61% of Americans want a do-over on health care - Say scrap current proposals

The Democrats have held a majority in Congress since 2006, so it wasn't the 2008 elections that handed it to them. Obama did win in 2008 but a large number of those who voted for him are now disenchanted because of his failure to keep his promises and his disastrous policies. And no, they aren't disenchanted because he didn't get health care reform passed. I have seen you accuse Rasmussen of being some branch of Fox News but this simply isn't true. You can cast aspersions on their polling but in 2008, Rasmussen came in #1 for accuracy amongst all polls. Fox was at the #10 spot and some big names were near the bottom, like Gallup at #17 and Newsweek at #20. You can't argue with accuracy. Here are some of the questions and the results: * Generally speaking, do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and the congressional Democrats? 19% strongly favor 20% somewhat favor 10% somewhat oppose 48% strongly oppose and, of course, 4% had no opinion * Is it better to build on the health care plan that has been working its way through the House and Senate, or should Congress scrap that plan and start all over again? 28% Build on the health care plan that has been working its way through the House & Senate 61% Congress should scrap that plan and start all over again 11% Not sure * Should Congress pass health care reform before the mid-term elections or should it wait until voters select new members of Congress this November? 35% Congress should pass health care reform before the mid-term elections 54% It should wait until voters select new members of Congress this November 11% Not sure Those questions look straightforward to me with lots of choices given to respondents to choose from. I can't see any slanting. I realize that somehow the idea of people languishing in the streets from lack of health insurance is the emotional appeal that is supposed to trump all other arguments, but we still have a representative form of democracy, and the will of the people is still the deciding factor.

It may be that a majority wants reform, they just don't want this reform. I totally agree that they cannot require private citizens to purchase anything.

They should start over and I also think that this Congress has lost the confidence of the voters, so I would prefer they wait until after the elections. Thanks for providing the link.

That seems a balanced perspective with achievable goals. I think that most voters would be in favor of reforms that held down costs while providing for those who, for whatever reason, are unable to get the insurance they need. What they worry about is the government taking over health care entirely. Trial attorneys are the big lobbying force that fights malpractice reform and tort reform. Coincidentally, they are big financial donors to many Democratic candidates.

Neither bill is going to make it through both houses. The bills are thousands of pages long, if they add enough amendments and changes to make everyone happy, how long would the end bill be? I agree, start over.