The improvement is "slight," they concede, but who's excited for an Obamacare rebound? Not the American people, it turns out, despite CNN's hopeful spin:
According to the poll, 39% of Americans say they support the health care law, up from 35% in December, a record low in CNN polling. The uptick of four percentage points is within the survey’s sampling error. Fifty-seven percent of those questioned say they oppose the measure, down five points from December.
Obamacare is still underwater by nearly 20 points -- with support falling short of 40 percent, and opposition approaching six in ten Americans. The improvement heralded in CNN's headline are within the survey's margin of error. The poll also shows that Obamacare's only gains come among "upscale" consumers. The network's write-up is quick to note that some in the opposition group say they don't believe the law goes far enough. The suggestion is that some liberal consensus on healthcare exists, despite Obamacare's unpopularity. Ed Morrissey isn't impressed: "Yes, there have been critics from the Left who wanted a single-payer system instead of Obamacare, but they have been there all along. The point is that the law has little public support, while opposition to it is the broad consensus." How broad is that consensus? The most recent Gallup poll legs the law's public support at (40/55) and Fox News' latest has it at (36/57). Those numbers....look familiar. Indeed, Obamacare's net disapproval has ranged from roughly (-12) to (-25) for years. Opposition to this law is strong and stable. The NYT/CBS News poll takes a different tack, asking whether Americans believe the law should be fully repealed, needs to be revised, or is working as-is. Only six percent chose the latter option. A sizable contingent favors repeal (42 percent), and 50 percent wants changes. Liberals greeted that data point as proof that Obamacare isn't really that unpopular after all. But as I wrote at the time, this argument fails upon slightly closer scrutiny. One of the overwhelmingly supported changes to the law is axing or postponing the individual mandate tax, which is the centerpiece of the entire law. I summarized the law's myriad failures at Hot Air yesterday:
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A February study from the center-left Brookings Institution determined that Obamacare would reduce incomes among the top 80 percent of American wage earners. Workers at the very bottom stand to benefit, but everyone else will take a hit — with lower-middle class Americans facing the steepest reductions in take-home pay. As for the previously uninsured, it’s tough to overstate how devastating last week’s Washington Post bombshell was. Nine out of ten eligible uninsured Americans haven’t selected plans under Obamacare, with the top reason cited being lack of affordability. Of those few whohave “signed up,” only about half have paid, and are therefore covered. So we’re looking at roughly five percent of the previously uninsured population that has decided to participate in a $2 trillion law that was ostensibly foisted upon the rest of the public for their benefit. Therefore, the vast, vast majority of people touted in the White House’s (still significantly inflated) Obamacare “enrollment” figures already had coverage prior to the law’s passage. Those aren’t “new” enrollees. They’re people who were uprooted from their previous arrangement because of this law. More than six million Americans have received cancellation notices due to Obamacare…so far.
Be sure to read analyses from Megan McArdle and Bob Laszewski on these developments, too.
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