Be warned: this is just the latest in my occasional ongoing series I think I'll call, "How the hell hasn't this made the evening news?"
And maybe this will surprise absolutely no one, but apparently the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is now less popular with the American public than ever before.
"According to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 49 percent of Americans say the law is a bad idea, the highest number recorded on this question since the poll began asking it in 2009," we reported here earlier this month. "Just 37 percent say the PPACA is a good idea.
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Now there could be a number of reasons for this: It could be simply a result of the impending Jan. 1 deadline for a huge chunk of this law. Maybe awareness really is spreading (although I'd argue not nearly quickly enough) and the more people know the less they like it. Which, of course, any of us could have told them months – if not years – ago. It's almost like dealing with my teenage kids; the just gotta learn everything the hard way.
It could also be a reflection (or catalyst for) the president's own falling favorability rating, especially over the last month. A brand new CNN/ORC poll shows the president's approval rating is as under water as a Las Vegas homeowner: Forty-five percent of Americans say Obama is handling his job well, while 54 percent said Obama isn't doing a good job as president. And he's losing his grip among independents and younger voters. And I'm sure the ACLU membership rolls are more up in arms than the Tea Party faithful over the president's loving embrace of covert surveillance. If Bush flirted with domestic snooping, Obama took that girl home to meet his parents.
Of course, all this could also be the latest whim of a fickle – if uninformed – electorate. And keep in mind: we're talking about a public that actually hates Congress more, but keeps on electing them. President Obama might be as popular as Matt Lauer these days, but Congress might as well be just another annoying Kardashian.
And speaking of people you don't wanna invite over for a couple of beers and brats this summer, I'll leave you this week with the latest out of the Internal Revenue Service. We found out this week, thanks in no small part to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is about to cut $70 million worth of bonus checks for its employees. So much for sequestration.
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