Jennifer Rubin blogs about a fascinating poll at Gallup, showing that Americans overwhelmingly believe individuals ”rather than the government — have the primary responsibility for ensuring that they have health insurance.”  Rubin breaks down the numbers for us:

By a huge 62 to 35 percent margin, Democrats say it’s the government’s. Republicans believe the opposite—by an 89 to 10 percent margin, they say it is up to individuals. What’s remarkable is that independents are far closer to Republicans: by 64 to 34 percent, they maintain that the responsibility lies with individuals. By a 61 to 37 percent margin, Americans overall also say it is the individual’s responsibility, not the government’s.

Another Gallup question yielded a seemingly contradictory result, “54% of Americans” believe “it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage”.  While that number is the lowest in “Gallup trends,” it still is a majority.

I note the absence of the word, “insurance” in that second question.  Perhaps, it’s that Americans want to make sure that there is a social safety net, that we do care for the less fortunate.  It is striking that the number has significantly declined (by 10 full points) since Obama’s election.  Maybe now that the national debate has turned to health care, people realize that the cost of that coverage is increased government regulation.  As a result, they are less certain it is the government’s responsibility.

Perhaps the solution is something that I don’t see much discussed in the current debate, health insurance vouchers.  The problem here is how to pay for them with a government already severely in debt.

Still, the first poll shows why, despite poll numbers showing decreasing support for Obamacare, the Democrats are still pushing a statist approach–it’s what their constituents demand.

We’ve got a Democratic Congressman saying on the floor of the United States House of Representatives (of all places) that Republicans want sick people to die and a prominent New York Times columnist lamenting the hateful tactics of a few extreme right-wingers while talking heads on CNN nod their heads in solemn agreement.

This is the Orwellian universe in which we find ourselves when left-wing bloggers and their echo chamber in the mainstream media decry in high dudgeon the extremists of the far right as if they represent the conservative opposition to President Obama and the Democrats’ policies.  I wonder if Mr. Friedman ever assumed such a tone — or used such language — to decry the hateful rhetoric coming from the left side of the political aisle during the better part of the George W. Bush era.  (If he did, I would take his column a lot more seriously today.)

Rep. Alan Grayson claims he has looked at the GOP health care plans and found it has three planks, (1) Don’t Get Sick, (2) and if you do get sick, (3) Die quickly.  Yeah, he actually said, “the Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.”  Here’s the video if you don’t believe me.

I wonder if the leader of his party in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has concerns about the language Mr. Grayson used, you know, suggesting his partisan opponents want people to die.   And I wonder if he’s read any of the 30 or so Republican bills introduced in the House alone.  While Rep. John Larson (D-CT), “chairman of the House Democratic Caucus is calling on” Grayson to apologize, the soon-to-be former Congressman refused to do so, offering to “apologize to the dead“.

I’m sure Mr. Friedman’s next column will focus on Grayson’s disturbing and dangerous rhetoric.