Poll: People Are Hanging In There

There was an interesting CNN poll released yesterday, in the middle of all the health-care controversy, with teabaggers and birthers, Congressmen shouting out insults in Congress, death panels and talk about euthanizing grandma -- you have to wonder, what do people really think is going on?

I'm going to skip to the questions that interest me, you might want to go to the SUMMARY or the the survey RESULTS for more information.

First of all, people do approve of how the new guy is handling his job, 58 to 40 percent. It's not what it was, but he's a popular President. When asked about whether he had handled particular things well, majorities approved of his handling of The economy 54%; Foreign affairs 58%; Health care policy 51%; and even Taxes 51%. Only 46% liked how he was doing with the federal budget deficit.

Fifty one percent of Americans favor his health plan, which isn't a great majority but it's good enough. Most people think their costs will go up, and more people thought that senior citizens would be worse off under the health plan than better off.

Here was a good one. In reacting to President Obama's health care proposals, do you think the Republicans are generally offering constructive criticism, or are they being obstructionist for mostly political reasons? Thirty five percent said "Constructive," 61% said "Obstructionist," and 5% had no opinion. So while it seems that the Republicans might be largely succeeding at undermining the President's plan, they aren't winning any points for themselves.

Okay, to tell you the truth, here's the question that got my attention in the first place, the "death panel" question: If Obama's plan became law, do you think senior citizens or seriously-ill patients would die because government panels would prevent them from getting the medical treatment they needed? "Would happen" 41%; "Would not happen" 57%; "No opinion" 2%.

So while you can say, glass-half-full, that "most people" understand there will not be death panels, more than four out of ten do believe it.

When you walk down the street into a stream of faces, people going to work, people worrying about their kids, their mortgages, the Redskins, getting enough fiber, whether their breath smells okay today, you can figure that nearly every other one of those people thinks that the Obama health plan will include death panels of bureaucrats who will decide whether senior citizens are productive enough to deserve medical attention.

Another one, the "socialist" question: If Obama's plan became law, do you think the federal government would or would not eventually take over all aspects of the country's health care system?

Fifty five percent said it Would happen; 42% said it Would not happen; 2% had no opinion. Call that a success for the insurance industry's propaganda machine.

In other questions, 47% think the health plan would provide insurance to illegal aliens, compared to 49% who think it would not, and 74% thought the health plan would increase the federal budget deficit, while 24% thought it would not.

To my mind, that's a good public opinion question, and a clear result. People expect this health plan will be expensive.

Two more. I think these are fascinating, especially taken together.

During that address, a Republican member of the U.S. House shouted that Obama had lied while Obama was speaking. Do you think that was appropriate behavior or inappropriate behavior?

Fifteen percent of people thought that was Appropriate, 85% said Inappropriate. That's clear, and quite refreshing, people still want their government to be run with dignity.

And then the related question: And just your best guess -- based on what you have read or heard about that address, do you think Obama lied while he was speaking to Congress on Wednesday night, or don't you think so?

Thirty two percent thought he had lied, 60% thought he had not, with 8% no opinion.

The important lesson from these last two questions is that a tiny minority felt it was okay to yell "You lie" at the President of the United States when he is addressing a joint session of Congress, but a not-so-tiny minority thought maybe he was actually lying. That means that there are a lot of people who are level-headed enough to want to preserve decorum even in a situation where they agree with the opinion that was shouted out.

It is shocking that so many people accept the "death panel" and "socialist" frames, but in general this poll reflects a fair-minded population that wants to see the debate managed coolly and intelligently and is being assaulted by outrageous propaganda.