'Give us the public option!'
Can rising poll numbers for a government-sponsored health insurance plan be trusted?
The eye-grabbing news from a CBS/New York Times poll: Almost three-quarters of Americans "support a government-sponsored health care plan." A similar ABC/Washington Post poll puts the figure at 57 percent. Has the demand for a public option really turned a corner?
No, the ABC/Post poll was "rigged": The reality, say the editorial writers at The Wall Street Journal, "is that no one wants a public option except the political Left ... doctors and hospitals hate the idea as much as insurers do—and they're far from natural allies."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Perhaps, but no one wants to fund the public option: Voter support won’t make one iota of difference to the Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, and other groups with a financial interest, says Rick Newman of U.S. News. "Hardly anybody has offered to pay a fair share." This battle makes Americans look like "kindergartners running up to a table of cookies, each determined to grab more than he's been apportioned."
"The healthcare-reform hypocrisy sweepstakes"
This isn’t news, except in Washington: Support among voters has risen less that the Post’s breathless coverage suggests, says Timothy Noah on Slate, but maybe the Senate will finally notice. A common misapprehension in D.C. is that "the priorities of any random grouping of elected officials reflects the views of 'the American people.'" That isn't true ...."
"Sun rises in the East, sets in the West"
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Will California's EV mandate survive Trump, SCOTUS challenge?
Today's Big Question The Golden State's climate goal faces big obstacles
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
'Underneath the noise, however, there’s an existential crisis'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
2024: the year of distrust in science
In the Spotlight Science and politics do not seem to mix
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published