Sunday, August 16, 2026
Most Voters Have A Very Unfavorable View Of The Super-Rich
The charts above are from the Data For Progress Poll -- done between August 1st and 3rd of a nationwide sample of 1,187 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.
Trump/GOP "Big Beautiful Bill" Moves The U.S. Closer To "Medicare For All"
Republicans have never liked the federal government helping Americans get health insurance. They opposed both Medicare and Medicaid during the Johnson administration. They also opposed the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) during the Obama administration.
The reason they opposed all these programs is that they don't consider health care to be a right. They consider it a product to be sold to those who can afford it.
And they are adamantly opposed to a public option for health insurance - like a Medicare For All program. They claim that would be socialized medicine (even though conservatives in other developed democracies support their government help to get health insurance in their own countries).
So it was not a surprise that to give the rich more tax cuts in their "Big Beautiful Bill", the Republicans cut off the help to purchase health insurance under Obamacare. This made it impossible for millions of Americans to afford to buy private insurance - and added millions of Americans to the number that don't have any kind of health insurance.
In that same bill, they also cut the number of Americans who could qualify for Medicaid (although they made sure it wouldn't start until after the Midterm elections). When this provision kicks in early next year, it will add millions more Americans to the ranks of the insured.
There was already about 10% of the U.S. population that was not covered by Obamacare, private insurance (which they could not afford), medicare, or Medicaid. The Republican cuts to Obamacare and Medicaid adds millions more. That's a significant portion of the population that has no health insurance (and therefore lacks access to proper and timely medical care).
The Republicans celebrated the cuts to health insurance, but they may soon regret that. I believe those cuts could have the unintended consequence of doing more people to accepting the idea of Medicare For All. Certainly, the millions of Americans that don't have any health insurance would love to have a public option for insurance they could afford.And private companies have already said that insurance prices will rise again next year, which could force more people out of the insurance market.
Most working Americans are covered in health insurance provided by their employer. But that is getting more expensive also. Some employers are now expecting employees to bear some of the cost and others are giving their employees policies with very high deductibles (which the employee must pay). Other employers are dropping the insurance altogether, and just providing a stipend for the employee to buy private insurance.
It won't be long before employers realize that paying a tax for government health cares much cheaper than trying to provide private insurance.
That all means the time is now ripe for a Medicare For All program - or at least a viable public option for those who cannot afford private insurance. And the Republican BBB cuts are helping to push the country toward that (even though that is not what they intended).
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Most People Say Donald Trump Doesn't Care About Them
The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between August 7th and 10th of a nationwide sample of 1,589 adults (including 1,420 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.2 points.
Voter Want Age Limits (And Cognitive Evaluations) For Public Officials
The charts above are from the Change Research Poll -- done between July 13th and 17th of a nationwide sample of 2,006 registered voters, with a 2.3 point margin of error.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)