Topic: Its over disapproval handling health care jumped 52 percent
Author
Post
twotap F L I N T O I D
WASHINGTON – Public disapproval of President Barack Obama's handling of health care has jumped to 52 percent, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released hours before he makes his case for overhaul in a prime-time address to Congress.
With his health revamp moving slowly and unemployment edging ever higher, Obama's overall approval rating has also suffered a blow. The survey showed that 49 percent now disapprove of how he is handling his job as president, up from 42 percent who disapproved in July.
The grade people give Obama on health care also has worsened since July, when just 43 percent disapproved of his work on the issue.
The poll underscores how the president has struggled to win public support to reshape the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system and to put the brakes on a deep recession.
Forty-nine percent say they oppose the health overhaul plans being considered by Congress, compared to just 34 percent who favor them.
People are about evenly split over what lawmakers should do now on health care: About four in 10 say they should keep trying to pass a bill this year while about the same number say they should start over again.
Significantly, though, only about two in 10 say the health care system should be left as is.
There is a clear public desire for a bipartisan approach on the issue. Eight in 10 say it's important that any plan that passes Congress should have the support of both parties, while two-thirds want Obama and Democrats to try winning support from Republicans, who with few exceptions have opposed the Democratic drive.
Obama's marks are also poor on the economy, with 52 percent saying they disapprove of how he's handled that issue.
A similar number disapprove of his handling of taxes, some of which may rise to help finance his health overhaul. And 56 percent dislike his handling of the budget deficit, which has skyrocketed under the costs of the financial bailouts and a recession that has caused sinking federal revenues.
The survey of 1,001 adults with cell and landline telephones was conducted from Sept. 3-8. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
_________________ even a small act of goodness may be a tiny raft of salvation across the treacherous gulf of sin, but one who drinks the wine of selfishness, and dances on the little boat of meaness, sinks in the ocean of ignorance.
P.Y.
This will probably be too much for the libs on this forum to grasp but here is exactly whats going on with Obamas healthcare fiasco and the illegals.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supporters of so-called "Obamacare" point out that the measures being drafted all specifically forbid illegal aliens from gaining coverage. But conservatives say those stipulations are useless without the normal enforcement procedures which Democrats omitted.
"Obama is correct," Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, tells Newsmax. "The legislation states illegals won't get the affordability credits [to pay for their healthcare]. But Wilson's comment is correct in that the normal enforcement mechanism was excluded from the bill. I think that's the fundamental question."
Camarota's organization has estimated that due to the lack of enforcement provisions — which were specifically excluded from the legislation when it was being drafted — healthcare reform would benefit 6.6 million illegals at a cost of some $31 billion.
"In that sense it is disingenuous," Camarota tells Newsmax, "to argue that the bill is excluding illegal immigrants. I'm not going to say lie. It's disingenuous. It's not entirely correct. And that's a big deal."
Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., had offered an amendment that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving government-subsidized healthcare under the proposed plan.
The House Ways and Means Committee nixed the Heller amendment by a 26-to-15 vote along straight party lines.
Many states give illegals drivers licenses, which will be sufficient to get free healthcare under the plan.
Critics also contend that millions of illegals already have counterfeit Social Security cards or other fraudulent documents. There also is no enforcement mechanism in the legislation to prevent illegals who use fake IDs from also obtaining taxpayer-subsidized health insurance.
GOP representatives introduced the amendment to provide a way to weed out non-citizens from the program.
A description of the amendment on Heller's Web site states, "The underlying bill is insufficient for the purpose of preventing illegal aliens from accessing the bill’s proposed benefits, as it does not provide mechanisms allowing those administering the program to ensure illegal aliens cannot access taxpayer-funded subsidies and benefits."
The Heller amendment would have required that individuals applying for the public healthcare option would be subject to two systems used to verify immigration status already in use by the government: The Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program.
The two systems cross-reference Social Security numbers and employment information to establish whether an individual is a U.S. citizen.
That coverage for illegals has become an explosive issue is not surprising, considering that a recent Rasmussen Reports poll found an overwhelming 80 percent of Americans oppose covering illegals in any public healthcare bill.
Moreover, anti-immigration activists say the availability of low-cost benefits, including health insurance and in-state tuition, will only lure more immigrants to come to the United States.
Political analyst Dick Morris, in his recently released best-selling book “Catastrophe”, warns that giving illegal free healthcare will lead to a flood of new illegals who can take advantage of such a benefit not offered in their home countries.
William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, agrees with that view, stating: "Each state and federal elected official must know that illegal aliens should not be given licenses, in-state tuition, mortgages, bank accounts, welfare, or any other benefit short of emergency medical care and law enforcement accommodations before they are deported."
But a small fraction of illegals end up deported, and millions use fake IDs to easily gain access to government benefits programs.
"Experts suggest that approximately 75 percent of working-age illegal aliens use fraudulent Social Security cards to obtain employment," wrote Ronald W. Mortensen in a recent Center for Immigration Studies research paper. Mortensen says one of the big misconceptions about illegals is that they are undocumented. Many use false identification to obtain regular employment.
John Sheils of the Lewin Group, a healthcare consulting firm owned by UnitedHealth Group, recently told National Public Radio that about 6.1 million illegals — about half of all illegals in the United States — lack documentation and therefore would not be legally eligible for benefits under the current healthcare reforms.
Sheils says the other half of the nation's illegals — 5 million to 6 million — use false documents to obtain on-the-books employment. Many of them are already insured under their employers' plans, he added.
While President Obama has stated employees currently covered by their employers' plans would not be eligible for the taxpayer-subsidized "public option," they would become eligible as soon as they lose their job or if their employers drop their coverage. And Republicans say that without enforcement measures, the citizenship of those workers wouldn't matter.
"A lot of those people are getting employer health benefits as part of their compensation," Sheils told NPR.
Certainly, some contend that undocumented workers who are gainfully employed and receiving benefits such as health insurance are contributing to society. But the fact remains that, once equipped with a fake ID, a person in the United States illegally can obtain both a job and the benefits that go with it.
Estimates of the cost of providing illegals with medical care vary. Most uninsured illegals who need medical attention obtain it from hospital emergency rooms. And several states are already straining under the huge burden of paying for the health costs of illegal aliens.
One of the ironies of the proposed legislation is that it would fine American citizens who opt not to purchase insurance coverage, but would exempt illegals from such fines. This is presumably due to the fact that they are not supposed to participate in the program anyway.
Even if no illegals were likely to benefit from healthcare reform, Democrats have made it clear that amnesty is the next item on their ambitious legislative agenda anyway. Undocumented workers who obtain amnesty would almost certainly become eligible for subsidized healthcare.
"I've got to do healthcare, I've got to do energy, and then I'm looking very closely at doing immigration," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declared in June.
Reid explained the urgent need for amnesty in terms very similar to those that Democrats have used to press for healthcare reform. "We have an immigration system that's broken and needs repair," Reid said.
Rep. Wilson said Wednesday his outburst was a "spontaneous" reaction. He tried to call the president after the speech to apologize, and ended up speaking with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to head off efforts to have Wilson sanctioned. "It's time for us to talk about healthcare, not Joe Wilson," she said Wednesday. Wilson told the media he's actually for immigration, "But people who come to our country and violated our laws, we should not be providing full services."
_________________ "If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times.
Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:45 am
Dave Starr F L I N T O I D
This whole health care fiasco could be solved easily. Either every citizen gets exactly the same health care, at exactly the same out of pocket cost, as members of congress get, or members of congress get exactly the same care as the rest of the country gets.
_________________ I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos.
Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:50 am
twotap F L I N T O I D
The key word being
Citizen.
Anyone who believes the Democrats dont see all those illegals as the next bunch to "Take care of " and provide for from cradle to grave in exchange for their undying devotion and votes must be some of the dumbest people on the planet. Notice Harry Reids highpriority amnesty for illegals agenda he has planned.
_________________ "If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
