Although it's easy to get down about the state of things, especially our government, along comes a poll that gives you at least a little faith in the common sense of average Americans.

Via Rasmussen:

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of voters nationwide say it’s at least
somewhat likely that the health care reform legislation working its way
through Congress will cost more than projected. A new Rasmussen Reports
national telephone survey finds that just 14% believe the costs are not
likely to exceed projections.

Eighty-one percent (81%) also think passage of the legislation is at least somewhat likely to lead to higher middle-class taxes.

The survey finds that 68% believe the legislation will
increase the federal budget deficit. Only 11% say the program will
achieve its stated goal of deficit reduction.

Ronald Reagan once said that a government program was the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this Earth.  You could probably add "eternal growth" to that as well.

Despite what the New York Times tried to lead the US public to believe, the nation's Catholic hospitals do NOT support the Senate version of Obamacare.

On Christmas Day, the Times ran a story headlined "Catholic Group Supports Senate on Abortion Aid".  It claimed that there was a split between the leadership of the hospitals and the country's Catholic bishops "over the abortion-financing provisions of the proposed health care overhaul" and that "the nation’s Catholic hospitals have signaled that they back the Senate’s compromise."

Of course liberals were quick to point to the "split" as a rationale for pro-life Catholics to support Obamacare.

But wait!  Surprise, surprise, the Times got it wrong. The head of the Catholic Health Association went public yesterday and put the "conflict" to rest.  (Via LifeNews)

Before the debate over health care reform really got started, President Obama said that the final result of reform should NOT increase the deficit (and debt).   In fact, he said he would not sign a bill that added "one dime" to the deficit.

Well, we're about to find out how serious that promise was, because it turns out that the calculator at the Congressional Budget Office doesn't work so well.  In its first look at the Senate version of the bill, the CBO showed a savings, leading Obama was able to take to the stage and declare "mission accomplished", saying:

"This bill with strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program.
Because it’s paid for and gets rid of waste and inefficiency in our
health care system this will be the largest deficit reduction plan in
over a decade. In fact, we just learned from the Congressional Budget
Office that this bill will reduce our deficit by $132 billion over the
first decade of the program, and more than one trillion dollars in the
decade after that."

But it turns out that it's easy to show a bill costs less than it really does if you count the "savings" twice.  Which is what the CBO just admitted that it did in its analysis of the bill.

The result?  A 170 BILLION dollar hole in the deficit.

It's been said that laws are like sausages - it's best not to see them being made.  If ever that applied to the product of any legislative body, it applies doubly so to the debate over Obamacare.

And when it comes to the Senate's version of the bill to take over 1/6th of the American economy, we're talking about some expensive sausage.

Via the Washington Examiner, here's a list of some of the payoffs to senators in exchange for their votes for the bill:

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. -- Up to $300 million in additional federal money to pay for the state of Louisiana's share of the proposed expansion of Medicaid.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. -- A commitment that the federal government will permanently pay for Medicaid expansion in the Cornhusker State at a cost of about $100 million.

Sens. Ben Nelson and Carl Levin, D-Mich. -- A provision that shelters Mutual of Omaha in Nebraska and Blue Cross Blue Shield in Michigan from a proposed $10 billion annual fee on the health insurance industry.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. -- Dodd, facing a re-election battle with low poll numbers, inserted a $100 million grant tailored to a proposal for a new hospital at the University of Connecticut Health Center.

In case you were wondering why there isn't any language any of the various versions of health care "reform" that deals with addressing the out of control escalation of lawsuits against doctors and hospitals (aka: tort reform), just have a look at who the biggest medical malpractice law firms in the country have given their money to since January of 2009.  The numbers speak for themselves.  (And if you don't believe them, just ask Howard Dean)

As mentioned earlier, former DNC chief and Vermont Governor Howard Dean has come out against the latest version of health care "reform" in the Senate.  And, much to the dismay of the White House, he's been making the rounds in the media opposing passage.

And since we recognize how rare the occasion that we would agree Dean on anything, it makes his following quote worth highlighting:

"The bill doesn't actually "cover" 30-million more Americans - instead it makes them criminals if they don't buy insurance."

Exactly.

It is being reported, by almost all news media outlets, that the almost year-long debate on the make-or-break issue of the Obama presidency is actually coming down to the vote of one single Democrat Senator.  Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska has threatened to vote against the ObamaCare bill being considered in the Senate unless it has guarantees that Americans will not have to subsidize abortions as well as addressing other fiscal concerns he has with the bill.  

The question of the decade, if not longer is, will Senator Ben Nelson provide the most important vote cast in the United States Congress in decades and vote to stop America from sliding into socialism?  Will he become an American hero as his fellow Democrat, Congressman Bart Stupak from Michigan, did in the House of Representatives last month?  The alternative for Senator Nelson  --  from the most conservative state in the union, besides Utah  --  is sure defeat when he runs for reelection in 2012.   

Congressman Bart Stupak, through incredible strength of character, refused to cave-in to the tremendous pressures put on him by the leadership of the Democrats in the House of Representatives during the debate of ObamaCare last month.  Congressman Stupak's pro-life amendment, preventing Americans from subsidizing abortions, passed overwhelmingly by a margin of 240 to 194 with 64 Democrats joining him along with every single Republican except for one who voted present.   

The following chart from Pollster.com gives you a good view of the growing opposition to Obamacare by the American public over time.

In fact, you can pretty much track the red "oppose" line with the increasing amount of details about the proposed versions of "reform" that began to sink in with people.

Which explains why Obama and the Democrats are in such a hurry to get it passed.

Senator Harry Reid, leader of the left-wing Democrats in the United States Senate, must be frightened about his reelection next year and about the several Republican challengers in Nevada who have a good-size lead over him in the polls.  He is desperate to get some kind of ObamaCare passed before Christmas and he cannot find the 60 votes to get a Senate floor vote on this socialized medicine scheme.   

Because of pressures like these, or out of pure stupidity, he went on the Senate floor on Monday and with some of the greatest chutzpah ever seen on the Senate floor insulted the Republican Senators and the Republican Party.  Indeed, Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss from Georgia said apparently Senate Majority Leader Reid is beginning "to crack."    

Senator Reid first complained that the Republicans were trying to stop the ObamaCare bill because all they can do is say no.  Reid then pretended that socialized medicine is something the American people want and the Republicans are trying to stop the bill from passing.  

Reid said on the Senate floor on Monday:  "Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, 'Slow down, stop everything, let's start over.'  If you think you've heard these excuses before, you're right.  When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, 'Slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough.'"