As Democrats struggle to pass a health care overhaul bill by Christmas, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday found support for the reform plan has sunk to its lowest level since April 2009.
Just 32 percent of respondents said that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul proposal is a good idea, with 47 percent responding that the plan is a bad idea.
A portion of the poll was released just as the Senate was thrust into health care gridlock after a Republican senator forced a clerk to read aloud a 767-page amendment.
Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma had sought approval to require that any amendment considered by the Senate must be offered 72 hours in advance and with a full cost report.
When he was rebuffed by Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, Coburn invoked his right to require that an amendment by another lawmaker be read aloud. That sent the Senate into limbo, since the amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, is 767 pages long.
It's unclear how long the procedural standoff will continue. GOP aides told NBC News that the reading of the bill could take until midnight.
SOURCE: MSNBC
