[February Poll] Do you want Congress to pass health care reform?

Posted on | February 5, 2010 | Comments Off

I keep wanting to ask if you still want Congress to pass health care reform but I know I can’t assume you wanted them to do it in the first place.

So, what’s with this question?

I remember having a conversation with a colleague of fairly conservative leanings who surprised me by saying that she definitely wanted Congress to tackle this issue.

“Normally, I’m not a fan of government interference but something’s got to be done. Runaway health care coasts are eating us alive,” she told me. “Whatever Congress does, it couldn’t possibly be worse than what we’ve got.”

Weeeeellll … I don’t know …

It’s kind of an amazing thing but the folks on Capitol Hill have cut so many deals in order to secure passage of this bill that they still haven’t secured passage for that they have managed to alienate absolutely everybody — including many of the folks who might otherwise have supported health care reform.

(Pause for musical interlude … )

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Small business owners don’t like it because it does nothing we can see to rein in costs and it hangs us out to dry for four years or so.

Women don’t like it because it is being used to make statements (which are agreed with by a minority of U.S. citizens) about our reproductive rights.

Consumer advocates don’t like it because it doesn’t do enough to ride herd on insurance companies.

And, honestly, it looks like the folks who get the most assistance from the last proposal I saw was the insurance companies!

Wither away, health care reform?

So, it looks like my friend was wrong. Congress can manage to take something as screwed up as our health care system and make it even worse … as impossible as that seems.

So, the question is: what should be done about it now? Should they go back to the drawing board, with a brief pause to ask the American people what sorts of provisions we would support?

Should they wait until next year, when we’ve had a chance to replace a bunch of them?

Maybe they should just leave bad enough alone, since they seem poised to make things worse?

What do you think?

January Poll: We have a tie. It seems you folks are feeling very optimistic these days.

“How is the new year/decade looking for you?”

Great! Excited about opportunities ahead! — 40%
I think things will get better soon. — 40%
I’ll probably be out of business before the year is out. — 20%


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