In Friday’s early morning hours, news outlets had their spotlights trained on Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), casting him as the decisive player in the latest health repeal drama.
When McCain walked to the front of the room, flagged the clerk, and gave a thumbs down, reporters immediately dashed out of the gallery to pound out stories about the “maverick” move.
Had we started “fighting for the world we need” three decades ago when corporate control of gubmit started making its greatest advances courtesy of Saint Ron’s revolution and concurrent Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) formation we would not be faced with attempting to prevent repeal of a corporate welfare program disguised as health care reform.
GOP meddling since the 2016 election has already negatively impacted many Murkins’ health care and many more will be impacted on January 1, 2018 even if there is no more voting or action by Congress on this issue.
“Beat healthcare REPEAL” ? Perhaps. Unfortunately the GOP has the power to accelerate US healthcare’s downward spiral without taking any formal action and there are no signs of that power being diminished any time soon.
A great article and thank you so much.
We now have to block the trillion dollar cuts for healthcare funding in the Republican budget. This is far from over but it is a good start.
Again thanks very much!!!
“Democrats should put forward an agenda that lowers the age for medicare, expands Medicaid, creates a public option, and requires the government to negotiate drug prices”.
What part of Democrats having doctors and nurses arrested who came to the ACA negotiating table advocating all of the above doesn’t the author understand ?
Had Obama done nothing other than lower the Medicare age from 65 to 60 in 2010, not only would the Democrats continue to control Congress today, the unemployment rate for young Murkins would have been reduced as more older workers retired from the jobs they stay in solely for the employer sponsored medical insurance.
This author is under the impression that Democrats could possibly agitate their health insurance money train.
Reality check: the kabuki theater is now playing another production of “Lucy Holds for the Field Goal.”
“Now is the time to put forward bold solutions that drive in that direction. Democrats should put forward legislation that lowers the Medicare age, expands Medicaid, creates a public option in every state…”
Expanding Medicare may be thought of as “driving in [the] direction” of single payer - but not the public option, where people can choose a government insurance plan.
A public option will divide up the insurance market so that private insurers insure healthy and - thus - high-profit-earning people, while government insures people with greater health needs at high cost to taxpayers.
And yet, as this article shows, the public option is being put back on the table by some progressives - including Sanders who recently floated the idea, as reported in CD’s “Sanders: ‘We’re Figuring Out How We Can Mount a National Campaign’ for Single Payer.”
Yes, “People, Not Politicans, Beat Healthcare Repeal” - and progressive movements, not progressive politicians will have to drive healthcare reform. Sanders is a politician - a progressive politician, but a politician.
I say politician not as a value judgment, but simply descriptively to point up the fact that, like any politician, he will only go as far as his electorate drives him. Like any politician, he will have to be pushed and “enabled” to demand progressive legislation; he cannot be thought of as an independent actor who carries out our vision of the good apart from mass demands.
Simply, Sanders, and any progressive politician, will be no stronger than the movement that drives them; it is up to us to push not only Democrats, but Sanders.
As Bodeswell linked re the public option in the above-cited article where Sanders weighed in:
Are we supposed to ignore that the last democratic candidate for president said medicare for all was impossible, during the campaign. Should we ignore that powerful democrats Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi are also saying the US cannot have medicare for all.
Does anyone believe Bernie Sanders does not understand his own cynicism when he pushes the public option instead of medicare for all?
“Simply, Sanders, and any progressive politician, will be no stronger than the movement that drives them; it is up to us to push not only Democrats, but Sanders.”
Why not put energy behind someone like Representative Gabbard. She doesn’t need to be driven into working for what is right.
Tulsi Gabbard already pushes for medicare for all. Forget Sanders if he tries to confuse people with the public option.
At the risk of being a Debbie Downer, only one unexpected Republican voted against the Skinny Repeal. I’d figured on a few more. It’s frustrating that despite all of the protesting, calling, writing, etc. we could only get one senator, one who approves of repeal in general. 49 others simple dismissed and/or ignored their constituents. They’re clearly acting on behalf of their donors and not the taxpayers. It’s demoralizing.
