By Chris Stirewalt, Fox News
CRASHES, CANCELLED POLICIES FRACTURE DEMS –As millions of Americans receive notices that their insurance policies are being cancelled because of new ObamaCare regulations, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., will offer her own bill that will allow Americans to keep their existing plans. When news broke this week that the president for years led voters to believe they could keep their coverage under his insurance overhaul despite knowing otherwise, Republicans pounced offering legislation to block the Obama rules banning low-post, bare-bones coverage. Landrieu, facing a tough re-election fight in a Republican state, is jumping the line with a bill of her own. “The promise was made and it should be kept,” Landrieu told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “And it was our understanding when we voted for that, that people when they have insurance, could keep what they had. So, I’m going to be working on that fix.” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is also preparing his own legislation that would delay by a full year the imposition of ObamaCare fines for those who don’t buy insurance.
Crash drives Obama to new low – President Obama went to Boston to rally his supporters on behalf of his embattled law, but a new WSJ/NBC News poll shows that the failed launch of his signature law is proving a major drag with the public at large. His job approval rating skidded to 42 percent, the lowest-ever rating in the poll. That’s an 11-point drop from his job approval rating following his re-election and 5 points since last month. Disapproval for the health law shot up to 47 percent, 10 points ahead of approval, double the gap from earlier this month.
Scary stuff – It was a dire WSJ/NBC News poll that drove Republicans to the exits on the partial federal shutdown three weeks ago. Now it’s the Democrats turn for a fright. The president’s tanking poll numbers and the surge in concern over the beleaguered ObamaCare rollout will push more moderate Democrats to conclude that their best path is away from the president and his law. Shutdowns are temporary. ObamaCare is forever.
DEADLINE FOR DEMS ON OBAMACARE EXEMPTIONS –Will top Democrats in Congress choose to exempt their staffs from ObamaCare? Today is the deadline for lawmakers to decide whether to grant a hugely valuable exemption to the staffs of congressional committees. House Republicans have all opted to submit themselves and their staffs to the costly provisions of the law. But as today’s deadline approached, Senate Democrats appeared split on the issue.
