Only PUBLIC wants 'Option' - What is Wrong with this Picture?
Can someone please explain to me why it is that the so-called 'public option' is ALREADY 'DOA'? Without getting too deep into the weeds of polls, it seems fair to say that a clear majority of the overall public supports it, and I see in here today that even a plurality of REPUBLICANS support it. ANYTHING that is continuing to sustain this level broad of public sympathy after months of orchestrated sniping at it, is something we would expect to pass Congress easily. Why is this so different?
Are we just DUMB? Do a relative handful of self-professed experts, pundits, commentators, Senators, and House Members know everything worth knowing on this issue, while we out here in the broad public can't be expected to contribute anything useful? I'm trying to think of a recent issue where public sentiment seemed so out of tune with orthodox conventional wisdom as expressed in the overall commentariat, and I'm having trouble coming up with one.
Is it just possible that the public (while not very smart) is somehow just barely smart enough to KNOW that real reform really IS required, starting NOW? Is is just possible that the public (while not very smart) is barely smart enough to know that REAL reform is NEVER going to take place as long as you're trying to achieve it without getting any private special entity, anywhere, UPSET? Is it just possible that the public (while not very smart) is barely smart enough to realize that there are some problems that are simply too BIG for the private sector to solve on its own? That some problems require the united, democratic power of the Federal Government to grab hold, and lead us toward something better?
I don't know about you, but I (and apparently many others) think a public option is a modest but highly critical element of getting that engagement started. I honestly cannot understand why it is so easily dismissed, when so many everyday people seem to favor it..
Because the everyday people aren't in Congress.
September 25, 2009 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know how to explain the public option number in the polls (other than desperation). But I did notice that there is no broad public consensus on the reform Obama is proposing and its impact on those polled.
To say that the public option must pass because xx% support it in a poll is equivalent to saying that Obama should step down because his unfavorable ratings now exceed the favorable.
September 25, 2009 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
L35,
I agree with you that a simple poll majority is not enough to say one way or the other if a policy should be pursued. It's a rough measure of public sentiment, which can MATTER in a democracy without neccesarily being by itself conclusive.
I also agree with your point that HCR of ANY sort is a very slippery thing to poll. As I try to study the polls in my sort of loose, generalized way, I'm darned if I can 'fix' the public attitude anywhere at all - it seems to want everything and nothing at the same time, which means people with a slant anywhere along the spectrum can cherrypick a poll to support them.
Nevertheless, I find the sentiment for the PO somewhat compelling and pretty consistent. My own subjective sense (nothing more) is that people see it as a reasonable compromise between "Govt. takeover" and essentially doing as little as possible of practical value (in the hopes of shutting-up this 'reform' silliness, and getting back ASAP to business as usual, with no 'harm' done).
It could be that it's just because I see it that way, but I don't really think so - I'm not one who is usually found that far out on my own solitary limb.
September 25, 2009 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to hog my own post, but one more brief point I'd like to make: SIMPLICITY is a strong selling point for the PO in my opinion. The public may be as confused as I am about many of the arcane elements being discussed (What exactly IS a co-op? How does it work to lower costs?), but anyone can at least UNDERSTAND the public option, whether or not one likes it. I think this is at least a partial explanation for its relative popularity.
September 25, 2009 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's going to happen, one-wilson.
People are realizing that no matter how many times you call Obama Hitler, there's no good argument against it. If there were, it would already have been made. Plus the leaders against this are some of the unattractive figures in political life (Coburn, Cantor, Boehner, Steele, Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, Insurance Lobby).
September 26, 2009 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wilson, dude, there is BARELY a super-majority in favor a public option. Everyone knows you need at least 80% approval of a policy before you can justify inflicting it on the country. America is just not ready, culturally, for a public option. And by America, I mean REAL America - those people who know that government programs are always the problem and corporate subsidies are always the solution. Except of course the government programs they are already on. The People have the right to freedom from affordable health insurance options. THAT IS ALL.
September 26, 2009 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink