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Health Care Bill Receives Endorsement as "Miracle"

Garm Bel Iblis

Garm Bel Iblis

Commodore
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Cuban-leader-applauds-US-apf-124808403.html?x=0&.v=1
HAVANA (AP) -- It perhaps was not the endorsement President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress were looking for.
Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago.

"We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, adding that it would strengthen the president's hand against lobbyists and "mercenaries."

Fantastic. Viva la revolution
 
In other news, Fidel Castro was seen today strolling through a park in Cuba, with the sun shining down on him.

Castro reportedly looked up at the sunlight, grinned, and said "This weather is fucking awesome! It's fantastic! Yeah!"

Apparently Republicans are using this to argue that we should not be taking strolls through parks on sunny days, since that would make us more like Cuba. They've even begun to set up a Mr. Burns like sun-blockers to make sure we don't fall into this Socialistic nightmare.

Tomorrow, we'll bring you an exclusive story about Osama Bin Laden praising the taste of chocolate bars, and the domestic reaction to that! WATCH OUT NESTLE!
 
Stone_Cold_Sisko said:
In other news, Fidel Castro was seen today strolling through a park in Cuba, with the sun shining down on him.
Click to expand...

Did he sparkle like Edward Cullen?

Castro reportedly looked up at the sunlight, grinned, and said "This weather is fucking awesome! It's fantastic! Yeah!"

Apparently Republicans are using this to argue that we should not be taking strolls through parks on sunny days, since that would make us more like Cuba. They've even begun to set up a Mr. Burns like sun-blockers to make sure we don't fall into this Socialistic nightmare.

Tomorrow, we'll bring you an exclusive story about Osama Bin Laden praising the taste of chocolate bars, and the domestic reaction to that! WATCH OUT NESTLE!
Click to expand...

Oh.
 
It does seem a but supernatural that this crap could be perpetrated in a representative republic... but the will of the people wasn't involved in this.
 
Sorry, but the majority doesn't seem to approve of the bill.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the first two nights after the president signed the bill, shows that 55% favor repealing the legislation. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal. Those figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 35% who Strongly Oppose it.

In terms of Election 2010, 52% say they’d vote for a candidate who favors repeal over one who does not. Forty-one percent (41%) would cast their vote for someone who opposes repeal.

Not surprisingly, Republicans overwhelmingly favor repeal while most Democrats are opposed. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 59% favor repeal, and 35% are against it.

Most senior citizens (59%) also favor repeal. Earlier, voters over 65 had been more opposed to the health care plan than younger adults. Seniors use the health care system more than anyone else.

A number of states are already challenging the constitutionality of that requirement in court, and polling data released earlier shows that 49% of voters nationwide would like their state to sue the federal government over the health care bill.
Click to expand...

And the taxes and increases in insurance premiums haven't even hit yet.
 
gturner said:
Sorry, but the majority doesn't seem to approve of the bill.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the first two nights after the president signed the bill, shows that 55% favor repealing the legislation. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal. Those figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 35% who Strongly Oppose it.

In terms of Election 2010, 52% say they’d vote for a candidate who favors repeal over one who does not. Forty-one percent (41%) would cast their vote for someone who opposes repeal.

Not surprisingly, Republicans overwhelmingly favor repeal while most Democrats are opposed. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 59% favor repeal, and 35% are against it.

Most senior citizens (59%) also favor repeal. Earlier, voters over 65 had been more opposed to the health care plan than younger adults. Seniors use the health care system more than anyone else.

A number of states are already challenging the constitutionality of that requirement in court, and polling data released earlier shows that 49% of voters nationwide would like their state to sue the federal government over the health care bill.
Click to expand...
And the taxes and increases in insurance premiums haven't even hit yet.
Click to expand...
Gallup would disagree with you.
Link
Nearly half of Americans give a thumbs-up to Congress' passage of a healthcare reform bill last weekend, with 49% calling it "a good thing." Republicans and Democrats have polar opposite reactions, with independents evenly split.
Click to expand...
Those against it are at 40%. 11% have no opinion.
 
Mr. B said:
It does seem a but supernatural that this crap could be perpetrated in a representative republic... but the will of the people wasn't involved in this.
Click to expand...

You think it seems "supernatural" when the duly elected representatives by will of the people vote on a bill according to the procedures stipulated in the constitution? If it truly is the will of the people that this is not how things to be, then the representatives who voted for it will have to answer for it on their next election day. That's fundamental.
 
Awesome Possum said:
Gallup would disagree with you.
Link
Nearly half of Americans give a thumbs-up to Congress' passage of a healthcare reform bill last weekend, with 49% calling it "a good thing." Republicans and Democrats have polar opposite reactions, with independents evenly split.
Click to expand...
Those against it are at 40%. 11% have no opinion.
Click to expand...

As I recall, Gallup split out those who oppose the bill from the left (because they don't think it goes far enough) and counts them as supporters.

And this is the honeymoon phase of public perception. Some of the taxes hit very quickly and the new group insurance rates don't hit till January. Nobody is going to see the benefits till 2014.
 
Are Democrats Better Off for Having Passed Health Care? Yes -- and No.

by Nate Silver @ 3:01 PM

More polling data is starting to pour in on health care reform and it generally contains decent, but not great, numbers for Democrats. Most of the polls show a bump of some kind in approval for health care reform -- but it's not as large as that implied by the USA Today/Gallup one-day poll that was released on Tuesday. If we take an average of the four polls that have been conducted entirely after the health care bill passed the House, rather (those from Gallup, Rasmussen, Quinnipiac and CBS), they average out to 43 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed. Those are numbers that I think Democrats would gladly take relative to where health care has been in the past, but it's not exactly as though the bill has become wildly popular -- nor is it likely to do so in advance of the midterms.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/03/are-democrats-better-off-for-having.html
 
gturner said:
Awesome Possum said:
Gallup would disagree with you.
Link
Nearly half of Americans give a thumbs-up to Congress' passage of a healthcare reform bill last weekend, with 49% calling it "a good thing." Republicans and Democrats have polar opposite reactions, with independents evenly split.
Click to expand...
Those against it are at 40%. 11% have no opinion.
Click to expand...

As I recall, Gallup split out those who oppose the bill from the left (because they don't think it goes far enough) and counts them as supporters.
Click to expand...

I think you may have misinterpreted some of the discussion of the Gallup poll. It's not that gallup counted people who oppose the bill from the left as supporters. They didn't.

The point people were making is that support for the bill prior to the vote was about 40% and that about 10% were opposing the bill from the left. It is believed that some of those leftist anti-bill voters changed their mind after the Sunday vote (thereby accounting for the swing in the Gallup poll).
 
I don't think they changed their mind, I think the responded to the question of whether its passage was a good thing. They still don't like the bill, but to them it marks some progress toward turning America into a quasi-hippie state where health care is free and butterflies and unicorns hatch out of people's butts. When people start seeing the new taxes come in they'll be less enthused. As has been said for many decades, "If you think it's expensive now, wait till it's free."
 
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