Despite numerous polls [1] that clearly demonstrate that the American people don't want the type of health care "reform" that the Democrats have proposed, Obama has indicated (yet again) that he's undeterred and will push forward to try and get it passed.
As for that pesky public opinion, Obama continues to attribute it to a "lack of understanding" on the part of the public. They just need to do a better job of communicating he says. Of course, this is the President who has "communicated" with the American people more than any other President in history at this point in an administration, (with at least 29 high profile speeches dedicated to his health care plans).
At a New Hampshire town hall meeting (yet another in the record number of communication attempts), Obama stated [2]:
“We just have to make sure that we move methodically and that the American
people understand what’s in the bill,” Obama said.“What I will not do is to stop working on this issue because it is the right
thing to do for America,” Obama said. “You got to let your
members of Congress know they shouldn't give up.”
But now there's a new twist. Obama told a recent gathering of the Democrat National Committee that Congress should push for a "new" plan, meaning they should review the current plan, then get public input, saying [3]:
"It's important to have a methodical open process over the next several weeks, then let's go ahead and make a decision..."
All of which sounds a little familiar, given his numerous promises during his 2008 campaign that the plan would be put together in the light of day (see multiple videos of that pledge here [4]). Obama famously stated [5]:
"I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have
doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies,
drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be
able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the
negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making
arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments
on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so,
that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay
involved in this process."
Which, after being confronted with those words by Republicans , the press - and even CSPAN [6], he's had to admit it didn't happen and that it was a "mistake [7]". So now he wants a 2.0 version of the health care debate. And THIS time he PROMISES it will be open for everyone to see. But one has to wonder whether or not he would feel the same way if Congress had actually passed ObamaCare into law. Would he still feel it was a "mistake" that the process of passing a bill that reformed over 1/6th of the economy too place largely behind closed doors? Doubtful.
And of course all of this talk conveniently ignores the overwhelming "public input" over the course of the past year as people learned more about the details of ObamaCare, as in public opinion polls and election results from Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. The latest Rasmussen poll [1] on the issue shows 61% of Americans want Congress to just drop the issue.
So how do some of the key Democrat members of Congress feel on the issue:
We plan to do healthcare this year, and we plan to do it as
quick as we can,” Reid said Tuesday. ...“I don’t think you’ll find much enthusiasm, but there
are people who believe it has to be done, whether it’s with enthusiasm
or not,” said Sen. Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat. “The
debate has become so polarized and so divisive that people are saying,
‘We’ve got to revisit this, but it will be out of a sense
of obligation.’ ”“We’ve spent a lot of time on this last year, and my sense
is that most senators would like to move on to other subjects like
jobs and the economy,” added Democrat Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
“But it depends on what form it comes back in.”
Note the lack of enthusiasm to keep up the fight from Democrats in red/purple states.
In the end, they are the key to whether or not anything happens on this issue. And there's a pretty good chance that they've had enough of it for now.
Links:
[1] http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform
[2] http://www.lifenews.com/nat5958.html
[3] http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obama-looks-for-a-way-out-of-health-care-jam-83654907.html
[4] http://www.breitbart.tv/the-c-span-lie-did-obama-really-promise-televised-healthcare-negotiations/
[5] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/517/health-care-reform-public-sessions-C-SPAN/
[6] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/05/c-span-challenges-congress-open-health-care-talks-tv-coverage/
[7] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/02/obama-acknowledges-broken-c-span-promise/