A Compassionate People We Ain't, Maybe...

Or it could be that the spirit of Howard Jarvis (California's infamous Proposition 13 tax measure author) lives on in most Americans.

I came across a great survey done this past October about health care reform in the U.S., conducted by Deloitte LLC, which showed that only 25 percent of the public favors higher taxes to provide health insurance for the uninsured while 43 percent are outright opposed. The rest are labeled "mixed" or "lukewarm."

The survey also found that 63 percent oppose an individual mandate forcing all people to have health insurance either through work or on their own, while 53 percent favor an employer mandate. Finally (there's more but you can hit the link above to read it), two out of three said health care would be a prime factor in their presidential vote.

(Two-thirds also opposed evidence-based medicine, which means they didn't understand the concept or they saw right through it and realized it's just a code term for rationing. I hope the latter is the case.)

Reading through the results, I concluded (but I had this opinion before reading the survey, to be honest) that the American public still believes that somehow Obama et al. can create a health care system that is free while offering freedom of choice and quick access.

If pipes can dream, then that's what they'll get, but show me that pipe dreaming first.