by Mark Silva
As the House prepares to take the first vote Saturday on the health-care legislation that President Barack Obama is seeking by year's end, most Americans say they'd be happy with Congress taking more time to either work out minor problems or major changes in the bill.
A slim majority - 53 percent - also say they oppose the president's plans for a health-care and insurance overhaul as they understand them.
Yet a slightly stronger majority - 55 percent --- say they would support a "public option'' plan for health care run by the federal government that competes with private insurers - which has become perhaps the most controversial element of the legislation under debate, with the House and Senate eyeing variations on a public option.
These are among the findings of a CNN/Opinion Research poll released this morning and conducted over the past weekend.
Obama plans to travel to the Capitol on Saturday to meet with the House Democratic caucus, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) takes the Democratic leadership's plan for health care to the floor for debate and an expected vote. Republicans have lined up against the plan - just as every Republican in the House voted against the economic stimulus plan that the president signed in February.
Americans surveyed are divided on the question of whether the president, who had promised the bridge the partisan divide in Washington, has done enough to work with Republicans in Congress: 49 percent say yes in the CNN survey, 49 percent say no.
Yet the Democratic portrayal of the GOP as "the party of no'' may have taken root as well: Asked if Republicans in Congress have done enough to work with the president, 67 percent say no and only 31 percent say yes.
Asked this question: "From everything you have heard or read so far, do you favor or oppose Barack Obama's plan to reform health care?'' a narrow majority say no: 53 percent. Just 45 percent say they favor his plans, from what they have heard.
A combined 59 percent of those surveyed say they would like Congress to take more time on either minor or major changes to the health-care legislation. That wish could come true: A Senate vote has not been scheduled yet, and the House and Senate will have to reconcile considerable differences over the legislation before anything reaches the president's desk.
The survey of 1,018 adults, including 952 registered voters, was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation on Oct. 30-Nov. 1. The possible margin of error is 3 percentage points.
Comments
When one considers the results of this poll, I suggest that they consider who did the poll, CNN. Let ne word the questions and I will gaurantee you get the results you want.
Posted by: Duane | November 6, 2009 7:54 AM
SAY IT AIN'T SOOOO . . .
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PELOSI A LIAR, THIS CAN'T BE . . .
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OH WAIT
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http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/11/pelosi_breaks_pledge_to_put_he.asp
Posted by: Billy Mobbie | November 6, 2009 8:01 AM
What is so difficult about understanding the " cost-control option ", aka " the public option " !!? We have the Post Office and still there are plenty of private delivery services. We have Medicare, for our elected officials, too, I might add, and still there are the private, " blood-sucking ", Healthcare Providers and Insurers. 100 years, in trying to contain their greed, and they are worse now, than ever, in denying, overcharging, stealing and, in some cases, unfortunately, killing their clients/patients !! Is that what the Republican-Libertarians are fighting for, to maintain the status quo ??
That is why the " cost-control option " is so vital. That is the only way to force these Healthcare Corporations to stop the gouging, the killing, the cheating of their clients/patients !! They will not do it on their own. Look at the the Crooks of Wall Street, were they able to control themselves ? Ask the 9 Million people who lost jobs because of The Weasels' of Wall Street " their self-discipline ", " their honesty ", " the trust-worthyness" !! It's joke, a very bad joke on all of us, on America !! That is why we must have the " cost-control option " in our Healthcare Reform legislation. That is the only way to allow all Americans to gain meaningful insurance, and to keep meaningful insurance. Anything less, and it is smoke and mirrors, all over again, for the another 100 years !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | November 6, 2009 8:14 AM
What about the questions:
1) Have you read the bill?
2) Do you understand what is in the Health care bill?
What good is the opinion poll? Since most people do not know anything about the bill, they can only form an opinion based on another's opinion.
Posted by: Marty McCafferty | November 6, 2009 8:23 AM
Hey Silva
When the messiah won the election in November with 53% of the vote this was considered a sweeping majority. Now in this article it is a slim majority. Are you kidding me?????
Posted by: Fed up with Liberal Whining | November 6, 2009 8:58 AM
Can see some members of congress now licking their chops waiting for the Political Donations to roll in,if ever . Obamacare is passed.
Posted by: inky | November 6, 2009 9:04 AM
Just reported by the AP illegals will be allowed to use the system. Thanks Team Obama!
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | November 6, 2009 9:33 AM
I agree that Congress needs to take more time to develop their plan. Furthermore, they need to demonstrate their competency by fixing the problems with social security before they take over another important area of our life. We've been told that social security will not be available for us when we retire, and yet we're still being forced to pay significant chunks of our pay check to the social security system -- at the same time that we have to look for other money to put away for our basic needs when we can't work any longer. With such a badly managed performance record, how can we trust Congress and the government to manage health care?
Posted by: Elise | November 6, 2009 9:35 AM
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was "absolutely" committed to doing so.
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | November 6, 2009 9:42 AM
Hey Donnie, how's the funding look for those brillantly run government entities?
Try again...
Posted by: Barry J | November 6, 2009 11:32 AM
I think they should just start over. Who can figure out what 2,000 pages of amend this, amend that, make sure the unions don't have to participate, make sure the government doesn't have to participate. It's insane. Of course they will give the illegal aliens more and more rights.
Posted by: kinda | November 6, 2009 1:51 PM
Even the Democrats at CNN find that Americans oppose ObamaCare.....
And note how the Democrats at The Swamp try and spin the 53%-45% opposition as a "slim majority." If memory serves, The Swamp has written of the 52%-47% Obama win as a "landslide."
Posted by: Bruce | November 6, 2009 2:30 PM
I've heard in news for the past few days that Nancy and the House were 'deliberating' whether or not to give health care to "undocumented" workers. If they go ahead and add this provision, and approve it, Joe "you lie" Wilson will have been correct in his outburst--after Obama denied in front of God and everyone that illegal immigrants would be covered in the health plan. Illegal aliens or, "undocumented workers" are the same thing actually--depends if you're a business or household and want cheap labor, or a politician and want cheap, questionably documented votes.
Illegals don't deserve our recession high-dollar health care. They deserve deportment and to go to the back of the line in getting in here. I don't want their values in this country--voting here, or cleaning my hotel room with my personal belongings there, or watching, cooking or teaching my kids. Not my values to break laws getting in places. Don't want them contaminating kids or others here that the end justifies the illegal means. They need to go home now--the same way they came in. I have a printed T-shirt ready to go that says "Joe "you lie" Wilson was right".
It will be a knife in the back to all American citizens if illegals--here for whatever reason--and in by whatever illegal means--get health care from this highly contested plan. If the repug talking point about rationing ever is correct, it will be due to the uncounted, still in question 12-25 million illegal aliens. Heck, the government can't even keep track of those in the country with legal visas. These people just sort of stay, grow roots and laugh. This lack of control goes back through the eight years of the Bush administration also. Lets just see if Joe "you lie" Wilson was correct in his outburst.
Posted by: Vivian | November 6, 2009 3:02 PM
Any bill trying to make the sweeping changes that the health reform bill is attempting is going to be big. As a result, not all of the the elected representatives can be expected to read it and understand it. These representative have their areas of expertise, but will ultimately find others they trust in order to shape their opinion. The size of this bill means that there will be problems and these will need to be worked out which will take time.
The real question is whether the Democrats actually have this time given the problems of the economy being front and center. Sure, some polls may suggest that some people want more time be put into health care, but they also want the economy fixed and these two are too big to be solved at the same time.
Ultimately amendments will still be required to the legislation when the rubber hits the road because nobody has the vision required to foresee everything that will result. Success in enacting reform can only come if the Democrats get something out sooner rather than later and are willing to adapt and make changes as the effects of the law manifest themselves.
Posted by: Wellescent Health Blog | November 6, 2009 4:16 PM
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Posted by: Vivian | November 6, 2009 3:02 PM
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I think you may be forgetting something, Vivian. Coming soon to a Congress near you will be an immigration reform bill. See http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/obama-immigration-reform-to-start-moving-by-the-end-of-the-year-.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/us/politics/09immig.html . The cited articles quote Obama and WH officials as having plans for “giving an opportunity for those who are already in the United States to be able to achieve a pathway to citizenship so that they don't have to live in the shadows.” To me that sounds suspiciously similar to the rhetoric built up around the now-in-mothballs Kennedy-Kyl immigration reform bill that failed in 2007 (but which, incidentally, Obama voted for as a Senator).
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Thus, even if the President stands firm on his commitment not to cover illegal aliens under the plan, the same people who are here illegally today will be on their way to legal resident status, and even have a pathway to citizenship, by the time the health care plan goes into operation. In which case, there will be no need to cover illegal aliens in the plan. They will be eligible for coverage as legal resident aliens. In short, if you don’t like the health-care bill now, just wait.
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I understand your position regarding the bad example and lawlessness of helping illegal aliens. I see the problem from a somewhat different perspective. I would like to see the current immigration dilemma solved in a manner that eliminates the hypocrisy our country has toward our southern neighbors. We apparently want them and need their labor (as shown by all the jobs they occupy), but we turn around and persecute them for doing the work that American employers ask them to perform and for trying to sustain themselves and their families. There is something wrong with maintaining such a large-scale love-hate relationship regardless of who is at fault. I would like to see the government grant work and residence permits to anyone who holds a job, is self-sufficient, and has no criminal record. On the other hand, I don’t see the point in offering citizenship or handing out welfare-state gimmies. It’s the welfare-state gimmies that make the situation oppressive for the rest of us. We can be nice and meet their exigencies without bending all the way over.
Posted by: John W. | November 6, 2009 6:32 PM
The truth is the public option isn't even new. It's already working well in Ohio and other places. Don't believe me? See for yourself. http://cli.gs/23yYaM/
Posted by: Stephanie Hunter | November 6, 2009 8:16 PM
John W.-- Yes, and it's no surprise that Obama wanted to do health "reform" before "immigration" reform. Another way for them not to "live in the shadows" is for them to go home in daylight and APPLY to come to the US legally. They basically choose the shadows. Most criminals prefer darkness--where they can not be detected.
It's really all about illegal aliens and not immigrants. Immigrant is too good and too honorable a word for them. They are illegals having broken the law. And, it's no surprise that Obama and Nancy will make quick citizens of them all. Way to protect and defend the laws of the United States of America. It's a slap in the face to law abiding citizens--either born here, or the ones who jumped through all the required hoops. It's funny that the higher, outside estimate of the number of illegals is close to--or more than half--the number of the estimated uninsured in this country. And the reason for health care "reform" is.....????? A trillion dollars for 20 million Americans--after deducting the number of illegals. I say pass no health "reform" bill. It's really only insurance and illegal alien reform. Just pass a law stating the insurance industry shall not discriminate due to pre-existing conditions while putting other American citizens w/o health care on Medicare. Easy. And, lots of money saved. And, no hand-outs to sneaky law breakers. Does Obama care for unAmericans more than American citizens? Funny-- one of those right-winged conspiracy theories would fall perfectly in line to be motive for this if the answer to the question was yes.
Posted by: Vivian | November 6, 2009 11:46 PM
"This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I have seen in the nineteen years I have been here in Washington"
John Boehner
November 5, 2009
Oh, dear! Where was this knucklehead on September 11, 2001? Or when the Patriot Act was passed for that matter. Where was this fool in 2000 when the Supreme Court put a stop to the vote counting in the state of Florida and installed the Bush Mob in the White House? The greatest threat to freedom in nineteen years? Have another sip, Mr. Faux Tan Man.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
Posted by: Tom Degan | November 7, 2009 7:25 AM
Given your interest, you might want to check out the http://www.lastingliberty.com/ piece on the healthcare debate : Bigger Than Healthcare
Posted by: Larry | November 8, 2009 11:21 PM