Posted on 12/21/2007 10:10:45 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO – A strong majority of California voters favor the health care overhaul plan passed Monday by the Assembly and the $2-per-pack tobacco tax needed to fund the measure, according to the latest Field Poll. The poll shows that voters support the plan either “strongly” or “somewhat” by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio, 64 percent to 23 percent.
Sixty-three percent of voters also support the proposed tobacco tax, while 33 percent oppose it.
“Voters are pretty much in sync with the proposal going through the Legislature,” Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said.
The poll is a boost for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who are hoping to persuade Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata, D-Oakland, to hold a vote on the proposal soon. Perata doesn't want the Senate to take up the plan until he can assess the proposal in the context of a growing state budget deficit, now recently estimated as high as $14 billion.
Public opinion is also critical because the plan requires voter approval of an initiative in November that would raise tobacco and hospital taxes and impose a fee on employers who don't provide health care for their workers.
Schwarzenegger and Núñez have been promoting the ambitious health care plan in appearances all week. Yesterday they were in Fresno, and on Wednesday they came to San Diego.
The ambitious proposal would cover 3.6 million uninsured Californians, inject billions of dollars into the state's Medi-Cal system for covering the poor, require all residents to buy insurance, provide numerous subsidies and require insurers to accept all applicants, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions.
The poll showed that 74 percent of Democrats favor the plan to some degree, while 59 percent of nonpartisans support it. Fifty-two percent of Republican voters back the proposal, while 34 percent of GOP voters oppose it.
“There's fairly uniform support across all the different groups,” DiCamillo said.
For months, state leaders have been haggling over several financing ideas. This poll shows that they selected the concept with the most popular support. The $2-per-pack tobacco tax won support from 63 percent of voters. A proposal to lease the state lottery was opposed by 46 percent and supported by 42 percent, while raising the state sales tax by 1 cent on the dollar was opposed by 50 percent and favored by 46 percent.
Some believe, however, that a huge campaign funded by the tobacco industry will defeat the proposed ballot measure. In 2006, an expensive campaign by cigarette makers defeated Proposition 86, which proposed a tobacco-tax increase to fund expanded health services.
DiCamillo said the proposed ballot measure for November would have two strong points lacking in the Proposition 86 campaign: support from a Republican governor and a well-defined purpose for the new funds. “This would be a very targeted tax on something that would have a broad benefit,” he said.
The findings in the latest survey are based on interviews with 1,283 registered voters that were conducted between Dec. 10 and Monday. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
Strongly favor 30%
Somewhat favor 34%
Somewhat oppose 12%
Strongly oppose 11%
No opinion 13%
Margin of error: +/– 2.9 percentage points
12/21/2007 #2254: Large majority favors the health care reform package making its way through the legislature. Support for $2 per pack cigarette tax hike to help pay for it.
http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2254.pdf
I’m thinking that the Field Poll and PPIC have the same folks on their phone list for their polls:
Schwarzenegger
Nunez
Susan Kennedy
Villaraigosa
Riordan
.... etc.
If higher cigarette taxes discourage smoking, what behavior do higher Income Taxes discourage?
They should just tax a pack of cigs $100 and all their budget problems will be over. Idiots...
You can always hike it up to $20, if that isn't enough.
Wow, how brillant - absolutely free health care!
Don't be surprised when they have to tax something else when everyone stops using the something that was taxed the first time.
Does no one know about the law of diminishing returns?
Your list is not that far-fetched.
In general, I undestand many live and die with the results of polls, but we are literally at the point where our poll-driven poitical systems have become nothing more than appendages to these things and flail along after whatever the latest poll says is the mood of the people.. not good imho, not good at all.
The question is, What small number of people is or should ever be so empowered to have such influence over such massive programs and their commensurate massive funding when enacted? ;-)
Ahhnold: The Tahx will not ahfect my Cigahhs..
So is a pack of cigarettes going to cost upwards of $7?? Why would anyone continue to smoke?!
I suppose if the smokers all quit the RINO would hit us with a tax to breathe smokeless air!
Guess we will see when we vote on the ballot on this next year.
“Voters are pretty much in sync with the proposal going through the Legislature,” Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said.”
That is as far as I got in the article before my “ACME Catalogue Bullshit Detector” went off like an Air Raid Siren of yore.
This appears to be an attempt to “talk UP” a Leftist contrived plan.
Yes, Arnold is a Leftist.
[“This would be a very targeted tax on something that would have a broad benefit,” he said.]
That says it all doesn’t it ? Taxes get passed by preying on a group too small to be able to vote it down, while promising benefits to a larger group guaranteed to vote for their lunch to be free.
Discrimination is illegal everywhere except taxation, apparently.
Discrimination is illegal everywhere except taxation against smokers, apparently.
There that should make it a little clearer.
I'd like to see them try this with tea. (Historical reference)
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I would expect the ‘freebies for illegals’ portion of the scheme would seal its fate of defeat by voters. We’ve demonstrated we don’t want our tax dollars going to illegals — what don’t they understand?
Gov. Arnold just declared a budget emergency, they can’t pay their bills now!! No problem, they’ll just start another 14 billion dollar giveaway with questionable funding.
Hey, if you moved from NY to NC and have voted democrat all your life, start voting republican in your new state. Otherwise you will do to it what you did to your last state.
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