Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 25, 2009 - More Polls & Democrats Condescending Attitude Towards the Public

Update: Members of the U.S. Senate Financial Services Committee will be voting NEXT TUESDAY on amendments to keep abortion coverage out of Sen. Max Baucus's (D-Mont.) health care bill. Sen. Baucus's health care bill explicitly includes abortion and would subsidize health plans that cover all elective abortions. Such subsidies for abortion goes well beyond the status quo of preventing federal funds either from paying for abortion or subsidizing plans that covers abortion as is prevented under current laws governing Medicaid, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, and the State Children's Health Insurance Plan. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has introduced several amendments that would prevent government funding for abortion and would protect current conscience laws for health workers.
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Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of the fiscal 2010 Defense appropriations bill, H.R. 3326. No votes are scheduled Today. At 3:30 PM, Paul Kirk is scheduled to be sworn in as the "temporary" junior senator from Massachusetts. [Another liberal democrat maneuver.]

Yesterday the Senate voted 77-21 to pass H.R. 2996, the fiscal 2010 Interior-Environment appropriations bill. Prior to passage, Democrats were successful in tabling two Republican amendments and a motion to recommit the bill to committee. The Senate voted to table an amendment from Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) the defund the administration’s climate czar. Also tabled was a motion from Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) to recommit the bill to committee and have its funding reduced by $4.3 billion.

Another poll today shows that after an unprecedented media blitz, a speech to a joint session of Congress, town halls and rallies and innumerable media interviews, President Obama’s health care proposals still lack majority support from Americans. According to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll less than half of the respondents approve of the President’s handling of health care, 47%, which has remained below 50% since the poll began asking about this in July.

The CBS/NYT poll follows Tuesday’s NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, which found that more Americans think “Barack Obama’s health care plan” is a “bad idea,” 41% than think it’s a “good idea,” 39%. That’s statistically unchanged since August when 42% thought it was a bad idea and 36% said it was a good idea. For the first time, less than 20% believe the president’s health care plan will improve the quality of their care. And 36% think their care will get worse. And a plurality, 48%, oppose “creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies.” In August 47% opposed. And a plurality, 48%, say they’re more concerned about health reform efforts “[g]oing too far and making the health care system worse than it is now. . . .”

Prior to this week's NBC/WSJ poll was a Gallup poll that found by nearly two to one, more believe the health care proposals before Congress will make costs worse (42%) than better (22%). By 38%-22%, a plurality believes the “insurance company requirements” for coverage will get worse under the Democrats’ proposals. If Democrat proposals pass, a third think quality will suffer while only 18% think it will improve and a third think their overall coverage will get worse with only 22% saying it will improve.

Note that all these polls were taken after President Obama’s heralded appearance before a joint session of Congress, his Sunday show blitz, and numerous speeches and town hall events touting his health care plan. Perhaps this continued skepticism from Americans explains why the administration seems so determined to prevent people from learning more about the troubling aspects of the bills in Congress, such as cuts to Medicare advantage, which could lead to reduced benefits.

When the insurer Humana tried to inform its customers about these potential cuts, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus complained to the Department of Health and Human Services, where a former staffer of his was able to preside over the department ordering an investigation of Humana and instituting a gag order on insurers discussing these cuts. The order came despite the fact that CBO Director Doug Elmendorf confirmed the cuts would result in benefit cuts, just as Humana warned.

Senate Republicans find this order outrageous and completely unacceptable. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and the rest of the GOP Senate leadership sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday saying, “Until your department rescinds its gag order and allows seniors to receive information about matters before Congress, we will not consent to time agreements on the confirmation of any nominees to your department or associated agencies.” Unfortunately, Roll Call reported last night that the administration this rejected this demand and will continue its outrageous investigation.

Sen. McConnell said on the floor this morning, “Supporters of this bill are watching the clock. They know the longer it sits out there, the more Americans will oppose this trillion dollar experiment that cuts Medicare, raises taxes, and threatens the health care choices that millions of Americans now enjoy. . . . More and more, it seems like supporters of this legislation just don’t believe that the American people know what’s best for themselves, so they want to keep them in the dark about the details. But that’s not the way Democracy works. . . . This is precisely the kind of condescending attitude from lawmakers in Washington that ordinary Americans are tired of. This is the kind of thing they’re protesting and speaking out against across the country. And over the last few months, Congress hasn’t given them any reason to believe that their concerns aren’t exactly right.”

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