Bloggers: Pelosi hurt herself. Total split on gov't health insurance:

In this week's National Journal poll of political bloggers, all of the Right bloggers and almost all of the Left one agreed that Nancy Pelosi had hurt herself "with her handling of the waterboarding controversy." Most of the Left bloggres thought that she "Hurt herself a little," while the Right overwhelmingly picked "a lot."

I was in the latter group, and wrote: "The idea that the CIA might have lied to Pelosi, or might be lying now, is not implausible. The idea that Pelosi has been forthrightly providing a consistent version of what she knew and when she knew it appears impossible."

Question 2 asked about "including a new public insurance plan in health care reform." On the Left, 72% said that "Excluding it would be a deal-breaker," while the remainder wanted a public plan, but did not consider it essential. On the Right, 83% opposed a government plan, and 58% called it a deal-breaker. That group included me, and I wrote: "The government insurance program would inevitably benefit from taxpayer subsidies, making it less expensive, in the short run, than independent plans. Over time, the independent plans would be driven out of business, and even before then, many employers would force their employees into the government program. As private competition is eliminated, the imposition of Canadian-style rationing becomes feasible."