicans and they were asked questions about the summit the questions were not one sided, and had relevance to both groups. I was very impressed, because I learned from that small group what the AMERICAN PEOPLE are looking for in health care.
President Obama held a bipartisan meeting at Blair H ouse on health reform legislation. Attendees included House and Senate leadership, chairs and ranking members of committees overseeing health insurance legislation, Vice President Joe Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the Office of Health Reform. They focused on controlling costs, insurance reforms, reducing the deficit, and expanding coverage.
A History of Overhauling Health Care - an interactive feature
Once you open the page use mouse and click on differnt lines to read what it says
work to make the existing bill work for both parties.
UPDATE: 2/26
I have been reading alot of articles today and have added several, the congress I believe does not do for us their constituents what we want them to do to take care of us. If they do not consider what we want then in November we should fire them all and try to put people in who will listen to their constituents WE THE PEOPLE
I want to apologize for saying that most Americans want this health care bill as written, evidently they don't want the existing bill. They want both the House and the Senate to scrap both bills and start over with the points that they both agree on. That is going to take a long time and the sticking points are going to drag it out, if they do that most of the American People will be behind them 100%, as long as they have Tort Reform, pre-existing conditions, a form of Public option whether it is one payer, a pool, or what the congress gets for health care, being able to buy across state lines, the People want options. And some way that medicare and medicaid are re-enforced, and stabilized and not costing billions that the states and federal government cannot cope with. The insurance companies have bought and paid for most republicans and they do not want the public option, or competition, or the idea that we could buy across state lines because some companies have a monopoly in certain states.
What I want to see is the President of the United States to stand up for the people of this country and by letting both the House and Senate know just exactly what He wants to have in the bill which should include a public option which some articles say he pledged on in his campaign as a promise. I put a video in my blog from Fox News with a focus group made up of democrats and republicans and they were asked questions about the summit the questions were not one sided, and had relevance to both groups. I was very impressed, because I learned from that small group what the AMERICAN PEOPLE are looking for in health care.
KISS - keep it simple stupid........
President Obama held a bipartisan meeting at Blair H ouse on health reform legislation. Attendees included House and Senate leadership, chairs and ranking members of committees overseeing health insurance legislation, Vice President Joe Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the Office of Health Reform. They focused on controlling costs, insurance reforms, reducing the deficit, and expanding coverage.
A History of Overhauling Health Care - an interactive feature
Once you open the page use mouse and click on differnt lines to read what it says
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