Why Obamacare is tanking, but bailout & “stimulus” got through
Responding to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s statement about delaying a vote on Obamacare because the Democrat supposedly wants “a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through,” Michelle Malkin offered:
Gee, if only they had that attitude before they jammed through all the bailouts, the porkulus, and the House cap and tax bill!
As I read her commentary, something stuck me about the failure of Democrats to ram through yet another high-cost spending bill: people are paying attention, more so than Democrats thought they would be during the summer.
On the “stimulus,” people gave the president the benefit of the doubt; we Americans cut our our new chief executives some slack in their first months in office. We want them to succeed and trust they have the right solutions to our problems. But, as people became aware of the cost of this president’s programs (and contrasted them with his campaign promise of a “net spending cut“), they began to balk.
And maybe the “Tea Parties” helped remind them they were not alone with their concerns.
Whatever the case, people are paying attention now and are not too happy with the cost of the President’s progams–and the speed of their drafting and deliberation.
UPDATE: Byron York (via Instapundit) makes a similar point:
That diminished trust can be traced directly to the stimulus. When Obama and his Democratic allies pushed it through Congress, they spoke constantly of “crisis” and warned of “catastrophe” if their bill was not passed. So the public, ready to give the new president a chance, supported him, even though the stimulus spent billions on the pet projects of Democratic lawmakers.
Now, to judge by the polls, a lot of people view things differently. In the latest Gallup survey, 64 percent say the stimulus has had no effect at all on their family’s financial situation. Twenty-two percent say it has made their financial situation worse. Just 14 percent say it has made their situation better. Even when asked to predict the long term, more people say the stimulus will have no effect or make the economy worse than say it will make the economy better.
The stimulus has also pushed the issue of the deficit near the top of the public’s concerns at precisely the time the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that Obamacare would make the nation’s rising debt worse, not better. “Our annual deficit this year [is bigger] than all of the previous five years combined,” says Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “We saw what happened when some rushed and spent a trillion dollars on an artificial deadline with the stimulus. The American people don’t want the same mistake to be made again.”
Read the whole thing!
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Translation: they are figuring out whom they need to target, scapegoat, blame, lie about and/or bully in order to force the legislation through exactly as it is.
Comment by American Elephant — July 24, 2009 @ 6:08 am - July 24, 2009
It’s interesting. First the message is “Screw you guys, we’re gonna do it NOW!”. After making an arse of himself, last night, and pissing off the country’s police officers, the message is “Or later is good too!”
Can we change the abbreviation to DAOTUS?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — July 24, 2009 @ 6:20 am - July 24, 2009
I think with the stimulus, people thought “well, some stimulus is needed, and we need it quickly.” Of course, it was awful, and even at the time it seemed awful to people like us. Even so, the average American probably saw little downside to the stimulus. Healthcare is different. People want certain aspects of the healthcare system fixed (cost control, coverage of pre-existing conditions), but for most Americans, their own healthcare is far from broken, and they understand how government tends to turn everything it touches to you know what, and they don’t want that happening with their own healthcare. Debts from stupid stimulus packages can be paid off later (however painfully), but dismantling our current healthcare system would basically be a permanent thing.
I think there’s also the arrogant, impatient attitude of Pres. Obama on this, that it basically has to be done his way and done soon. Americans are right to distrust people who would make radical changes to their lives in a quick, poorly explained way.
Maybe the American people were always going to allow Pres. Obama and Congress one big screwup. In that case, I’m sure glad they started with the stimulus and not healthcare.
Comment by chad — July 24, 2009 @ 8:19 am - July 24, 2009
It’s fortunate the the Obamacrats are as greedy and stupid as they are. If they had been more incremental, they would have had an easier time implementing their agenda.
And having their loud-mouth narcissist president spouting off ignorantly about “stupid” cops is also unhelpful.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2009 @ 8:40 am - July 24, 2009
I think the main reason Obama and Congress are having so much trouble with health care is that the American people are starting to realize that–we’re broke! When the deficit recently passed $1 trillion for the first time, just halfway into the year, and the national debt approached $12 trillion, people sat up and noticed! Obama’s political capital seems to have ended with the passage of the “stimulus” bill. I predict he will get no additional spending approved this year, on health care, cap-and-trade, or anything else.
Comment by Scott Spiegel — July 24, 2009 @ 11:26 am - July 24, 2009
So Obamateleprompter goes and has his fourth prime time press conference (it took Bush 43 8 years to have that many) and his poll ratings DECLINE. Support for Obamacare DECLINES! The Democrats hammer the CIA, hammer the local cops, demonize health insurance companies, doctors….whew.
When is the next election?
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — July 24, 2009 @ 11:59 am - July 24, 2009
The $800 Billion dollar “stimulus ” pork bill…..
25% say it has helped the economy, 31% say it has HURT!!
Any wonder why viewership of Obamateleprompters press conference was down another 14%? He’s losing the country, after just 6 months.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — July 24, 2009 @ 12:01 pm - July 24, 2009
The Bloom is off the rose.
They just are not listening in Washington they don’t have their ear to the ground. The Natives are restless and they can’t hear the drumbeats.
http://logisticsmonster.com/2009/07/24/the-dc-circus-surrounding-obama-deathcare/
Comment by keyboard jockey — July 24, 2009 @ 12:58 pm - July 24, 2009
I hope everyone concerned about Obamacare has taken the time to let their congressperson, regardless of party, know that they will be held accountable come 2010. Jerry McNerney is hearing from me everyday, by email and by phone call to his local office. We need to hit the blue dogs, and hard.
Comment by John in Dublin, CA — July 24, 2009 @ 1:12 pm - July 24, 2009
8. The Natives are restless…no doubt. With the casino boom on many of the Indian Reservations in the USA, many of the people who will be taxed at a higher rate could very well be Natives….LOL!!!
Comment by Duffy - Native Intelligence — July 25, 2009 @ 1:28 am - July 25, 2009
Most people are beginning to wake up. It´s a case of fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Comment by Roberto — July 25, 2009 @ 11:52 am - July 25, 2009