As I wrote earlier, passage of the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” was not going to be the last word in the debate. This post will track the public discourse on the new legislation, admittedly though in a rather unscientific manner.
This is a measure of how many AHCAA-related articles appeared on Real Clear Politics, and whether the article was arguing in favor of the bill, against it, or was informational or hard news. Granted, there is a measure of sample selectivity as this is an examination only of editorials and articles chosen by the Real Clear Politics staff, but given that Real Clear Politics is one of the best-regarded political news aggregation sites, it should give an idea into how the discourse has been trending.
Monday March 22
For: 6
Against: 10
Info/hard news: 11
Tuesday March 23
For: 6
Against: 6
Info/hard news: 7
Wednesday March 24
For: 6
Against: 8
Info/hard news: 8
Thursday March 25
For: 4
Against: 3
Info/hard news: 8
Friday March 26
For: 3
Against: 3
Info/hard news: 3
Saturday March 27
For: 1
Against: 2
Info/hard news: 1
Analysis
There were more articles against the new legislation than in favor of it, although this is admittedly not a scientific measure of public opinion. It does show though that this issue is being staked out as a campaign issue for the November 2010 elections, especially with potential 2012 Republican candidate Bobby Jindal writing an editorial in the Wall Street Journal against the bill.
The law has passed, but the issues seems to remain unsettled. Health care stocks will likely remain a trader’s market as political chatter continues. A long-term investment must be chosen wisely, as there is still much political risk in this sector.
Disclosure: No positions
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