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Missouri Voters Approve Measure to Exempt Residents from the “Individual Mandate”
August 16, 2010
Harry Reid says, “Once you explain what’s in the bill, the American people of course like it.” However, based on a recent vote in Missouri, it appears this simply is not the case.
By a 3-1 margin, Missourians approved a ballot measure that “prohibits the federal government’s enforcement of the individual mandate to buy health insurance.” Politico reports the vote “is the first tangible demonstration of how unpopular the president’s signature achievement remains in the Midwestern state.”
On a broader scale, it shows how unpopular the bill remains among all Americans.
“Voter pessimism towards the new national health care bill has reached an all-time high,” Rasmussen Reports said this week. Its weekly health care sentiment poll finds 57% of Americans say health care reform is bad for the country. A staggering 59% now favor repeal of the bill.
“That’s the highest level of pessimism measured since regular tracking began following Congress' passage of the law in late March,” the poll said.
The Missouri vote is the second defeat of Obama’s health care reform in less than a week. Just a day before Missourians approved Proposition C, a U.S. District Court ruled a Virginia lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate could proceed. Health and Human Services attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed; the case will be heard later this year.
Twenty other states have also filed lawsuits against the Obama Administration saying the law is unconstitutional because it forces citizens purchase a private product. In November, three states will put measures to limit ObamaCare on their ballots.
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