by Mark Silva
As President Barack Obama makes his final push for an "up or down vote'' on healthcare legislation, and prepares to head out next week to Philadelphia and St. Louis to railly public support, only about one third of all Americans surveyed say they believe the legislation will pass this year.
That 34 percent level of faith in Congress to pass a bill recorded in the Pew Research Center's weekly news index is somewhat higher than it was last week -- 27 percent.
But it's shy of the 57 percent recorded in mid-January, after both the Senate and House had passed their own versions of a bill but before Republican Scott Brown was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts and the Democrats were deprived of the supermajority that had enabled them to push the bill through the Senate.
The week after that election, public expectations for passage of healthcare legislation "plummeted'' to 27 percent, Pew's Andrew Kohut notes.
Next week's findings should be noteworthy, following Obama's declaraton this week that he is prepared to press for a final vote in the next few weeks with or without support from Republicans -- which means a post-Massachusetts 50-plus-one vote in the Senate with budget reconciliation as the vehicle for a fix that aligns the House and Senate on the issue.
More than half -- 54 percent -- of those surveyed now say they think healthcare legislation will not pass, Though that number, too, has shifted from a 62 percent level of disbelief just before the bipartisan summit that Obama held last week.
"The shift can be seen across party lines, though Republicans remain much less likely than Democrats to say they expect legislation to pass this year,'' Kohut reports.
There also could be a measure of self-fulfilling prophecy in those numbers, inasmuch as Republicans are callng on Obama to scrap his healthcare bill and start from scratch and take any reforms step by step, while Democrats are generall more in favor of passing the plan that the president is pushing through Congress now.
These are among the findings of the weekly News Interest Index -- a project of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in conjunction with the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Comments
The most important issue facing America today is the economy. Time for congress to get their priorities in order. They have spent over a year on health care rather the the health of the country. Let's take back America in November.
Posted by: Georgio | March 4, 2010 9:15 AM
Yesterday President Obama announced the appointment of a federal judge. That judge-to-be just happens to be the brother of a Dem Congressman who's a potential "no" vote on ReidPelosiObamaCare.
Pay-for-play, Chicago-style. Now involving judicial appointments.
Anyone remember "Hope and Change"?
Posted by: Equal time | March 4, 2010 9:17 AM
Never underestimate the value of corruption through offered judgeships, state payoffs, withheld funds and the myriad efforts that have been perfected in the slime that is Illinois and Chicago politics. Never underestimate the lengths that libs will go to control your life be it by denying your right to protect yourself, forcing you to subsidize the lazy, the politically connected and now your very life.
You libs that are too stupid to put a car into neutral are prime candidates for this power grab. I want government price controls, I want my health care subsidy, I want all insurance employees to lose their jobs, I want my union benefits protected from taxation.
You libs are the most selfish, unproductive, inconsiderate, unthinking people in this country. I for one will never underestimate your ability to destroy it.
Posted by: Hans | March 4, 2010 9:27 AM
President Obama still does not get it that the major issue most Americans are concerned about is JOBS and the Economy. But the President has shown a big stubborn streak and is bent on passing this big multi-trillion dollar bill even without Republican support. Even though Obama claims he wants to be bipartisan I do not believe he knows the definition of the word. Obama claims he is fo change but his White House is acting like all those before him with old time politics. But this time it is Chicago style. He is trying to buy votes. It is being reported this morning that the brother one of the Democratic Representatives that opposed this bill is being appointed to the U.S. Appeals Court. Some change. It is old time politics as usual. By ignoring Job losses and the Economy the Democrats are going to pay a big price at the polls in November. And if this Health Bill is crammed through the congress the losses for the Democrats will be even bigger. To quote a famous Democratic strategist "it is the economy stupid."
Posted by: Depot- Jim | March 4, 2010 9:29 AM
WONDER IF THIS WILL PASS . . .
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Obama Now Selling Judgeships for Health Care Votes?
Obama names brother of undecided House Dem to Appeals Court.
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http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-now-selling-appeals-court-judgeships-health-care-votes
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | March 4, 2010 9:50 AM
All of the Obamacare bills (each iteration) are unmitigated disasters that will wreck not only our economy but the best healthcare the world has known. Yet, Captain B+ insists on jamming something through.
What an incompetent tone-deaf fool we have in the Whitehouse.
Posted by: Chris | March 4, 2010 10:47 AM
Will someone, anyone, give a cogent explantion of the justification for Federal intervention in the health care system? There is need for some action, but it is the STATE's responsibilty to control this issue. Instead of trying what I believe to be an unconstitutional intrusion into a State's Rights matter, why not get the State gov'ts to act? It has already happened in a handful of states. As the governor of Utah pointed out, this issue does not call for a "cookie-cutter" solution, because each state faces a different situation.
Posted by: dlk | March 4, 2010 9:32 PM
The Republicans just don't get it... people want healthcare now, not starting from scratch. Jobs and healthcare go hand in hand. It's not easy to clean up after the Bush administration. The republicans can't create jobs, can't reform healthcare, can't decrease the deficit, the list goes on, what can they do? Keep starting from scratch getting nothing done.
Posted by: Pat Champion | March 6, 2010 8:52 PM
Well, I doubt that after continuous efforts and continuous talks about health reform it will not pass. Well, I do not like it very much. I've read the article where doctors seemed to like it even less than me. You may find it at pdf SE http://www.pdfok.com . As far as I can judge the doctors have all the grounds not to like this reform. Something has to be done about our health care system but the suggested pattern is far from being satisfactory.
Posted by: Rain | August 5, 2010 9:25 AM