Though the health care bill that passed the House last night is likely to help many middle-income Americans, and most Americans at one point in their life or another, a new Gallup poll shows that most Americans primarily seem to think that it will help the poor and the uninsured; the majority do not think that it will help the U.S. as a whole, middle-income families, upper-income families, or their own family:
Whether or not one thinks that the bill will be helpful is also highly related to political party affiliation, with Democrats likely to think it will be helpful than Republicans (but still unlikely to feel that the bill will help their own family):
I can’t explain why so many Americans see this as reform designed to help the worst-off members of our society (perhaps the propaganda coming from the right and the poor counter-discourse on the left), but I can say that it is very difficult to pass bills that are perceived as targeting the poor; legislation that is framed as helpful to all Americans or the “middle classes” is much more likely to pass. Yesterday’s vote, then, is quite an accomplishment on the part of those who pushed for it.
Gallup, via Matthew Yglesias.
