Despite the President’s straw men who don’t want health-care reform now or ever, most of us do want something done. We just don’t want the system overhauled in a drastic way that changes the nature of our country. We’d like to see small changes on a gradual basis. In a piece entitled “Fierce Urgency for Jobs, Not Health-Care,” Byron York lays it out:
But the American people simply do not share Obama’s sense of urgency about health care reform. In a new poll, the Gallup organization asked the following question: “If Congress is going to reform the health care system, should Congress deal with health care reform on a gradual basis over several years, or should Congress try to pass a comprehensive health care reform plan this year?” Just 38 percent of those surveyed want reform now, versus a clear majority — 58 percent — who want reform on a gradual basis.
When you break Gallup’s results down by political party, you see that Democrats are the only ones feeling any urgency at all. Fifty-nine percent of Democrats want reform now, but 77 percent of Republicans, and 63 percent of independents, want gradual reform. When it comes to health care reform, there is no fierce urgency of now.
The real urgency of now for the administration: The more the public knows about current health-care proposals, the less it likes them.