Lots to wade through here and it is clear that the President's lofty early numbers are beginning to become more realistic. He remains very popular personally, but his policies and actions are beginning to be more closely scrutinized by the public. The decline in his numbers is starkest among independents, the large muddle in the middle that determines Presidential elections.
Republicans must continue to target centrist/right of center leaning independents who went Obama's way in 2008. On health care, the path to victory and legislative power is in presenting these voters with a reasonable program for reforming health care that does not threaten the care they already have. Insuring more of the uninsured would be nice, but not necessary.
Health care reform is one area I am anxiously awaiting to hear comments on in this blog, as well as the ideas put forth by both parties... it happens to be an area that I believe must be addressed or else it will continue to plague this country and our people because of the number of folks who simply do not have health care for one reason or another.
ReplyDeleteWahooligan--I don't think you'll find much here to quench your thirst...from my perspective, the number of people who don't have health insurance is way overblown, puffed up as it is by 1) illegal aliens, 2) people who can afford health insurance but do not buy it 3) people who decline their employer provided care and 4) people who are eligible for existing government health care but who have not signed up.
ReplyDeleteThere is a group of people, in the millions, for whom persistent lack of coverage is a problem. I'd like to see more thought put into that. But destroying the current system in order to ensure "everyone" is a bad idea. There are lots of good ideas about how to reform the system on Keithhennessy.com if you'd like a conservative's view of the subject.