Washington is a Whole 'nother World

Here's a question that's both interesting and timely; what planet do people in Washington live on? Greg Sargent takes a look at CNN polling and finds that most Americans believe the Senate is moving in the wrong direction on healthcare reform.

Here’s something that adds a bit of perspective to the Senate’s decision to compromise by dropping the public option: The new CNN poll’s internals show that the public option is more popular than the current Senate health care compromise by a whopping 17 point difference.

The poll finds that only 36% favor the Senate compromise, versus 61% who oppose it.

By contrast, the poll finds that 53% favor the public option, versus 46% who oppose it.

Thirty-six percent for the Senate bill. Fifty-three percent for the public option.

It would be hard to find a clearer expression of how badly the need for a supermajority in the Senate is perverting democracy.

We gave these people a 60 seat majority and they still can't get their shit together. They're compromising, which is to be expected, but the wrong people are making concessions and the whole thing's going in the opposite direction of where Americans want it to go.

I still don't think there's a chance in hell of Democrats losing the Senate in '10, but it's not for lack of trying. If there was ever a supermajority that deserved to lose everything, this is the one. They will lose that 60 -- but it's hard for me to shed a tear over that when it hasn't done us a damned bit of good anyway.

In related news, Senate spinelessness is contagious and spreading to the House. I'd add an image to this post, but I can't find an adequate visual representation of a clusterfuck.