Time for media to clarify the health care debate

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200908070003

1 hour and 49 minutes ago

Depending on how you look at it, we're roughly six months or 60 years into the debate over whether and how the government should ensure universal health care for all Americans. And yet if there's one thing polling on the public's opinions about health care makes clear, it's that people are confused, holding a disparate mix of often contradictory views and frequently clinging to incorrect beliefs.

For reporters, there is a clear lesson in this: Put the polls down. Just walk away. Pay them no attention. Pretend they don't exist.

For one thing, whatever you think they mean, there's plenty of evidence to support the opposite interpretation.

For another, there just isn't anything particularly noteworthy in the results. People favor significant reform, think all Americans should have coverage, are concerned about how much it will cost, worry that change could make their own situation worse -- is any of this really surprising? Does anyone actually need a poll to tell them these things?

Put another way: When is the last time you saw a truly surprising poll result? When is the last time you saw poll data that showed that people don't care whether others have health insurance and don't think the government should have any role in health care whatsoever? Or the last time you saw a poll that found people were willing to pay higher taxes and lose the ability to choose their own doctors and cede health care decisions to the government if that's what it takes to get coverage for their neighbors?