NY Times, CBS Bury Own Poll on Obamacare; Times Plays Up Declining Prestige of SCOTUS

With the president’s signature “achievement” on life support, The New York Times decided to bury the story in the Friday front-page article “Approval Rating for Justice Hits Just 44% in New Poll.” Times reporters Adam Liptak and Allison Kopicki attacked the most prestigious institution in the country, claiming “the public is skeptical about life tenure for the justices, with 60 percent agreeing with the statement that appointing Supreme Court justices for life is a bad thing because it gives them too much power. One-third agreed with a contrary statement, that life tenure for justices “is a good thing because it helps keep them independent from political pressures.”

While the Times seems to insist the court is losing public prestige, it doesn’t want to report on how ObamaCare is still a flop with the public. They save this for paragraph 16:  “41 percent of Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn the entire health care law passed in 2010, while another 27 percent want the court to throw out the part of the law that requires most people to buy coverage. The poll, conducted by the New York Times and CBS News, reveals that more respondents disapprove of the law than approve, 48 percent to 34 percent.”  

Moreover, ” that marks only a one-percentage-point uptick in those who disapprove of the law since the last poll was conducted, in mid-April, but a five-percentage-point drop in those who approve.”The coup de grace is “the percentage of people saying they want the court to throw out the entire law rose four points, from 37 percent to 41 percent, since the last CBS News/New York Times poll was conducted. About a quarter in the new poll—24 percent—said they want the whole law upheld.

How is this possible?  Well, as George Will stated on This Week two years ago, 85% of Americans already had coverage.  Furthermore 95% of that 85% said that they were satisfied with their health care coverage.  Even Politifact said that was mostly true!  In addition, we’ve had an unemployment rate that has been above 8% for over thirty-eight months.  During twenty-six of those months, the rate was above 9%.  This is after a $830 billion dollar stimulus with interest rates at zero.  Factor in a trillion dollar new entitlement, Obamacare, and we have a recipe for economic anxiety.

PS: At least the New York Times published their polling numbers in connection with a front-page story. CBS buried the poll results, reporting them only on Friday’s early-early CBS Morning News:

HAZEL SANCHEZ, anchor: And later this month, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on President Obama`s health care overhaul. The law has become a key campaign issue. A just released CBS News/New York Times poll finds forty-one percent of Americans want to see the entire health care law overturned. Fifty-five percent believe Justices will decide the case based on personal or political views. And concerning Arizona`s tough immigration law that allows police to check the immigration status of anyone who is lawfully stopped, fifty-two percent believe the law is “about right.”