GOP USA – by Watertown Daily Times (NY)
A majority of millennials — those age 18 to 29 — do not approve of the Affordable Care Act, the performance of President Barack Obama or the U.S. Congress, according to a survey conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics.
Reactions to the results in the north country reveal similar frustrations, although there are supporters of President Obama’s signature health-care legislation.
The survey, released by the institute Wednesday, reveals disillusionment with the political establishment, a phenomenon polling director John Della Volpe said was not surprising given past data.
“Young Americans hold the president, Congress and the federal government in less esteem almost by the day, and the levels of engagement they are having in politics are also on the decline,” Mr. Della Volpe said in a news release.
The Harvard survey found that a “solid majority” of millennials disapprove of the health care reform package regardless of what it is called — 56 percent disapprove of the “Affordable Care Act,” 57 percent disapprove of “Obamacare” — and 52 percent of millennials would vote to recall all members of Congress if they could.
President Obama’s job approval rating was pegged at 41 percent — the lowest since the start of his presidency, according to the survey.
Politicians, political hopefuls and students from Northern New York, some millennials and some not, voiced their viewpoints Wednesday.
“For me personally, I think it’s a bad thing,” said Jefferson Community College student Stephanie M. Weed, 23, of the Affordable Care Act.
Ms. Weed is putting herself through college by working at a local restaurant and said her employer cut her hours because if she works more than 30 hours a week, the restaurant will have to provide health insurance, which would be too expensive.
Ms. Weed is uninsured and said that she has not yet tried to sign up for insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s online insurance marketplaces.
“I’m waiting until after finals,” she said.
She was joined in her criticism of the law by Madelyn Y. Cabrera, 19, who is studying criminal justice at JCC in hopes of becoming a state trooper.
But Mrs. Cabrera has health insurance through her husband, who is a soldier.
She objects to the law on more philosophic terms. She doesn’t think the government should mandate that people buy insurance.
Mrs. Cabrera also said she felt that federal representatives were out of touch with their constituents.
“They are not enforcing popular democracy as much as they should, they are elite as I see it. They enforce things that people don’t want,” Mrs. Cabrera said.
Neither Ms. Weed nor Mrs. Cabrera voted for President Obama.
For engineering student John W. Pettit, 19, however, the Affordable Care Act is a good thing.
“I think it’s a good use of tax dollars, which is a lot better than what they’re being used for,” Mr. Pettit said. “It’s a lot better for people getting access to health care. It’s better for more people.”
Mr. Pettit said that he was mostly satisfied with President Obama’s performance in office.
“He’s sticking to most of the ideals he presented when he was trying to get elected,” Mr. Pettit said. “He’s doing the best he can.”
Mr. Pettit faulted Congress for the perceived dysfunction in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, who voted for the Affordable Care Act, said he empathized with frustrations felt by millennials with the implementation of the legislation but that he was standing by his vote.
The health-care law will be beneficial in the long run, Mr. Owens said.
“I’m a bit frustrated too. I’m not very happy with the rollout either,” Mr. Owens said. “But people are not focused on what we’re trying to accomplish, which is lower costs, better health care. Those are the things I need to be focused on long-term.”
For Republican Congressional candidate Elise M. Stefanik, who is aiming at Mr. Owens’s seat in 2014, the survey results highlight the anti-incumbent sentiment being felt across the country.
“What really struck me is that less than one in five young adults thinks the country is heading in the right direction. They find the failure of leadership in Washington goes beyond partisanship,” Ms. Stefanik said.
At 29, Ms. Stefanik just made the millennial cut. She said she was a member of the Harvard institute’s survey committee while she was a student there.
And for former St. Lawrence County Emergency Services director Joseph M. Gilbert, who resigned in September to run as a Republican for the 21st Congressional District, the survey brought much needed attention to long-standing problems with the size of the federal government and the Affordable Care Act.
“The only surprise here is that it took so long for the Millennials to wake up to what’s going on. But, instead of withdrawing from the political process, we need these Americans involved and engaged to change the system they are so fed up with,” Mr. Gilbert said.
Millennials are also concerned about student debt and balancing the federal budget, according to the survey.
They are unsure about the legacy of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed secrets about the NSA’s domestic data collection program: 22 percent of those surveyed associated him with the word “patriot,” 22 percent with the word “traitor,” and 52 percent said they were unsure about his legacy.
Mr. Della Volpe said the results should not be interpreted as apathy on the part of young voters, though engagement appears to be on the decline.
“People are disappointed because they are passionate,” Mr. Della Volpe said during a conference call about the survey results. “They care deeply about their country and their government.”
See survey results here: http://wdt.me/wVY7Jq
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(c)2013 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.)
Visit Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) at www.watertowndailytimes.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
“She objects to the law on more philosophic terms. She doesn’t think the government should mandate that people buy insurance.
Mrs. Cabrera also said she felt that federal representatives were out of touch with their constituents.
“They are not enforcing popular democracy as much as they should, they are elite as I see it. They enforce things that people don’t want,” Mrs. Cabrera said.”
This says it all. Here are two college students of progressive education system who do not even know what type of government we have. Here in the USA, our government is a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC. It is NOT a “democracy” as the progressives are teaching you. It has NEVER been a democracy.
In a Constitutional Republic, the constitution is basically the government, NOT the people who are elected to serve or those working for the fed gov to carry out the duties assigned to the different branches.
Here is a quote that might help them to understand, the caps are mine for emphasis, and because many who only can read “text” will be able to pick through it and get the salient points:
“God provided that in this land of liberty, OUR POLITICAL ALLEGIANCE SHALL RUN NOT TO INDIVIDUALS, that is, TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, no matter how great or how small they may be. Under His plan OUR ALLEGIANCE AND THE ONLY ALLEGIANCE WE OWE AS CITIZENS OR DENIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, RUNS TO OUR INSPIRED CONSTITUTION which God himself set up. SO RUNS THE OATH OF OFFICE OF THOSE WHO PARTICIPATE IN GOVERNMENT. A certain loyalty we do owe to the office which a man holds, but even here we owe just by reason of our citizenship, NO LOYALTY TO THE MAN HIMSELF. IN OTHER COUNTRIES IT IS TO THE INDIVIDUAL THAT ALLEGIANCE RUNS. THIS PRINCIPLE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE CONSTITUTION IS BASIC TO OUR FREEDOM. It is one of the great principles that distinguishes this “land of liberty” from other countries”.
“Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution will… be a FEDERAL, and not a NATIONAL constitution.” Madison, Federalist 39
She is correct when she said “…the government should mandate…”.
Lawfully they cannot “mandate”, They can ONLY regulate as that is the ONLY power given to them regarding the states commerce, not the power to “mandate”it.
US Constitution, Article 1: “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes”.
James Madison: the interstate and foreign commerce clauses were not intended, nor construed, to vest in Congress equivalent powers when regulating domestic and foreign commerce. “I always foresaw difficulties might be started in relation to the interstate commerce power. Being in the same terms with the power over foreign commerce, the same extent, if taken literally, would belong to it. Yet it is very certain it grew out of the abuse of the power of the importing states in taxing the non-importing, and was intended as a negative and preventative provision against injustice amongst the states themselves, rather than as a power to be used for the positive purposes of the General Government, in which alone, however, the remedial power could be lodged. And it will be safer to leave the power with this key to it, than to extend it all the qualities and incidental means belonging to the power over foreign commerce.”
“They are unsure about the legacy of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed secrets about the NSA’s domestic data collection program: 22 percent of those surveyed associated him with the word “patriot,” 22 percent with the word “traitor,” and 52 percent said they were unsure about his legacy.”
Snowden is a HERO in every sense of the word. He put his own life on the line to let the PEOPLE know about the CRIMINAL ACTS BEING COMMITTED BY THOSE IN GOVERNMENT. He did NOT commit a criminal act, he did EXACTLY as the oath he took, and the contract he is under – by the US Constitution and all that is in PURSUANCE thereof it, which is the supreme law of this land. Snowden KEPT our laws, while those who are saying that he “revealed secrets” are lying to you. He revealed secrets that are CRIMINAL ACTS ON THE PART OF THOSE WHO WERE UNLAWFULLY SPYING ON ALL US CITIZENS. THEY are the criminals. Those who think otherwise are buying what the communistic progressives are selling without bothering to use their brains to think with instead of being told what to think. That shows you just how brainwashed and mis – taught you are educationally.
In the new “core” for the classrooms, they re wrote the Bill of Rights incorrectly deliberately, lied about what powers the federal gov has, etc. They have been changing and lying in what you have been taught for decades now. Grow up, take responsibility for your own education.
Example: This is like a crook telling you that the person who caught them in the act of stealing your stuff – which is EXACTLY what happened, and then blaming the person who caught and is working to stop the theft. And YOU are buying what the crook is telling you – which is exactly what is happening. Duhh.
Learn the US Constitution from reading the document, not from being told what it says, they are LYING to you. It is important because it tells you what they can and – most importantly – CANNOT do! Read your state constitution for the same reason – it says EXACTLY what those in your state government at any level can or CANNOT do.
Then enforce it.
Mr. Pettit is going to have fun in those FEMA camps after he finds himself homeless and out of a job and therefore declared an enemy to our foreign government.
Hey, Mr. Pettit, I know you’re only 19, but if you wanna learn how to become an engineer, you better start learning how the gears of government work. Good luck finding a job after getting out of your indoctrinated education. Don’t be surprised when you come out bankrupt for the rest of your life. Happy trails!