Contrary To RW Talking Points - Massachusett's "State’s health system popular" Per Globe

[TomCADem]

There are some folks who have working overtime spreading Republican talking points about how unpopular and ineffective health care reform was in Massachusetts, and the proposal to nationalize MA flawed system is weighing against Coakley. Indeed, some DUers are virtually rooting for Coakley to fail to validate their kill the bill arguments. However, this line of argument is based on the RW fantasy that Massachusetts residents would support the repeal of their health care system:

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/09/28/support_for_mass_health_insurance_overhaul_drops_but_is_still_strong/

Public support for Massachusetts’ closely watched health insurance overhaul has slipped over the past year, a new poll indicates, but residents still support the path-breaking 2006 law by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Amid a severe recession that has led to cuts in state programs and unrelenting job losses, 59 percent of those surveyed said they favored the state’s multimillion-dollar insurance initiative, down from 69 percent a year ago. The poll, by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe, found that opposition to the law stands at 28 percent, up slightly from 22 percent in a June 2008 survey.

Percolating throughout the poll findings is a gnawing concern over rising health care costs, suggesting that support could erode further if the state fails to slow the growth of medical spending.

With key features of the state law at the heart of the blistering national health care debate in Congress, architects and observers of the Massachusetts plan say the poll findings indicate that a national overhaul is not only possible, but politically viable.

“Three years in operation, and with 97 percent of people covered, you have a majority of support, and that is a lesson for Washington,’’ said Robert J. Blendon, a health policy professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the poll’s co-director.

The poll found that 79 percent of those surveyed wanted the law to continue, though a majority said there should be some changes, with cost reductions cited as the single most important change that needs to be made.

Only 11 percent of state residents favored repealing the law, similar to last year’s finding.

Again, why do so many DUers happen to repeat RW talking points that are demonstrably contrary to fact, particularly this frequent Fox News talking point. Heck, even John McCain used MA health care system to claim that Romney was a liberal.

[TomCADem]

1. So Odd That A Post Attacking A RW Talking Point Gets Un-Recc'd

Fox News frequently rips on Massachusetts health care system setting up a false version of it as a straw man and proxy for President Obama's efforts to reform health care nation wide. This post simply undermines these talking points with facts, yet it gets un-rec'd.

Where are the Democrats on DU? Instead, we have folks almost cheering for the Republican in the Massachusett's Senate race. The most highly rec'd threads on the greatest threads are often highly critical of Democrats, and posters that are supportive of Democrats are attacked as being cheerleaders, Kool-Aid drinkers, and corporatists.

It is hard to compete with the Anti-Democratic DUers who rarely post anything positive about any actual Democrats, except when those Democrats attack fellow Democrats. Still, call me naive, but I still see DU as a place for Democrats to hang around, and if you hate all of our electeds or even most of them, then you have to ask why you are in the party and on a board entitled "Democratic Underground."

[Truth2Tell]

2. Your post is a right wing talking point.

Maybe you should ask the people who are forced to participate in the Mass program how they like it instead of the entire population of the state. Here's a hint: They fucking hate it. And they won't be voting for the guy who created it. The rest of those happy citizens of Mass may generally support it, but they won't alter their voting behavior because of it. So despite your right-wing talking point poll, the plan has been a big fat political loser for its creators, just like Obama's InsuranceCartelCare promises to be.

[TomCADem]

3. My Post Is Based An Actual Source and Study. What is Your Post Based On? The WSJ?

Is this another case of a "liberal" being so left, that they are right?

Here is the WSJ attacking MA's health care system:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123060332638041525.html

Mr. Daschle's model is Massachusetts. But Massachusetts's plan is an unfolding disaster and demonstrates how Mr. Daschle's private/public model is merely a stalking horse for government-dominated health care.

The headline claim is that the program has signed up 442,000 more people for health insurance. The reality is that 80,000 of these were simply put on Medicaid and 176,000 more on the taxpayer-subsidized plans. Costs have exploded, requiring additional tax hikes and the entire system is only possible due to sizable transfers from the federal government. The plans are so unaffordable that in 2007, 62,000 people were exempted from the individual mandate. So much for universal coverage.

The only way the Massachusetts plan will survive is with continued and increasing federal subsidies -- that is, tax revenue from the residents of other states. The only way Mr. Daschle's proposed plan would survive is with massive deficit spending -- that is, with taxpayer money from future Americans, many of whom are not yet born.

Here once again is the story I cited:

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/09/28/support_for_mass_health_insurance_overhaul_drops_but_is_still_strong/

Public support for Massachusetts’ closely watched health insurance overhaul has slipped over the past year, a new poll indicates, but residents still support the path-breaking 2006 law by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Amid a severe recession that has led to cuts in state programs and unrelenting job losses, 59 percent of those surveyed said they favored the state’s multimillion-dollar insurance initiative, down from 69 percent a year ago. The poll, by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe, found that opposition to the law stands at 28 percent, up slightly from 22 percent in a June 2008 survey.

Percolating throughout the poll findings is a gnawing concern over rising health care costs, suggesting that support could erode further if the state fails to slow the growth of medical spending.

With key features of the state law at the heart of the blistering national health care debate in Congress, architects and observers of the Massachusetts plan say the poll findings indicate that a national overhaul is not only possible, but politically viable.

“Three years in operation, and with 97 percent of people covered, you have a majority of support, and that is a lesson for Washington,’’ said Robert J. Blendon, a health policy professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the poll’s co-director.

The poll found that 79 percent of those surveyed wanted the law to continue, though a majority said there should be some changes, with cost reductions cited as the single most important change that needs to be made.

Only 11 percent of state residents favored repealing the law, similar to last year’s finding.

So, who is reciting RW talking points again?

[Truth2Tell]

4. Are you able to see the world in more dimensions than just two? nt