Got it Right, America

State of the debate. The debate Americans demanded, even as Dems wanted to push a healthcare bill through before the recess. Now they're back in DC. Has Congress learned anything? Americans have. Rasmussen, "52% of Insured Americans Say They’d Have to Switch Coverage if Health Care Reform Passes":

Numbers like these explain why the White House feels it’s necessary regain control of the health care debate. On most of the basic questions about the proposed legislation, skeptics outnumber the believers. Eighty percent (80%) say it’s likely that middle class taxes will go up if the congressional plan is passed. Two-thirds (68%) say that passage of health care reform will increase the deficit. Half believe the plan will increase costs and reduce the quality of care.

Got it right, America. Harvard prof Martin Feldstein, ObamaCare's Crippling Deficits:

While the deficits caused by the fiscal stimulus package will end in 2011 and will help to sustain a fragile recovery in 2010, the deficits projected for the longer term are a threat to our economic future. The starting point for controlling those future deficits is for Congress to abandon the administration's health-care plan—a plan that will cost more than $1 trillion.

Ears are ringing around the country. America's elites may await the Obama vision, but back home the debate clarified the battle lines. If we want to make our own life and death choices, not cede them to some heartless health czar, the best thing to do is start over, and this time get it right.

More: Gallup here. Independents are opposed 44%-29%. Seniors continue to be the "most hesitant" about the Dem bills. Gallup uses a pretty broad question, so though the numbers didn't move much in August, those in favor dropped a lot already in July--and the intensity of the opposition is greater.