Not As Dumb As You Look

Gallup's poll is evidence, first, that the public is closely divided on health-care reform, and second, that many of those in opposition do not know that much about the bill. (Ezra Klein, Washington Post, 3/9/2010)

This is the successor line of reasoning used by liberals to describe why the public is opposed to the health care bill. The previous approach – the people are stupid – was insulting and, of course, did not work. So now we have this kinder, gentler insult: that the people just don’t really know what is in the bill. Yesterday’s RedStateVT post quoted Speaker Pelosi bemoaning the obfuscating fog surrounding the bill. Well, we guess that’s one of the downsides of writing a 2400 page bill. Not even the politicians know what is in it.

Here are a couple of things that the average American does either know or believe about the bill:

--Multi-hundred million dollar “incentives” were offered to several Democrats to get them to vote in favor of the bill. Most people don’t think that is fair.

--Under this bill, everyone in the country will be forced to buy health insurance or will face monetary fines or jail. Most people don’t think that is fair.

--The bill will target eliminating “waste and fraud” in the health care system. Most people wonder why – if that is so easy – it hasn’t been done previously. Therefore, most people are skeptical that these savings are real.

--Most people know that wealthy foreigners often come to the U.S. to get treatment, but that no American ever goes outside the country – ever – to get health care. This makes people skeptical about claims by supporters of the health care bill.

These are just a few of the things that people “know” about the bill and this explains why they are against it.