Sunday, July 15, 2012

Majority of Florida voters still oppose ObamaCare, half want repeal, 7/13/12

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Poll of 800 registered Fla. voters, conducted July 9-11, 2012. "Independent voters oppose it by 55%....Only 39% of voters aged 65 or older support the law."

7/13/12, "Most Floridians still oppose federal Affordable Care Act health reform law," Tampa Bay Times (formerly St. Petersburg Times), Alex Leary (scroll down after pie charts for text)

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A majority of Florida voters oppose the national health care law and half want it repealed, a new Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll shows two weeks after President Barack Obama's signature achievement was largely upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Only 43 percent of voters statewide support the Affordable Care Act and 52 percent oppose it, with 5 percent undecided.

  • With the exception of southeast Florida,

more voters think the law will make the health care system worse.

More voters also favor the state opting out of provisions of the law, something Gov. Rick Scott has already said it would do.

And 50 percent want to see Republicans follow through on their vow to repeal the law, with 43 percent saying it should remain.

In perhaps the most worrisome sign for Obama and Democrats, only 39 percent of voters 65 years or older support the law. Seniors make up about 30 percent of the overall state's electorate.

"Florida voters didn't like it a year ago, two years ago (and) they still don't like it," said pollster Brad Coker. "There's nothing there that suggests health care is a winner for Obama's people."

Obama has played down the law on the campaign trail, saying the country is ready to move past the divisive debate of two years ago, but the poll illustrates the opportunity for GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to continue calls for the law's repeal.

Romney's "more effective trying to make health care one of the reasons the economy is doing poorly," Coker said, noting that some insurers have already raised premiums in advance of the law taking full effect.

"They're going to require all these people to have insurance, and they won't be able to afford it and they won't pay it, and I'll have to pay for them," said Republican voter Randy Gaskins, 57, a firefighter and paramedic in Gainesville. "I'm working two jobs to keep my head above water. I can't afford this."

The telephone survey of 800 registered Florida voters — all likely to vote in the November general election — was conducted July 9-11 for the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, Bay News 9 and Central Florida News 13. The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon, a nonpartisan, Jacksonville-based company. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.

The results mirror surveys in other states and show the same entrenched partisan feelings. Among Florida Democrats, 76 percent support the law; among Republicans 86 percent oppose. Independent voters oppose it by 55 percent, with 9 percent still undecided.

Support for "Obamacare" exceeded 50 percent only in southeast Florida, with 53 percent. Tampa Bay had the lowest support, with 36 percent, though the strongest opposition came from conservative North Florida, where 61 percent oppose the law.

More women than men, 48 percent to 38 percent, favor the law and support was highest among voters age 18-34, with 57 percent. Fifty-two percent of Hispanic voters support it, while 86 percent of African-American voters do.

"We've got to do something in this country for our people," said Pam Reynolds, 56 of Panama City, who had been unable to afford insurance and was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She said she was saved by being enrolled in Medicaid. The struggling economy has made her question voting for Obama again but when told Romney wants to repeal the new health care law, which would help millions of people like her, she changed her mind.

Obama and his allies have been criticized for poorly selling the public on the need for a broad overhaul of the health care system and reasoned that as more people understand the benefits, approval will rise. But two years after Obama signed the bill into law, there's been little sign of that. Republicans captured the emotion and the Supreme Court decision two weeks ago has reignited that passion.

Already, millions of dollars in TV ads, some of them misleading or false, have crowed the airwaves in Florida and opponents show no sign of letting up."...

  • [Ed. note: The reporter may be confused. Taxpayers have been forced to pay many millions of dollars for publicity to sell the ObamaCare Tax plan to themselves. A $20 million taxpayer funded PR campaign is running this summer. Mass media outlets give Obama millions of dollars in free favorable publicity around the clock. As the reporter describes in the next paragraph, Republicans have actually favored this kind of bill in the past. The truth is the GOP has no intention of repealing ObamaCare no matter what soundbites they've put out recently. It's the people alone who've kept emotion alive about this fraud.]

(continuing, Tampa Bay Times): "The heart of the law is the individual mandate which requires most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a fee or tax. Though the mandate originated in conservative circles and is part of the Massachusetts health care law enacted while Romney was governor, Romney and other Republicans have cast it a broad encroachment on personal liberty.

The high court upheld the mandate under the taxing authority of the federal government.

But the court invalidated penalties states would face for not implementing other changes of the law. Those include establishing a Web-based marketplace where people can shop for insurance, or defer to a federal program, and expanding Medicaid to reduce the number of uninsured residents. In Florida about 3.8 million people, or 21 percent, lack coverage.

The poll shows 49 percent of voters think the state should opt out of the optional provisions, with 45 saying it should comply. Scott has already said the state will not set up the insurance exchanges or expand Medicaid, contending it would be too costly, even though the federal government would pay the entire cost for a few years and most of it afterward."...

  • [Ed. note: "Even though the federal government would pay the entire cost..."? Mr. Reporter, it's not the federal government who pays, it's millions of taxpayers, it's our money, much of which will be wasted on bureaucrats, new agencies, new paper pushers, new tax collectors. The federal government has no money until it takes it from someone.]

(continuing, Tampa Bay Times): "Alan Reichwein, 55, who owns an indoor foliage nursery in Eustis, in Central Florida, said he opposes the law because of how it would affect his business. He currently has just over 50 employees, the threshold in which businesses must offer insurance or face penalties under the law.

"I cannot afford to be larger than 50 employees because the health care burden would be too large for me," said Reichwein, a Republican. "I don't want a law that forces me to provide benefits if I cannot afford to supply them.

He said he currently provides half of his employee's health insurance while they chip in the other half. A lot of them decline because they don't want to pay the other 50 percent.

"There's a lot of good intention with these laws," said Reichwein. "But their employer did provide health care (and) they either couldn't afford it or didn't want it.""

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Senator Max Baucus freely admits ObamaCare is about income redistribution. Baucus says it's "an income shift" to make up for recent "mal-distribution of income in America:"

3/26/10, "Baucus Admits True Goals of Obamacare: Redistributing Wealth," Townhall.com, M. Jessup, C-Span transcript

"“[The health care bill] is also an income shift. It's a shift--a leveling--to help lower-income to middle-income Americans. Too often, much of late, the last couple three years the mal-distribution of income in America has gone up way too much, the wealthy are getting way, way too wealthy, and the middle income class is left behind. Wages have not kept up with increased income of the highest income in America. This legislation will have the effect of addressing that mal-distribution of income in America.”

Update: The New York Times today also highlights the health care legislation and President Obama for attacking "wealth inequality.""

(Ed. note: If Baucus wants to make society more equal, why doesn't he start with himself and give up his gold plated health plan paid for by middle class taxpayers who themselves are forced into a cattle call plan?)

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Ed. note: Word has already come down since ObamaCare passed that mammograms and pap tests for women should be cut back ("will save billions"), and PSA prostate tests for men are useless and dangerous. The US has already made clear lives will be lost and they will be older Americans. People in these articles acknowledge this but do nothing about it. They admit thousands of Americans will die prematurely for not having had a mammogram, pap smear, or PSA test--this is out in the open, as are much worse statistics in places like the UK. Recent media quotes of GOP members saying they'll repeal ObamaCare are garbage. They have no intention of repealing it.

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5/21/12, "Task force: PSA tests do more harm than good," CNN, The Chart blog

"The United States Preventive Services Task Force issued their final recommendation on the PSA prostate cancer-screening test Monday, recommending against routine PSA exams for men of any age."...

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"The recommendations, which help shape how doctors practice..." "No benefit to self-exams." Women 50-74 should only get mammograms "every other year," not every year.

11/17/2009, "Report: Mammograms may not be needed until age 50," USA Today, Liz Szabo

"Most women don't need to get mammograms until they reach age 50, according to a controversial new report that recommends that far fewer women undergo the breast cancer screenings.

For years, mammograms have been recommended every year or two for women beginning at age 40.

The American Cancer Society voiced its displeasure with the new recommendations. "The task force is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them," Otis Brawley, the society's chief medical officer, said in a statement. About 17% of breast cancer deaths occurred in women who were diagnosed in their 40s, he said."...

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"Billions of dollars will be saved." "Mammograms are of greater benefit to older women." (Oops, wrong age group).


11/17/2009, "Panel Urges Mammograms at 50, Not 40," NY Times, G. Kolata

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Cut back on pap tests, too:

10/19/11, "Task Force Recommends Women Get Fewer Pap Tests," ABC News, M. Conley

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Ed. note: "No benefit to self-exams?" They want you to die so badly they tell you not to self-exam. Men's PSA test "does more harm than good?" This is called "eugenics." They don't want old people around. Per Tom Brokaw, old people are racist:

6/6/2008, Tom Brokaw: "Younger people especially are much, much more colorblind than their elders are."...

"NBC Anchors Get Choked Up About Obama Nomination," Tom Brokaw on Obama beating Hillary Clinton

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5/18/12, "Porter picked by HHS to conduct $20m campaign," prweekus.com

"The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has selected Porter Novelli to launch a national
multimedia education campaign mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

The contract is worth $20 million. The organization selected the firm after an RFP process that included Weber Shandwick and Fleishman-Hillard.

The campaign will inform the American people about the many preventive benefits now available to those with Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act,” a representative from the Department of Health & Human Services said. "

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5/22/12, "Better PR Won't Save ObamaCare," IBD editorial

"The Obama administration just inked a $20 million deal with PR firm Porter Novelli to help promote ObamaCare. Why do they need to promote a law that was supposed to get more popular once it passed?"...

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Ed. note: My insurance added $250 a month to my plan over a year ago so I canceled. Surely much more has been added since then. I've learned that "having insurance" is a completely different thing from "having healthcare." You can waste time getting written pre-approval from them for something then afterwards they simply don't pay. At most you get an email saying, 'that's right, we don't pay.' I plan never again to have 'health insurance.' Oh yes, for thousands more a year I was to pay them, they added new benefits like discounts for Jenny Craig, discounts for certain health clubs, etc. I have no need of either of these services but it was decided that I must pay thousands a year so someone else can get "discounts" at Jenny Craig.


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