Washed It!

Perhaps all those concerns about a negative backlash against the town hall protests that would ultimately inure to the benefit of those pushing ObamaCare were overblown, because it looks like the public is siding with the protesters:

WASHINGTON — The raucous protests at congressional town-hall-style meetings have succeeded in fueling opposition to proposed health care bills among some Americans, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds — particularly among the independents who tend to be at the center of political debates.

In a survey of 1,000 adults taken Tuesday, 34% say demonstrations at the hometown sessions have made them more sympathetic to the protesters’ views; 21% say they are less sympathetic.

Independents by 2-to-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to the protesters now.

(…)

• A 57% majority of those surveyed, including six in 10 independents, say a major factor behind the protests are concerns that average citizens had well before the meetings took place; 48% say efforts by activists to create organized opposition to the health care bills are a major factor.

• There’s some tolerance for loud voices: 51% say individuals making “angry attacks” on a health care bill are an example of “democracy in action” rather than “abuse of democracy.”

• Some actions are seen as going too far. Six in 10 say shouting down supporters of a bill is an abuse of democracy. On that question, unlike most others, there isn’t much of a partisan divide: 69% of Democrats and 58% of Republicans agree.

If these numbers stand up, it would be a significant blow to the Obama Administration and to the fortunes of health care reform in Congress.

Wednesday, June 24

A poll released Monday showed 72 percent of Americans favor an insurance health care plan with a public option. So why do only 36 senators support it?

Sure, the Senate is supposed to be a more deliberative body and not be swayed by public opinion to the same extent as the House. But, if there’s widespread backing for this concept, and it’s getting a renewed push from President Obama, why so much resistance in the Senate?

Is it because senators are standing on good old-fashioned apple pie principles?

Maybe not. Here’s an analysis that suggests insurance company PAC money is having the greatest impact on middle-of-the road Democratic senators. According to the report:

“Liberal Democrats are likely to hold firm to the public option unless they receive a lot of remuneration from health care PACs. Conservative Democrats may not support the public option in the first place for ideological reasons, although money can certainly push them more firmly against it.

“But the impact on mainline Democrats appears to be quite large: if a mainline Democrat has received $60,000 from insurance PACs over the past six years, his likelihood of supporting the public option is cut roughly in half from 80 percent to 40 percent.”

As I’ve said, there may well be legitimate philosophical reasons to oppose this type of national health care plan, or any other approach, for that matter. An umbilical cord flowing with ready cash from major insurers isn’t one of them.

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To his credit, Obama finally put pressure on health care companies, and opponents of the public option, in a news conference Tuesday.

As he correctly pointed out: “If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care … then why is it that the government, which they say can’t run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That’s not logical.”

It’s only logical if you understand that cash is the conduit through which public policy decisions are often made.

Money doesn’t talk, Dylan said, it swears.