Most Americans like the new health care law, side with Democrats on tax issues

It's welcomed news that most Americans have not lost their minds on two major political issues facing the nation. A post-election McClatchy poll finds that a majority of Americans want Congress to keep the new health care law or actually expand it, despite Republican claims that they have a mandate from the people to kill it.

The post-election survey showed that 51 percent of registered voters want to keep the law or change it to do more, while 44 percent want to change it to do less or repeal it altogether.

Driving support for the law: Voters by margins of 2-1 or greater want to keep some of its best-known benefits, such as barring insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. One thing they don’t like: the mandate that everyone must buy insurance.

At the same time, the survey showed that a majority of voters side with the Democrats on another hot-button issue, extending the Bush era tax cuts that are set to expire Dec. 31 only for families making less than $250,000.

The results signal a more complicated and challenging political landscape for Republicans in Congress than their sweeping midterm wins suggested.