Why Democrats Could Pass a Healthcare Bill With Bad Poll Numbers

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"He seems to be seeking some minority utopian elitest rule."
That would be me. Merely because I believe our society has been dumbed-down to the point where they're too easily misinformed, and are therefore incapable of making informed decisions.
Between the Internet and 200 channels of cable TV and talk radio providing designer "journalism" tailored to specific markets/viewpoints, people don't hear the other side of arguments - just insults, preaching to the choir, and high-fiving of their own team. There is no "fact filter" anymore. The gatekeepers are off pondering their navels.
Add to the fact only two parties actually have any real chance of placing their candidates, and those parties have BOTH proven time and time again to be corrupt, deceitful and self-serving, and I make a case that elections ONLY matter as a pacifier for the electorate; a way to make us feel as though we have some freedom and control when we do not. Admittedly, local elections may be an exception, and they're more important for day-to-day life. But national, and perhaps even statewide elections, are largely a farce.
Social Security was enacted in 1935. 75 years ago. If you remember the time before that, then you must have been at least 10 when it passed, which would make you, by my guesstimate, 85 years old - or more.
85-ish years old, running a computer and typing flawlessly. Plausible, but unlikely. If it IS truly the case, you're a rare bird indeed. Good on ya.
I still say Social Security is strangling the country, encouraging dependence on a Ponzi scheme, and the data bear me out.

Rich of CO 11:23AM March 25, 2010

Mr. Quigg is being specious to an extreme degree. As a prominent member of the Republican party once proclaimed "elections matter". He seems to be seeking some minority utopian elitest rule. I am of an age that I can well remember our nation before Social Security and Medicare. It is a far far better place today. I am confident that the recently enacted legislation is yet another stride forward for our great nation. Happily, the majority still rules, even when Mr. Quigg is in the minority.

Leon Maxwell of GA 9:28AM March 25, 2010

We passed a health care bill. Does that mean we're not a democracy anymore? Other western industrialized nation have the same thing. Is Japan a socialist state? Britain? Canada? I don't think most people are as riled up over this as the fringe republicans are, but they're riled up over lots of things that aren't a major concern to most people. The Fed. Fannie Mae. Flouridation of the water supply etc etc. I grew up in Texas with lot's of right wing rednecks. They told me the Beatles were a Marxist plot to undermine American youth. They think Eisenhower was a liberal. I stopped paying attention to them long ago.

Sam of TX 6:58PM March 24, 2010

That's what happens when you let the lunatics run the asylum.
Freedom and democracy are not the same thing. You CAN have one without the other, and freedom is paramount. Democracy is an avenue to freedom. As we've seen, it can be an avenue to servitude.
When Andrew Jackson pushed for one man, one vote - to get frontiersmen who supported him into the process - he unwittingly injected a slow-acting poison into America's bloodstream.
The average person is selfish, ignorant and short-sighted, and they outnumber the thoughtful, educated and committed. Therein lies the end of America. Rotted from within; our strength turned into a weakness.
Yes, I'm an elitist. I'm also right.
Government grants the "right" to vote. But they cannot take it away without bloodshed. What they CAN do, is water it down so as to make it meaningless.
They have. The objective of campaigns is to win. You don't have to be right, you just have to convince enough people you are. A poorly eductated, misinformed public is easy fodder for professional con-artists. Yet we trust the government to "educate" our children, and the downward spiral continues.
I don't see a way back from the path we're on. We've been divided, and conquered, by our own people. The best liars and manipulators money can buy.
The solution I see is to press forward. Let their greed collapse the system - heck, help it along - then rebuild.

Rich of CO 4:10PM March 24, 2010

America’s Rush toward Socialism.
When our forefathers penned the Constitution their objective was to create a republic’s government that disallowed all forms of tyranny, and because no previous government allowed total self-rule, they focused on future citizen rights. They focused on preserving freedom and not on the unknown benefits freedom might bring, such as wealth or world domination of any sort (financial, political or military). Our forefather’s primary objective was to provide long-term individual freedom; a personal thing for each future citizen irrespective of our unknown future that was to be delivered through the absence of government interference; or our republic’s every day laws.
To that effort our ingenious forefathers composed the world’s first long-range forward-looking document based on total self rule by the governed. A document which contained a number of safeguards to protect citizens from government abuse with the ultimate freedom safeguard: each voting age citizen is regularly empowered to direct the government through his secret vote when we elect our republic’s lawmakers. They penned, concerned with government abuses, a document so just its governed masses eventually eliminated the world’s worst form of tyranny, human slavery. They penned, concerned with government abuses they were trying to escape, a long-range forward-looking document whose free citizens produced nearly half of the world’s wealth in 2007, the US Constitution. A US Constitution that offered opportunity through freedom and hard work rather than unearned gratuity delivered through socialistic ideals; a governance philosophy the vast majority of our federal lawmakers have (totally) abandoned today in favor of gleaning reelection guarantees. What have we done?
Democracy is, thus far, the world’s least confrontational avenue to freedom, and America’s brief history clearly proves freedom is the greatest provider of individual opportunity, creativity, wealth, and stability—or attributes every world citizen likely wishes for himself. Individual freedoms which allow humans anywhere to dedicate a lifetime of hard work toward personal and family stability, business success, the accumulation of our worlds many varieties of wealth—or any other worthy goal; all of the aforementioned being incompatible with socialism. Socialism’s share-the-wealth philosophy will ultimately replace each governed individual’s motivation to succeed with dependency; the enemy of creativity, opportunity, and the enemy of labor—always.
America isn’t descending toward Socialism; our federal lawmakers are racing toward Socialism because we American voters allow it. Our lazy and uneducated minority demand unearned entitlements our lawmakers scurry to provide in their scramble for votes. Our current generation-after-generation of entitlement dependent recipients demand more unearned entitlements our lawmakers scurry to provide in their scramble for votes and too hell with accountabi

Don Quigg of SC 10:55AM March 24, 2010

Yes, he did win. By posing as a moderate and then exacting his far left-wing agenda despite overwhelming public support against it. But who can we blame for electing this chameleon? Ourselves, of course, for, as Al Sharpton said, 53% of the public voted for socialism when they elected Obama. Shame on us.

ET of TX 10:05AM March 24, 2010

if we can just figure out how to bypass gerrymandering & ditch the caucus system
oh well - who cares anymore as long as we all get a free ride to wherever it is we're going to finally end up
and no it's not going to be Siberia in the dead of winter . . . or the Sahara in the furnace blast of summer
America is still the greatest country in the world {just ask all the illegals - most can tell the difference! AND yes immigration issues need to be addressed like yesterday}
the world as we know it is not going to come to an end because the democrats finally managed to pass an overdue healthcare reform bill -- Social Security & Medicare are two examples that the sky is not falling {however the first wave of the babyboom generation began turning 62 in 2008 AND within a few years all the trillions in IOUs from government borrowing over the years will soon have to be repaid with interest - remember "crazy" Al Gore's "lock box" idea - or "who's crying now?!"}!!
obviously POLITICIANS don't always know best . . . the laundry list is too long to comment & goes back almost to the founding of the Nation - when CAREER politicians & their greedy/corrupt cohorts/lobbyists became enthroned in Washington
. . . although the Vietnam War & the Iraq debacle come readily to mind -- and sadly the outcomes & aftermaths will likely be the same
{arguably similar objections were raised about the War of 1812 & the Spanish-American War . . . very FEW wars are ever justifiable!}
meanwhile throughout much of American history it seems that good intentions don't always turn out to be the BEST solutions -- Americans have never been the brightest bulb on earth when it comes to "doing their homework" {the miserable fiasco of corn-based ethanol is one of the current worst examples!}
as always - HISTORY will be the final judge of today's events for better or worse
and as to elections being the great "check on politicians" -- well even Nixon promised to end the war in Vietnam AND he did - while also being a paranoid megalomaniac!! so after Watergate, Carter was swept into office & the country witnessed 444 days of the Iranian/US Embassay hostage crisis - among numerous other major ills. then there are those who loved Reagan for 8yrs & Clinton for 8yrs AND Dubya for ANOTHER 8yrs?!
clearly a MAJOR overhaul of the ENTIRE American voting process is long overdue -- starting with a far better roadmap on "fair & balanced" redistricting
otherwise CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS appear the only answer
yes America will ALWAYS be a free country . . . but your mamas should have taught y'all that hitchhiking can be hazardous to your health & given you a Greyhound bus schedule for graduation instead of a trip to Disneyland
ONE MAN
ONE VOTE
NO CLUE
TOO TRUE
. . . but ain't life great in the suburbs

tiger lily of DC 1:36AM March 24, 2010

Come-back is dirty passage with bought votes has made him a one term Prez.
Educated health care voters don't like what obama delivered. Try to explain away the 4 year wait. Reason is clear, so he might get re-elected and people won‘t see the real life health care like Canada, England, etc. here. Real cost is over $2 trillion. No chance of 2 terms if it went into full effect now.

Bill Hedges of MO 12:56AM March 24, 2010