The reference below wasn’t the only bizarre bit to come out of Dennis Miller this week. He also cited this poll as evidence that Congress should give up on passing a health care bill. The poll shows that an impressive 58 percent of Americans “generally oppose” the Senate and House bills already passed. But it also shows that an even more impressive 78 percent think Congress should pass a bill of some kind. A few thoughts:
1. It would be interesting to know what “generally oppose” means. Does it mean the bills should be stronger? Does it mean the bills would be acceptable without the Nebraska compromise and other sweeteners? Does it mean that an acceptable bill is likely to emerge from conference?
2. Suppose I am a corrupt congressman (but I repeat myself) with no interest in health care but a powerful interest in getting re-elected. I don’t want to vote for the existing bills, but I also want to vote for some bill. But if one of the existing bills doesn’t pass, then the chance of getting through a new bill seems minuscule. So do I vote for one of the bills on the table and risk offending 58 percent of my constituents, hoping to fix things later, or do I watch the whole process go down in flames and risk offending 78 percent?
I think that’s a pretty easy call.
