Cue the marching bands

If one cares to see how things are really done in Washington/government, a fascinating (yet nauseatingly fawning) article from the New York Times:

That Mr. Obama has come this far — within a whisper of passing historic social legislation — is remarkable in itself. But the story of how he did it is not his alone. It is the story of how a struggling president partnered with a pair of experienced legislators — Ms. Pelosi and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Reid — to reach for a goal that Mr. Obama has often said had eluded his predecessors going back to Theodore Roosevelt.

Their journey over the last two months, interviews with White House aides, lawmakers, outside advisers, lobbyists and political strategists show, involved tensions, resolve, political spadework — and a little bit of luck.

The authors do not mention whether that would be "good luck" or "bad luck". How the game is played by those listening to the "voice" of the people:

The speaker, though, was determined to go ahead. “We will go through the gate,” she said at a news conference on Jan. 28. “If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed.”

As if your "voice" actually matters:

New Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveying finds that 56% of voters oppose the effort to “reduce spending on Medicare by several hundred billion dollars.” Just 33% support the idea. Those figures include 12% who Strongly Favor the Medicare cuts and 38% who are Strongly Opposed.

Perhaps more significantly, 70% of senior citizens oppose the plan to reduce spending on Medicare including 55% who are Strongly Opposed. Seniors are more likely to use the health care system and more likely to vote than younger adults.

Most voters also oppose the other big component being counted on to cover the cost of the health care plan. Just 31% favor the idea of enacting “a significant excise tax on the most expensive health insurance plans provided by employers." Fifty-four percent (54%) are opposed.

The Congressional Budget Office yesterday said that the proposed legislation would reduce the deficit, but voters are skeptical of the official government projections. Eighty-one percent (81%) believe the health care plan will cost more than projected. That’s one reason voters believe passage of the plan will increase the deficit and is likely to mean higher middle class taxes. Fifty-seven percent (57%) predict that passage of the plan will hurt the U.S. economy.

That helps to explain why 50% of voters say they’re less likely to vote to reelect a member of Congress who supports the health care bill.

While the cost of the plan causes problems for advocates of reform, 80% of voters like “an insurance exchange where people can shop for competing insurance plans.” Two-thirds (69%) favor a plan that prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with pre-existing conditions.

Sixty percent (60%) support subsidies to the poor and an expansion of Medicaid. Fifty-four percent (54%) favor requiring nearly all employers to provide health insurance coverage. Fifty-one percent (51%) of voters favor a board to carry out cost control measures for Medicare.

On the other side of the ledger, just 45% favor requiring all Americans to buy or obtain health insurance. Fifty percent (50%) are opposed.

Forty-seven percent (47%) support spending “several hundred billion dollars over the coming decade to expand coverage of the uninsured.” Fifty-one percent (51%) are opposed.

On the issue of abortion, 55% favor prohibiting “coverage of abortion by any insurance plan that receives federal government subsidies.”

Overall, before being told of the various provisions of the reform plan, 45% supported the legislation, and 52% were opposed. Those numbers are unchanged after respondents were asked about the various aspects of the legislation.

Never fear, your betters are on the case:

Oh Alcee, you more than anyone should know what happens when the rulebook is tossed and the crushing weight of government is aligned against the individual.