According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll
which was conducted Oct. 22-25 last year, a majority of Americans
say the U.S. is headed down the wrong track.
52% said the country is on the wrong track compared to 36%
who said it is headed in the right direction.
The approval ratio for his handling of the economy had dipped
from 51% in September to 47% in October.
President Obama’s job approval rating was at 51% during
August and September last year and it’s heading south.
64% don’t see the improvement in the stock market as a real
indicator that the economy is improving and 49% are very
dissatisfied with the state of the economy.
48% disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the health care issue.
What’s a President to do?
Today, President Obama unveiled his “new” plan for health care reform.
(The plan is posted on the White House’s Web site).
It includes a mandate that requires individuals to purchase health insurance,
a process for the federal government to subsidize people who cannot afford
coverage, and taxes and fees to raise revenue to pay for those subsidies.
Since the election of Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts,
Democrats have searched for a process to move reform through Congress
with or without Senator Brown’s support.
One possibility is breaking the larger package into small pieces for individual
votes, or using a Senate procedure known as “reconciliation.”
Reconciliation allows legislation directly related to the federal budget to pass
the Senate with 51 votes instead of having to clear the 60-vote threshold
required for most other bills.
Senior Democrats have refused to rule out any procedural tactic to pass
health care reform this year. At the end of January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
explained the approach Democrats are taking to pass health care reform.
“We will move on many fronts, any front we can,” Pelosi told members of the press.
“We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence.
If the fence is too high, we will pole-vault in.
If that doesn’t work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care
reform passed for the American people for their own personal health and economic
security and for the important role that it will play in reducing the deficit.”
Hail to the Chief!
And Hail Mary full of grace, may the Lord be with us all…
Sick of the economy?
Or just plain sick?
