read it and weep rightards.  Get used to it, you're going to lose this one too.   New Poll Shows Tremendous Support for Public Health Care Option Bernie Horn's picture By Bernie Horn June 15, 2009 - 12:24pm ET         Facebook E-mail Popular This Week Sticky Fingers: The Super Rich Set a New Greed Grab Record by Sam Pizzigati August 16, 2009 How Bad Do You Want The Public Option? by Bill Scher August 17, 2009 more»   Also Worth Reading Stimulus for States Worked—But They Need More by Bernie Horn | July 30, 2009 Right Wingers Flail As Their World Collapses by Bernie Horn | June 11, 2009 Health Insurance Nightmares Shared By Our Readers by Bernie Horn | June 10, 2009 U.S. Military Spending Overwhelms the Rest of the World by Bernie Horn | June 09, 2009 more»   Eighty-three percent of Americans favor and only 14 percent oppose “creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase” according to EBRI, a conservative business research organization. This flatly contradicts conservatives’ loudest attack against President Obama’s plan to provide quality, affordable health care for all. The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) calls itself “the most authoritative and _object_ive source of information” on the issues of employee retirement and health benefits. Founded in 1978, EBRI says it “is the gold standard for private analysts and decision makers, government policymakers, the media, and the public.” And EBRI is funded by many of the largest corporations in America. EBRI’s biggest donors include: AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing, General Dynamics, General Mills, IBM, JBMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Northop Grumman, Schering-Plough, Schwab, T.Rowe Price, UBS Financial, and Wal-Mart. EBRI also receives large contributions from the insurance industry, including: Blue Cross Blue Shield, CIGNA, Hartford, Kaiser Permanente, Massachusetts Mutual, Metropolitan Life, Union Labor Life, and UnitedHealth. Here’s who paid for the poll, as stated by EBRI:     This survey was made possible with support from AARP, American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Buck Consultants, Chevron, Deere & Company, IBM, Mercer, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Principal Financial Group, Schering-Plough Corp., Shell Oil Company, The Commonwealth Fund, and Towers Perrin. So clearly, no one can accuse this organization of being “liberal” on health care issues. These findings are from EBRI’s 2009 Health Confidence Survey, their 12th annual poll:     Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose the following:     Creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase:     • Strongly support—53 percent     • Somewhat support—30 percent     • Somewhat oppose—5 percent     • Strongly oppose—9 percent     Having national rules requiring insurance companies to cover all people, regardless of their health problems:     • Strongly support—55 percent     • Somewhat support—25 percent     • Somewhat oppose—9 percent     • Strongly oppose—9 percent     Expanding government programs, such as Medicare or Medicaid:     • Strongly support—45 percent     • Somewhat support—30 percent     • Somewhat oppose—9 percent     • Strongly oppose—12 percent     Requiring all employers to pay toward subsidized health insurance for employees:     • Strongly support—42 percent     • Somewhat support—33 percent     • Somewhat oppose—10 percent     • Strongly oppose—12 percent     Requiring everyone to participate in some kind of health insurance plan:     • Strongly support—38 percent     • Somewhat support—30 percent     • Somewhat oppose—13 percent     • Strongly oppose—16 percent Despite clear public support for these provisions—all of which are likely to be in the Democrats’ health care reform legislation—conservatives won’t go along. The biggest battle right now is over the public plan option. As commentator Al Hunt points out:     Although almost half of Americans are already covered by a public health plan, inclusion of a government option is a deal-killer for most Republicans and [some] Democrats… The Congressional Progressive Caucus says it is a deal-killer if the public option is left out of the health care reform legislation. Get ready for a titanic tug of war. There was another new health care poll in the news today, this one by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg. Although the specifics aren’t yet released, he talks about his polling in the New Republic. I point it out because it echoes two important points I made last week in a somewhat controversial post called “Why Not Single-Payer?” I said “About 3/4ths of insured Americans are satisfied with their health insurance.” Greenberg says: “Yet three-quarters are satisfied with their own health insurance.” I said “When Americans hear about a health care proposal, they immediately think “how is it going to affect me and my family.” That’s their overarching, overwhelming concern.” Greenberg says when Clinton proposed his plan, “people responded personally, working to figure out what it all meant for them—the impact on their family, access to their doctors, dollars and cents, and on everything they’d done to become satisfied with their health care.” Some readers commented that they simply didn't believe the polling I cited in Why Not Single-Payer? It is natural for all of us—myself included—to seek out polls that support our side and disregard contrary polling results. But please understand that President Obama and progressive health care advocates have access to so much polling on this issue; they are not picking-and-choosing the polls they like. They are making clear-headed decisions in an effort to get the very best health care plan that can possibly be enacted by Congress this year. The writer is a Senior Fellow at Campaign for America’s Future and author of the book, “Framing the Future: How Progressive Values Can Win Elections and Influence People”.

one too.  Um Hal you did note it said purchase. So how is that going to help those that you statists keep crying over  that have no health care now? According to you, these poor souls are unable to purchase health care? You statists must have some victims to advance your cause. You just eliminated them.

read it and weep rightards.  Get used to it, you're going to lose this one too.   New Poll Shows Tremendous Support for Public Health Care Option Bernie Horn's picture Plenty of people support the idea of creating an option that everybody can purchase; hell, I support that too.  What I (and most conservatives, moderates, and other rational people) do not support is the specific plan being offered right now by the ultra-left including Obama. Notice that the poll you are citing is very generic; it is asking if people support an option in general.  Every single poll across the country that asks about the SPECIFIC plan currently being thrown around Congress is showing the exact opposite results; a majority of people are against what Obama is proposing. There are a number of reasons for this.  First and foremost, it will simply cost too much.  The CBO has already determined that even if everything goes exactly as planned, the absolute best we can hope for with Obamacare is to maintain the status quo in terms of spending. The fact that the American people want SOMETHING does not give Obama or the ultra-libs license to pass the first turd they come up with. The people want something better; something that will actually work in the long term and not completely disrupt the industry.

read it and weep rightards.  Get used to it, you're going to lose this one too.   New Poll Shows Tremendous Support for Public Health Care Option Bernie Horn's picture LOL...people SUPPORT health care reform, you moron.  They do NOT support the ludicrous insanity of O'bamma and what you idiot progressives want to foist onto everybody. You progressives are so insane that you think that YOUR version of reform for any issue is THE ONLY reform possible.  Everything else is WRONG, only the progressives' insane version of change has any validity.  People disagree with you wackjobs and thank god for that. Trav

You progressives are so insane that you think that YOUR version of reform for any issue is THE ONLY reform possible.  Everything else is WRONG, only the progressives' insane version of change has any validity.  People disagree with you wackjobs and thank god for that. The Obamacrats love to use the false dichotomy.  When the Obamassiah was making speeches about the stimulus package, he presented the options as being pass his ridiculously enormous package, or do nothing.  Those were (according to Obama and his flock of drooling sycophants) the ONLY two options.  No other options existed; it was all or nothing, not even a discussion. Same for health care.  The ONLY two options, according to Obama, is that we pass something ridiculously huge, or do nothing.  There is no middle ground.  There is not even a discussion about the possibility of a middle ground.  He claims that NOBODY has offered any other alternatives when in fact over a dozen alternative plans have been offered from republicans, from moderate democrats, and even from private industry; all of them ignored. And before anyone start babbling about how they might not press for the public option, mark my words - whatever option they press for after the break will be a public option in disguise.  Their eventual goal - one that has been stated publicly - is to force the entire system into single payer.  Whether we The People want it or not. You are either for Obamacare, or you are against ANY reform whatsoever.  Those are the only two options. Further, if you are not for Obamacare, it is because you are a racist.  Or because you hate poor people.  Or because you're greedy. Or because you've been duped by some republican conspiracy movement. It couldn't possibly be for any legitimate reason; there could not possibly BE a reason to be against anything the progressives come up with. It's exactly this type of arrogant elitism that is pissing people off.