Opinion: A new Field Poll finds silly Californians still buying into Obama healthcare premise
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
According to a new Field Poll out this morning, California voters still love President Obama’s massive healthcare legislation that is being challenged in Congress and in courts by a majority of the 50 states. Or 57, by candidate Obama’s count.
The new Field Poll reports fully 52% of California voters support the thing, compared to 37% who don’t.
Contrary to voter opinion nationally (46% unfavorable, 42% favorable in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll) and the threats of House Republicans to repeal or disembowel it, 52% of California voters think the controversial bill should be left alone or -- better yet -- expanded in its reach into American lives.
A measly 40% of California voters favor repeal all or parts of the law, according to the new Field Poll.
To address the Golden State’s multibillion-dollar fiscal woes, its newly elected officials have ostentatiously cut state workers’ cellphone access, with stapler and paper clip purchases possibly on the cutting block too.
But these officials have proven unable to cobble together a realistic ....
... government budget without a zillion dollars of deficits or -- wait for it -- new taxes, seeing as how most California residents are paying a mere 10% sales tax already. The Democratic governor’s budget plan, which makes sense to some California minds, was to ask state voters to renew $12 billion in once-’temporary’ taxes. With the Obama administration now budgeting in three-week cycles, only three wars underway abroad and state unemployment having plummeted to 12.2%, what confident California voter wouldn’t enjoy clinging to previously hiked taxes?
In a wondrously creative California sense, it’s also perfectly logical that nearly 2 out of 3 California voters (60%) believe that their Democratic state government, which can’t craft an annual budget either, would, however, do a swell job of implementing the Obama measure.
That bill was so well-written by a Democratic Congress led by a Californian House speaker that officials have already had to grant more than 1,000 discretionary exemptions to unions and companies that cannot meet its goals without whacking existing healthcare coverage.
Field says of California voters:
Large majorities believe the state will be able to achieve many of its main goals, such as expanding state-sponsored health programs to enable more low income residents to have health insurance, providing residents with more insurance choices, and regulating the insurance market so Californians have better consumer protections.
California voters, many of whom have no purple hair or nose rings, are famous for leading the way in pioneering political and cultural activities and/or for being totally out of step with the rest of the country that does not slather mayonnaise on every conceivable edible object.
Moments after Obama took the oath of office and promised to close Guantanamo’s terrorist detention facility 804 days ago, his job approval began its terminal slide down to the current mid-to-low 40s.
This could be good enough for reelection, unless the Republican Party nominates someone.
But no trouble for Obama in California, which has two Democratic senators and a Democratic retread as governor. California voters still strongly support the Democratic president too.
Which is why those residing around San Francisco and the City of Angels will see so much of Obama in the next 582 days, as he visits and re-visits to milk supporters for a large chunk of the $1 billion he’s planning to spend trying to persuade Americans who don’t wear sunglasses year-round to think like Californians, who do.
Nearly 8 in 10 California voters, Field finds, actually still hope Obama’s healthcare bill will be at least somewhat helpful in providing additional insurance alternatives. Think Cubs fans.
The poll does not report how many of its California voters were smoking medicinal marijuana when surveyed. But poll director Mark DiCamillo explains the state’s political disparity by noting that views on Obama’s healthcare are starkly partisan nationally; and way more California voters are Democrats than are Republicans.
Independents, who are abandoning Obama nationally like Kadafi aides catching flights to London, are in California sticking more with the U.S. president’s plan to change healthcare, 48% to 33%.
DiCamillo also explains support for the law by citing the most populous state’s ‘large and rapidly expanding ethnic voting population’ -- now about one-third of California voters -- as being much more supportive of Obama’s government health plans than white non-Hispanics.
Somehow, this all makes many insular California voters feel like farsighted pioneers instead of outrageously outmoded outliers.
As proof of their foresight, many California voters are already preparing colorful baskets of organic veggies to leave out for the Easter bunny later this month.
-- Andrew Malcolm
For your own health, click here to follow The Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We’re also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.