A Hollywood Republican

This blog is for an open discussion on politics. My views will be to the right as will be most of the posters. But, we are willing to post alternative viewpoints as lons as they are well thought out. I started this in response to the Obama election and will continue it as long as it feeds a need.

Feb 22, 2010

Obama's Failing Approval Rating by Craig Covello


You may remember that on January 3, this website reported the presidents approval index. The index represents the percentage of people who strongly approve of the president's performance minus the percentage of people who strongly disapprove. At the beginning of the year, the presidents approval index was in the red with a rating of -15. Just yesterday, Rasmussen reported that Obama's presidential approval has sunk to -19. It appears that this abysmal rating is directly related to America's concerns over jobs and healthcare, based upon the following statistics:

Only 33% of those surveyed think that decisions made by the government will benefit business and the economy. The majority believe that those decisions are best left to business leaders in the private sector.

Only 39% of voters nationwide favor the health care plan proposed by the Democrats.

Only 35% believe that Congress should pass health care reform before the upcoming midterm elections.

A full 78% believe that the proposed healthcare plan will cost more than projected, will increase the federal deficit and will put more taxes on middle-class Americans.

A majority of those surveyed also fear that they will be forced to change their health insurance coverage if this legislation passes.

You would think that Obama would look at these numbers and adjust the agenda of his presidency accordingly, just as Bill Clinton did during his own presidency. Well, our current president is not adjusting his agenda. In fact, he's now doubling down on it.

Today, Obama will propose the creation of yet another regulatory agency called the Health Insurance Rate Authority. Its purpose will be to review and block what it terms as excessive rate increases in health insurance industry based upon "current market conditions". This plan presupposes that enabling free-market forces will not provide the necessary checks and balances related to price. No, according to Obama this must be controlled by a centralized authority that knows what's best for consumers. The framework around this idea is based upon legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and is part of a larger resurrection of the failed Democratic health care legislation. This proposal continues to push for creation of government insurance plans, a.k.a. "the public option", as well as forcing all Americans to buy health insurance, regardless of whether they want it based upon their individual circumstance.

You may recall in Obama's State of the Union address that jobs had become the number one priority of his administration. Healthcare insurance reform wasn't even mentioned until 30 minutes into his speech, and then was given only limited mention. Many of us wanted to believe that Obama was going to focus his attention on the economy, but since then the administration has admitted that high unemployment numbers are to be expected throughout the remainder of Obama's term. Four weeks after his speech, the focus again is on healthcare.

And now it appears that the White House supports implementation of healthcare legislation using reconciliation or as some have called it "the nuclear option". This process would require only 51 votes instead of the normal 60 votes required under Senate rules. Reconciliation was introduced in 1974 in order to limit debate over adjusting specific dollar amounts in the federal budget. It was never intended to be used as a vehicle for forcing new legislation. This is clearly an abuse of power designed not only to bypass Republican senators but also the handful of Democratic senators who are similarly opposed to the proposed healthcare legislation. And of course, ultimately it's designed to bypass the will of the American people.

Apparently, Obama pays little attention to the will of American people, or to Rasmussen for that matter. If he did, perhaps he would not have a presidential approval index of -19.

More information can be found at:






Copyright 2010 by Craig Covello.  All rights reserved.  Used with Permission

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Fred said...

I truly believe this prez is narcissistic and will keep on keeping on no matter what. I also believe he will not complete even this term let alone seek reelection. I realize this is maybe far fetched but there is just something about his background that just doesn't jive in my opinion. We just have to see what the future holds for us!

February 22, 2010 at 11:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ABC George Steph. says the President has a 50% approval rating. Where is the diversity of ratings coming from? Once again the Main stream media has a different set of numbers.
Just like putting out his own plan days before a supposed FAKE bipartisan meeting for healthcare!
It is so set up and twisted. No one seems to listen on the Dem or Admin. Side! They are bent on shoving this up our behinds and down our throats no matter what!
Gammy Sparkles here!

February 23, 2010 at 4:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Elevate the dialogue, please. Benjamin Franklin said “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

The 2009 CPAC convention focused on many things such as personal responsibility, the right to fail, to pursue happiness (no right to happiness), the rights of individuals and the absence of a “right” to healthcare, housing and handouts. This does not preclude healthcare reform.

Look to the WSJ ‘The Whole Food Alternative to ObamaCare” by John Mackey 8/11/2009. Here one finds eight reasonable public/private sector reforms that would lower the cost of healthcare. Remove legal obstacles to high deductible and health savings accounts. Equalize tax laws for parity between employer/individually provided insurance. Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines. Remove government mandates as to what insurance companies must cover. Enact tort reform (This is the corner stone of bipartisanship). Health-care treatment cost must be transparent to consumers. Enact Medicare reform. Finally, revise tax forms to allow for tax deductions for voluntary donations to programs for people with no Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Government cannot be allowed to control anything except national security. And this necessarily precludes the numous ObamaCare government committes, panels and bureacracies that would cloug results and performnce.

The Tea Party is a lot of things, an amalgamation of the best conservative, democratic, liberal, libertarian and independent ideas. The far left and far right fringes do not enter into this discussion. They are anathema. What these people have in common is their antipathy for our departure from the principles of our founding fathers, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers. What it always has been is apolitical with a firm belief in budget deficit reduction; elimination of national debt, substantial reduced spending to less than revenue, and massive reduction in the power of government.

The solution for prosperity has been demonstrated globally and in out recent history at least three times when our government cuts taxes. Those periods included the Roaring ‘20s, the Reagan 1980’s and the Bush Tax Cuts of 2003. And to be sure, the demise of these great economical experiments, the failings of capitalism unleashed, revealed itself in the ever present greed and corruption of mankind. What we were missing was not free trade; it was rather moral, economical and person ethics, the necessary rules, regulations and penalties required to corral the evils of basic instincts.

In 2008 USA charitable contributions reached $284 billion of which individuals account for $229 billion. The noble nature of Americans does not need, want or accept a national transfer and control of this activity to a government entity that has never demonstrated a propensity for prudent fiscal activity, efficient and effective governance. Imagine if the public sector owned and operated managed Medicare, Medicaid, the Post Office and the DMV. ObamaCare legislation, if passed, is planting the cancerous seed of expanded government corruption, a lack of parity between the private and public sector, and it is initiating a decent into socialism. This does not preclude healthcare reform, with the emphasis and focus on “reform.”

Economical recovery cannot ever happen without reduced spending. And the reduction in spending must be deep, universal, painful and shared. Universal healthcare, the ObamaCare version, is the unreformed drunk’s last drink, never ever reached. It is the abdication to a nanny state driven mainly by man’s inability to know the difference between generosity and charity.

The current climate change hypothesis is extremely curious and educational, a teaching moment, as it embraces a universal truism “Given enough time and research I can justify anything” and this is not the American way nor does it embrace “truth.” This often, by manipulation, precludes “common sense.”

February 23, 2010 at 8:24 AM  

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