General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"But we couldn't *possibly* have gotten single payer!"
Could we have gotten single payer, a.k.a. Medicare for All?Well...
Polls consistently found that two-thirds of Americans were in favor of Medicare for All when the ACA was being negotiated.
Two thirds!
Including, IIRC, more than half of Republicans.
Two thirds!
Any political party that can't turn the will of two-thirds of Americans into law either doesn't want what The People want, or they totally suck as politicians. Either way, they ain't getting the job done.
Two thirds!
That's all you need to know. Everything else is a detail, a needless distraction.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Because it was off the table from the beginning. Why bring it up six years after the fact? Really, what purpose does that serve?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)We don't need to be reminded. We weren't in a coma. We remember the election, the primaries, and how single payer was never on the table. By not answering it demonstrates you did exactly nothing to promote single payer at the time, yet now you raise the issue. Is there some reason you consistently refuse to focus on any current legislation we can actually affect and instead work to further disillusion with the Democratic Party?
I again feel the need to point out that this view of social change you advance where it is bestowed from above by a benevolent leader is completely counter-factual. If people want something done, they can't sit around complaining and expect anything to happen. Government has to be forced to act in the interests of the people. That is the ONLY way anything has ever changed. Complaining years after the fact only serves to depress social activism, not promote it.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Creating a rich fabric of nonsense to describe my life because you don't have information?
Seems like SOP for you.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)I put no words in your mouth. I asked a simple question. Why are you complaining about this now? What purpose does it serve? Do you really imagine you are the only person with any memory of recent political events? Why don't you focus on something people can act on now?
You consistently avoid answering questions. Why is that? Why is it you refuse to explain your reason for posting what you do?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)You can play that game, but I'm not.
To add insult to injury, I *did* explain why I posted the OP, and now you claim I did not! Incredible!
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)but your clearly have a reason for refusing to answer the most simple questions.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)What words did I put in your mouth? Provide the quote.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)You have no @#$%ing idea of what I did or did not do.
So #$%^ off.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)because you refused to answer. This is the rest of that post:
This relates to your comment about what was "done to people."
If you want to see real change, why not encourage people to mobilize around something we can do right now? ACA has already been passed. Is there something you'd like to see done now?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)How about an apology?
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)for insulting me.
When you refuse to answer questions, people are going to assume there is a reason for it. That is only natural. You deliberately chose not to respond to that or any of my other questions. You gave the excuse of my being rude, when than "rudeness" amounted to interrogating your position about single payer, the public option, and the Democratic Party. You then turn around and swear at me.
TexasTowelie
(112,609 posts)On Sun Mar 23, 2014, 09:33 PM an alert was sent on the following post:
e.g., "By not answering it demonstrates you did exactly nothing to promote single payer at the time"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4716662
REASON FOR ALERT
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.
ALERTER'S COMMENTS
Clear personal attack.
You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sun Mar 23, 2014, 09:40 PM, and the Jury voted 3-3 to LEAVE IT.
Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: The alerter made a personal attack in the first reply to Manny's OP. While a bit rude, these two have been going after each other for awhile. Since Manny censored his response it doesn't rise to the point of hiding his response.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Starts a flame bait thread, then hurl abuse when people disagree? C'mon. Hide this juvenile crap.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: I'm afraid so. Hide.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: IMO, BainsBane is badgering Manny in this thread, insulting him by insinuating that he doesn't understand English. BainsBain should be the one locked out of this thread.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Yes it was a personal attack and uncivil. This sort of thing does nothing to contribute to the discussion.
Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.
tkmorris
(11,138 posts)Sheesh, I wonder who did that? Juror 5 had the right of it I think.
philly_bob
(2,419 posts)OP=interesting point, followed by an ambush of harsh hair-splitting questions.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)JAQing is a technique to derail a discussion. http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_asking_questions
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Is your contention that someone should post an OP and then not be expected to discuss his views? I thought the purpose of a discussion board was discussion?
xocet
(3,874 posts)Here is a commentary addressing that topic:
Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 08:05 PM PST
...
The basic plot had the kid who did the school announcements being killed in a terrible (and moronically absurd) misunderstanding, and Cartman conniving his way into the job. Cartman being his usual sociopathic self, he abuses the privilege and turns the morning intercom announcements into a radio (and then TV) shock-jock show, which he uses to spread all sorts of irresponsible rumors about 4th grade class president, Wendy Testaburger. She's just doing a responsible job, but to get attention (and because he's an asshole) he accuses her of being a slut, imposing socialist tyranny on the school, murdering Smurfs, etc.... or does he, since, like Glenn Beck, he's "just asking questions."
Cartman does the whole Beck shtick -- the chalkboard with the letters that spell things out, the obnoxious insistence that he's not really claiming anything but only "asking questions" and therefore has no responsibility for anyone believing his lies, selling books filled with slander, acting like a narcissistic lunatic ass-clown... he even starts developing Beck's "used Q-Tip" hair coloring, just in case anybody had any doubts this is a Beck slam. A lot of the stupider kids in the school (including Smurf-loving Butters) believe everything Cartman says just because he has access to a microphone. Just like Beck's real audience.
...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/11/803576/-South-Park-slammed-Glenn-Beck-Palin#
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)hinges on refusal to interrogate one's own political views or respond to questions about them? Here I have been thinking leftism was based on thought, reason, and evidence and could sustain interrogation, but now you tell me the very act of questioning is itself right wing.
7962
(11,841 posts)and let the name calling begin. Koch brother lover, racist, tea bagger, etc. Never mind refuting what I've said, just attack me. You see it in OPs critical of Pres Obama. Even in the ones where we have a few who persistently defend Putin & Maduro. Any view different from theirs and you MUST be a right-winger, or a troll, or an alien from where ever
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)I support single payer. My question is what does complaining about it several years after the fact achieve? How about proposing something we can do now to improve ACA or bring about single payer?
xocet
(3,874 posts)Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)Shocking
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)It feels familiar too.
I remember your earlier reply to me when I questioned your trivialising women's objections to hypersexualized stereotyping in a jokey post about prudes. (Puke. Most violence against women, as well as everyday harrassment is sexualized, so of course women have opinions on it. It's not "prudery". Yecch. What anti-woman bullshit.)
I remember you bending over backwards in a different instance to apologize for perceived racism (the gefilte fish kerfuffle), but for my questions, you not only brushed me off, but added an insult as well. Just to make sure the little lady was well and truly put in her place, I suppose.
So. I'm just noticing your flip response to BB.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)who asks Manny about his views.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Oh, well! I'm questioning my "need" to spend too much time on people that are disrespectful or hypocritical. I see that I do feed into it myself: I get a charge out of trying to give 'em the whack I think they so richly deserve . (Admitting our own part is half the battle. )
I've put a bunch of people on ignore, just so that I don't get myself all bent outa shape trying to force evolution on 'em. LoL!
TheKentuckian
(25,035 posts)raising the awareness of the people who may then demand more than bumbling, nonsense excuses to serve the wealthy at our expense.
Fuck off the table, they are supposed to be there to work for us.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)What exactly are they accountable for if people weren't demanding single payer in 2008-09? If people want change, they need to get up and work for it. These politicians aren't going to hand you a fucking thing. They never have and they never will. People did nothing and now sit back and complain that congress and the President didn't read their minds. That's not how it works.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Instead, we got The Banker White House.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)because no one promised it. Not Obama, not Clinton, and not McCain. If you didn't pay attention to the policies the President proposed, you have no one to blame but yourself.
If you actually believe what you just wrote, it appears your memory of the election is worst that most.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)As did many, many people. And I expected an attempt at that, rather than The Banker White House.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Not in 2009 when the public option was being debated?
Who was the last president you liked? Have you liked any Democratic Presidents during your lifetime?
Why would you think it's possible to have a government not influenced by big money under the current campaign financing system?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Or just a really crappy debater?
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)but I clearly have you beat, since you continue to evade the subject. Answer the questions. Why bring it up now?
Who was the last president you actually liked? Did you really imagine it was possible to have an administration not subject to big money under the current campaign financing laws? If so, how is that possible?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Particularly ones who just make things up about me.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Cornered, I see. I accept your surrender. I know what's going on anyway. I just figured I've give you a chance to try to explain.
Game, set, and match.
tridim
(45,358 posts)Response to BainsBane (Reply #64)
Post removed
zeemike
(18,998 posts)And now you make it about Manny.
I guess you can't defend Pelosi taking it off the table right away...and once it is off the table that makes it over in your mind...like the table is what rules.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)What has she got to do with me? I asked him to explain his views. He chose not to.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I KNEW he wasn't for Single Payer which is why I supported Hillary Clinton....but when he beat her in the Primaries....I threw him my support.
Please tell me you are at least as politically savvy as I was in those days....
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)I'm sure we can phrase it another way if that will help.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Did he have a tag next to it?
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Hillary over Obama in the primaries....but he won....so thats how the cookie crumbles...
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Ok, then.
Common Sense Party
(14,139 posts)cui bono
(19,926 posts)cui bono
(19,926 posts)as POTUS.
By Zaid Jilani on December 22, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I didnt campaign on the public option, President Obama told the Washington Post. But he touted the public option on his campaign website and spoke frequently in support of it during the first year of his presidency, citing its essential value in holding the private insurance industry accountable and providing competition:
In the 2008 Obama-Biden health care plan on the campaigns website, candidate Obama promised that any American will have the opportunity to enroll in [a] new public plan. [2008]
During a speech at the American Medical Association, President Obama told thousands of doctors that one of the plans included in the new health insurance exchanges needs to be a public option that will give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market. [6/15/09]
While speaking to the nation during his weekly address, the President said that any plan he signs must include a public option. [7/17/09]
During a conference call with progressive bloggers, the President said he continues to believe that a robust public option would be the best way to go. [7/20/09]
Obama told NBCs David Gregory that a public option should be a part of this [health care bill], while rebuking claims that the plan was dead. [9/20/09]
Despite all this overt advocacy for the public option, it appears that Obama was reticent to apply the political pressure necessary to get the plan in the final hours of congressional negotiation. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who threatened to filibuster the creation of any new public plan or expansion of Medicare told the Huffington Post that he didnt really have direct input from the White House on the public option and was never specifically asked to support it.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), one of the most ardent backers of public insurance, blamed the demise of the public option on a lack of support from the administration. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) perhaps the most visible defender of the public option in the entire health care debate went even further, saying that Obamas lack of support for congressional progressives amounted to him being half-pregnant with the health insurance and drug industries.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/12/22/74682/obama-repeatedly-touted-public/
Regarding Obama saying he never campaigned on the public option:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/yes_obama_did_campaign_on_the.html
A summary of Obamas proposal still up on BarackObama.com says it Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who cant find affordable coverage with a real choice. And a document his campaign put together, Barack Obamas Plan for a Healthy America, says:
The Obama plan both builds upon and improves our current insurance system, upon which most Americans continue to rely, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans. The Obama plan also addresses the large gaps in coverage that leave 45 million Americans uninsured. Specifically, the Obama plan will: (1) establish a new public insurance program available to Americans who neither qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP nor have access to insurance through their employers, as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees
On the other hand, the words campaign on have a fairly specific meaning they imply making some issue or message a particular focus of your campaign, as in, In 2004, President Bush campaigned on terrorism. And while it was indeed a pretty weaselly thing for him to say, Obamas comment was, on that score, accurate.
http://www.salon.com/2009/12/22/obama_public/
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)and not the public option?
MindMover
(5,016 posts)I say does not compute ...
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 12:34 PM - Edit history (1)
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)so you are wrong....wag your finger at yourself. Check out Sweden for example....
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)perhaps he is smarter than you are....
cui bono
(19,926 posts)But anyway, if "HE knew it wasn't possible" why did he mention it in campaign speeches and many times during his first year as POTUS?
By Zaid Jilani on December 22, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I didnt campaign on the public option, President Obama told the Washington Post. But he touted the public option on his campaign website and spoke frequently in support of it during the first year of his presidency, citing its essential value in holding the private insurance industry accountable and providing competition:
In the 2008 Obama-Biden health care plan on the campaigns website, candidate Obama promised that any American will have the opportunity to enroll in [a] new public plan. [2008]
During a speech at the American Medical Association, President Obama told thousands of doctors that one of the plans included in the new health insurance exchanges needs to be a public option that will give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market. [6/15/09]
While speaking to the nation during his weekly address, the President said that any plan he signs must include a public option. [7/17/09]
During a conference call with progressive bloggers, the President said he continues to believe that a robust public option would be the best way to go. [7/20/09]
Obama told NBCs David Gregory that a public option should be a part of this [health care bill], while rebuking claims that the plan was dead. [9/20/09]
Despite all this overt advocacy for the public option, it appears that Obama was reticent to apply the political pressure necessary to get the plan in the final hours of congressional negotiation. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who threatened to filibuster the creation of any new public plan or expansion of Medicare told the Huffington Post that he didnt really have direct input from the White House on the public option and was never specifically asked to support it.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), one of the most ardent backers of public insurance, blamed the demise of the public option on a lack of support from the administration. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) perhaps the most visible defender of the public option in the entire health care debate went even further, saying that Obamas lack of support for congressional progressives amounted to him being half-pregnant with the health insurance and drug industries.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/12/22/74682/obama-repeatedly-touted-public/
Regarding Obama saying he never campaigned on the public option:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/yes_obama_did_campaign_on_the.html
A summary of Obamas proposal still up on BarackObama.com says it Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who cant find affordable coverage with a real choice. And a document his campaign put together, Barack Obamas Plan for a Healthy America, says:
The Obama plan both builds upon and improves our current insurance system, upon which most Americans continue to rely, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans. The Obama plan also addresses the large gaps in coverage that leave 45 million Americans uninsured. Specifically, the Obama plan will: (1) establish a new public insurance program available to Americans who neither qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP nor have access to insurance through their employers, as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees
On the other hand, the words campaign on have a fairly specific meaning they imply making some issue or message a particular focus of your campaign, as in, In 2004, President Bush campaigned on terrorism. And while it was indeed a pretty weaselly thing for him to say, Obamas comment was, on that score, accurate.
http://www.salon.com/2009/12/22/obama_public/
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)hell no....
could you or anyone else have gotten Single Payer....No they could not...
So what is your major malfunction with admitting Obama is smarter than I am...
cui bono
(19,926 posts)it was in his platform and he touted it a lot during his first year as POTUS.
You ignored that while dwelling on my gentle teasing about how you accidentally posted a reply to yourself. Sheesh, it was a tiny tease in good fun, no major malfunction. So let's get back to the point.
Here's the info regarding Obama and the public option again:
By Zaid Jilani on December 22, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I didnt campaign on the public option, President Obama told the Washington Post. But he touted the public option on his campaign website and spoke frequently in support of it during the first year of his presidency, citing its essential value in holding the private insurance industry accountable and providing competition:
In the 2008 Obama-Biden health care plan on the campaigns website, candidate Obama promised that any American will have the opportunity to enroll in [a] new public plan. [2008]
During a speech at the American Medical Association, President Obama told thousands of doctors that one of the plans included in the new health insurance exchanges needs to be a public option that will give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market. [6/15/09]
While speaking to the nation during his weekly address, the President said that any plan he signs must include a public option. [7/17/09]
During a conference call with progressive bloggers, the President said he continues to believe that a robust public option would be the best way to go. [7/20/09]
Obama told NBCs David Gregory that a public option should be a part of this [health care bill], while rebuking claims that the plan was dead. [9/20/09]
Despite all this overt advocacy for the public option, it appears that Obama was reticent to apply the political pressure necessary to get the plan in the final hours of congressional negotiation. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who threatened to filibuster the creation of any new public plan or expansion of Medicare told the Huffington Post that he didnt really have direct input from the White House on the public option and was never specifically asked to support it.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), one of the most ardent backers of public insurance, blamed the demise of the public option on a lack of support from the administration. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) perhaps the most visible defender of the public option in the entire health care debate went even further, saying that Obamas lack of support for congressional progressives amounted to him being half-pregnant with the health insurance and drug industries.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/12/22/74682/obama-repeatedly-touted-public/
Regarding Obama saying he never campaigned on the public option:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/yes_obama_did_campaign_on_the.html
A summary of Obamas proposal still up on BarackObama.com says it Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who cant find affordable coverage with a real choice. And a document his campaign put together, Barack Obamas Plan for a Healthy America, says:
The Obama plan both builds upon and improves our current insurance system, upon which most Americans continue to rely, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans. The Obama plan also addresses the large gaps in coverage that leave 45 million Americans uninsured. Specifically, the Obama plan will: (1) establish a new public insurance program available to Americans who neither qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP nor have access to insurance through their employers, as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees
On the other hand, the words campaign on have a fairly specific meaning they imply making some issue or message a particular focus of your campaign, as in, In 2004, President Bush campaigned on terrorism. And while it was indeed a pretty weaselly thing for him to say, Obamas comment was, on that score, accurate.
http://www.salon.com/2009/12/22/obama_public/
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I am sure he also supports "common sense gun control" and he has even (gasp) mentioned it....but he didn't run on that either did he?
In fact here he is "mentioning" it.....Why hasn't he written gun control legislation since he obviously supports it?
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/240211-obama-common-sense-gun-control-needed-for-criminals-and-mentally-ill-
But then...you knew that right?
cui bono
(19,926 posts)So why are you stuck on whether or not he ran on it? And no, they're really not that different. Don't know where you get that idea. People run on things they support, they support things they run on, they mention things they support, etc... etc.. etc... You are just playing semantics now.
It's actually worse that he kept talking about it and saying it would be there when he spoke about it during his first year as POTUS and then never really trying to make sure it was there.
He brought it up many times in his first year as POTUS then never fought for it. Makes no difference at that point whether he ran on it or not.
You're missing the forest for the trees.
I've made my point, the citations are in my previous posts. I'm not going to ride the merry-go-round any more with you this time.
You have the floor.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)putting it out there is NOT the same thing is it???
NOW who misses forests and trees....
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)is it benefiting you? Of course it is....
Then what is your problem? That he didn't have the Single Payer magic wand?
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Barack Obama...I told people exactly that. But when she lost the primary to him....I went with who my fellow Democrats selected....because that is how this Democracy works....
and you?
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Clinton
Hillary Clinton is a Populist-Leaning Liberal.
vs Obama
Barack Obama is a Moderate Liberal.
and for good measure and some perspective....
Bill Clinton is a Moderate Liberal.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)based on not using facts only for the input.
Those mean absolutely nothing because they use quotes of politicians as data. We all know politician's words alone are meaningless, what matters is their voting and legislative record.
If you want to argue about it I'll dig up the thread where it was gone over before. I don't remember if it was you or someone else who thought these were meaningful.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)YOU only base it on the one or two issues of concern to YOU...and that is NOT how it works is it...
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)IT'S THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY.
In fact, I can't think of a worse way than yours to act on all this, except to go to the polls and vote 100% Repuke. In fact, basically what you are doing is exactly that - voting Republican.
And don't tell me that I'm shutting you up, or that you can't speak your mind. And whatever you do, do not tell me that you're doing the right thing by voting "YOUR HEART" (ha) for candidates that couldn't get elected if their very life depended on it. Candidates that will never, ever, ever, ever be able to inspire the majority of the American nation, and don't now. Candidates that promise lots and deliver exactly nothing. Candidates that are supported by a tiny fringe group who think that the way to get Republican ideology out of this land is by finding new and novel ways of getting Republicans in office by voting for LOSER candidates.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I have NEVER vote Republican....I vote for Democrats...Don't YOU?
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I have no idea wtf the rest of your breathless rant was about....incoherent.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)You asked who I voted for and I told you...then you claimed anyone I would vote for would ONLY be a part of a "fringe group". And funny you now hate everything about the party he leads...
You may think that supporters of the President are a "tiny fringe group" on DU (which I don't agree about) but they are hardly a "tiny fringe group" in the rest of the country...
Here is the part that was the most egregious:
Candidates that are supported by a tiny fringe group who think that the way to get Republican ideology out of this land is by finding new and novel ways of getting Republicans in office by voting for LOSER candidates.
I am voting for the Person that wins the Democratic Primary.
I lived in South Carolina as a Liberal Democrat for many years...DO NOT try to tell me about Republicans....I was soaking in them...
But glad you have calmed down now....
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)I can't even stand to look at one, seriously.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Northern Fla is unreal when it comes to politics....I was shocked (I was married to guy from there). As a resident of N. Fla I know you have it hard too..though you may have found some compatriots in Duvall County but in South Carolina....I was a social pariah! I didn't know anyone that thought like me. I went to Ed Schultz's One Nation rally in DC and cried all day because "I found my people". So I have earned my right to speak my mind here...I will not be silenced and I am sure you feel the same way. I am not one of the "bash all the Democrats" on DU crowd that thinks that is going to work....they have NO idea about the reality that nearly HALF this country has been brainwashed by Republicans. I defy them to go to these places and TRY to suddenly get Teabaggers and rural Republicans to agree to suddenly accept Leftwing policies...they seem to think that they would be easily swayed...I got news for them THAT is not going to happen. Progress is going to happen slowly and incrementally BECAUSE of those people.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)I liked what you said:
I am not one of the "bash all the Democrats" on DU crowd that thinks that is going to work....they have NO idea about the reality that nearly HALF this country has been brainwashed by Republicans. I defy them to go to these places and TRY to suddenly get Teabaggers and rural Republicans to agree to suddenly accept Leftwing policies...they seem to think that they would be easily swayed...I got news for them THAT is not going to happen. Progress is going to happen slowly and incrementally BECAUSE of those people.
I honestly don't understand how some libs can possibly not realize that this country has been under a right wing siege for 30+ years. I mean, how disconnected would one have to be to think that way? How out of touch would one have to be to think that fighting these people is magically and not through hard work and strategy?
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I don't know how some do not understand that. They think if the Dems just go full on far left....that suddenly magically it would just happen. My exposure to THESE people is what makes me more of a realist than the idealists on DU....I would love to be full on Socialist like Northern Europe....but I know...that is NOT going to happen instantaneously because WE support it.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)They are about as insane as someone who continues to hit his head against the wall because he thinks that eventually it will stop hurting and actually feel good.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)because she is thought to be the likely Democratic nominee. If another nominee emerges as the likely candidate, that person will become the new target.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Though I certainly agree that is part of the opposition to Secretary Clinton more generally.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)Shall I continue? There are plenty more.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)but if Obama had that magic wand....we could all have sparkle ponies and rainbows every day....Just because he supports an idea...doesn't mean he thinks it is possible now does it? Perhaps he knew the environment he was in....perhaps he is more astute about it than you are...This is an election year...unless you have a gaggle of candidates to run in it that meet all your champagne dreams and caviar wishes.....I guess you are stuck with what we have then huh?
Rilgin
(787 posts)VanillaRhapsody, you are totally making up history. Our health care industry problems were a major public and policy wonk issue and the competing plans of Hillary and Obama were a big part of their respective campaigns. Their plans were similar but had some differences, mostly in the imposition of a Mandate and support for a Public Option.
Hillary's publicly released health care insurance reform plan had insurance reform such as as eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions but coupled that with a health insurance mandate and no public option. It was on her web site and in her materials and when reporters asked her plan, that was it.
Obama's publicly released health care insurance reform plan, had similar insurance reforms (elimination of pre-existing conditions) but explicitly had NO health insurance mandate and HAD a public option.
Not only were these plans broadly and publicly part of their campaigns, it was explicitly debated in the Campaign debates. Obama ran on No Mandate and a Public Option as a way to distinguish his plan from Hilary's.
We lost that campaign plan almost immediately when Obama got into office when it basically morphed into Hilary's plan -- imposition of a Mandate and No Public Option.
Some people here have the Opinion (asserted as fact) that nothing else was possible. It is always possible that Obama could not get more than the ACA which institutionalized the Insurance Companies in the provision of health care in this Country. However, his approach was the failed carrot of false bi-partisanship which did not work and left us with Democrats forcing a modified republican plan on the United States. At the time, he could have mobilized Millions of People to public rallies if he had chosen the alternate strategy of a direct political battle. It is only opinion that such a battle for a better health care system would not have worked.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)awwwww....If you think you can do better....I admonish YOU to run....or at least present these candidates you have to the left of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren because they BOTH support President Obama AND the Affordable Care Act.....
When you have candidates....please let us know...
Rilgin
(787 posts)I am addressing your claim that President Obama did not campaign or run (whatever words you want to use) on the Public Option.
He clearly did. You can argue anything you want from that point. You can say he saw the light, he tried and failed to get it, he finally realized it was impossible to obtain. All these are possible arguments. I might disagree with some or all of these arguments. However, your argument seems to be there is no public option because he never campaigned on it so had no obligation to pursue it at all.
This is making up facts to support your opinion. Not a great proposition when other people were there and remember watching the debates where Obama ran, campaigned, supported, released policy statements (any other words you want to use to describe a candidates election stands) on no mandate and a public option and Hilary ran on a Mandate and no public option.
The rest of all of these debates are all opinion. BTW, if you just admit the basic facts, you can still use your unicorn and rainbow analogies (like in your response) no matter how dismissive of other people but at least you will not be making up facts.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I am sure he also supports stronger gun legislation....but he didn't run on that either...
Can you see the difference now?
Rilgin
(787 posts)What are you talking about. What does it mean to campaign on something other than to put out policy statements, answer questions put by reporters, debate, put your solution to issues that you will decide after the election other than campaign on. Anyone paying attention to the race knew that Hilary was campaigning on a Health Insurance Mandate and Obama was campaigning on a Public Insurance Option.
In the debates with Hilary they were both asked about their respective health care plans. He explained it as being No Mandates and a public option. That plan persisted in his campaign against McCain.
Think about what you are trying to say. You are really trying to say that a CANDIDATE who gives speechs and puts out policy statements and plans on issues is not campaigning on that solution to that issue?
It only took me a few minutes on google (obama mcain health care plans) to find this from 2007 where Obama released his health care plan in 2007.. It is not a perfect link but I didnt want to spend too much time on something that is just too obvious. You really should just stop contesting this point in future posts.
http://alankatz.wordpress.com/2007/05/29/senator-barack-obamas-health-care-reform-plan/
Supporting something is completely different. President Obama did NOT run on single payer. That is 100% accurate. The OP had it wrong. Obama has publically said that even though his plan is not single payer he supports it and would want it. That is "support" for single payer without it being part of his campaign.
You on the other hand have it wrong on the Public Option. He clearly ran/campaigned whatever word you want to use on the Public Option as part of his Health Care reform plan. Just admit the historical fact and you can continue to dismiss all the rest of the discussion of why we did not end up with a Public Option as opinions using magic wand unicorn cake analogies to describe people who you disagree with.
Welcome to DU!
Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)Autumn
(45,120 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)in this environment are 2 very different things aren't they?
I am sure there are other things he supports but knows that won't pass the Senate and the House...don't you? Do you think he opposes gun regulations for example?
Autumn
(45,120 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)He HAS passed the ACA.....has TPP passed yet?
But if you and the clique think you can pass Single Payer in this climate even if Obama couldn't....please proceed as no one is stopping you. Good Luck!
Autumn
(45,120 posts)Do you think think he supports gun regulations?
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)like I said.....supporting it and running on it are 2 very different things....
If YOU think you can pass Single Payer...please run....America NEEDS YOU!
lest you forget Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders support the ACA so you are going to need to look further left...
Autumn
(45,120 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)in an alternate reality.
Seriously?
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)zeemike
(18,998 posts)And use it every chance they get.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)You mean like ranting and railing against President Obama and his feature legislation....while obviously benefiting FROM said Affordable Care Act....THAT dichotomy?
MindMover
(5,016 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Might as well have a Republican controlled Senate and Ted Cruz as President? Do you believe that? What's the point in participating in debate about Democratic Party politics if they are all the same anyway?
By the way, I don't dispute the government primarily serves the moneyed interests. That's the way it has always been. I must say I find myself perplexed by the fact people seem to attribute to Obama in particular something inherent to capitalism itself.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)dysfunctional ....
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)For 2014 and 2016?
MindMover
(5,016 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)How do we improve things?
MindMover
(5,016 posts)are trying to limit in the very near future ....first we have to stop them from changing this medium ....
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Sit around surfing the web and eating Cheetos, and then complain about how congress didn't deliver what you wanted but couldn't be bothered to work for?
MindMover
(5,016 posts)by organizing thru this medium ...
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)in the Muslim world used the web only as a means of communication. They actually got out of the house and demanded change. I twice asked you what your solution was and you made some oblique reference to oligarchs working to control the internet. That doesn't tell me what you seek to change or how you plan to bring that change about.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)just gave me 50.000 ...
This is what this thread was started on, the idea that we have representation ... honest representation, not this garbage we have now ...
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)There are two possible ways to change that: constitutional amendment or supreme court appointments that will overturn the ruling. Both take time. We can all agree that government should represent the people. But saying it doesn't make it so. People have to act--we have to act--to change it. One way to ensure it will not change is suppressing the Democratic vote by arguing that they are all the same. That way Republicans will win the Presidency and Senate and control SCOTUS appointments and ensure Citizens United remains the law of the land.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)but we can vote electronically and let it be known worldwide thru this medium ... when our representative does not follow the will of the people, then the whole world knows it instantaneously ....
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)How does that follow from thinking we have a responsibility to act rather just sit around and complain? You do realize inaction and the belief nothing can change concedes power to the oligarchy?
MindMover
(5,016 posts)what is your timidity in regards to openly showing the world and our representatives what the will of the people is ... ?
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Conceding that government will always be beholden to big money is losing. You complain about a situation you choose not to do anything about.
I said we lose by doing nothing. Sitting around on the internet is not enough. It's lazy. Look, I'm as lazy as the next person, more so, but I'm not naïve enough to believe my laziness is revolutionary. You can write letters to your reps (though phone calls are more effective) and organize meetings and protests online, but ultimately you need to get out and act.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)cui bono
(19,926 posts)That is why we have a constant shift to the right. We now have a right wing party and a centrist party. Where are the left candidates? Where are the politicians who will give us what we want and what we voted for?
They run on something then they don't follow through.
If the people are apathetic it's not the people's fault. It's the politicians' fault for not giving them a reason to be excited to come out and vote.
Response to cui bono (Reply #174)
BainsBane This message was self-deleted by its author.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Is because the right makes their voices heard. They mobilize. They vote every single time. They control the primaries. If the left were as determined in their organization and political pressure, American politics would look very different.
It may indeed be the politicians fault. So what? What I don't understand is why people expect politicians to act on their own accord. It takes sustained pressure to get them to support any position. What I'm saying is I see a lot of complaining after the fact and little action. Rather than bemoaning that we don't have single payer six years after the election in which it was clear that wouldn't even be on the table, I'd like to see Manny exercise his influence to bring about positive change from here out.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)sound reasonable and work as sound bites - I'm thinking of how they come with names for bills. They know how to message things to get people to react emotionally. There was a book about this but I can't think of the title or author...
So their base gets excited, they get their base excited.
Dems give their bills complicated names. They don't message well. The leaders are the ones who are supposed to be working for the people, they should be leading. If the Dems could get it together and not be so weak maybe they could rally the people. If they went out and spoke about things and informed the public maybe the public would get more involved and tell their reps how they want them to vote, what they want them to accomplish. If they don't have a clue what's going on they don't know what to demand.
As to single-payer, we might have ended up with the public option if the Dem leaders had demanded single-payer from the beginning. Well, they should have demanded medicare for all actually. But no, Obama doesn't know how to negotiate so he never asks for more than what he will settle for. Seriously, he didn't allow single-payer a seat at the table, had secret back room deals with insurance companies, ignored the public option and Emanuel told the left to STFU. Do you think the people could have turned that around? Seems to me Obama was working for exactly what he ended up with. That's not good. He should have been working for more than that, by more I mean something that was better for the people.
It's not the people's job to make a politician make good on their campaign promises. It's not the people's job to oversee those who they elect to do their bidding. Should we be involved? Of course, but I feel that you are giving the politicians a pass and blaming the people. I don't think that's correct.
We voted for change. We got very little of it. Some of it in the wrong direction.
Manny sschmanny. It's not about him.
bullsnarfle
(254 posts)You nailed it - negotiation FAIL.
Rule #1 - you always go into a negotiation demanding a ton more than you are willing to settle for. Hell, you purposely demand all kinds of over-the-top shit that you know would never fly, stuff that will make them mad, it tends to throw them off their game.
Then, little by little, you give in on the "red herrings", screaming all the while that is just KILLING you to give them up.
Bottom line, you never START a negotiation at the point you are willing to settle at...or in this case (apparently), quite a bit below.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I think that's the part that enrages me about this whole debate. There was NEVER an honest negotiation attempt. Never. Either that, or the democrats are the biggest negotiation dumbasses on earth.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)before negotiations start!
That's why the left should be cherished rather than shunned, we can push for the ideal and then we can at least get something halfway decent. Here's a hilarious New Rules talking about how the left needs to go batshit crazy just like the right does.
AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)Those who get their news from the Tee Vee are being pulled further and further to the right.
Many churchgoers are now being subjected to open electioneering from the pulpit.
What do we have to counter this? A few web sites?
Response to cui bono (Reply #174)
BainsBane This message was self-deleted by its author.
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)Exactly, thread over.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)for me as you imagine it to be.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)You're an efficient and prolific writer. But since you're browbeating another poster about activism, I know you must post about it a great deal. If only one half of one percent of your posts are about the activism you engage in, gosh, there must be about 120 posts you've written about that activism. But I'm not able to find those. Would you mind helping me out?
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)as usual.
My point is sitting around and complaining about the absence of single payer years after the fact serves only to depress Democratic votes and activism. Congress doesn't bestow gifts on to the American people. Change occurs only because people force politicians to accept it. People like to complain but accept no responsibility for helping to bring about change themselves. Of course they are entitled to do so, but they should not be surprised at the results. Sitting around waiting for congress to do what people think should be their job is an exercise in futility. Change comes from below, from politicians being forced to implement policies. That's how it happened in the New Deal, in the 1960s, and it's the only way it will happen in the future.
As for activism, I helped found the gun control activism group. I've posted a number of threads encouraging people to contact their representatives about getting an expanded federal background check bill passed. Yesterday I also posted something on ten steps to end rape culture. Now you may not find lessening gun violence or rape something worthy of attention, but I do. You have made clear repeatedly that you see my concerns for human equality as objectionable. That, along with the fact you seem to care about cultivating personal animus more than anything of substance, is one of the reasons I long ago quit caring even a little bit what you think.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)Good christ, i've seen it all now. You badgered another poster. I called you on it and blammo, I suddenly love gun violence and rape culture. This is what losing looks like, by the way (and I'll leave that wide-open for an 'I know you are but what am I' response if that'll help you feel better).
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Military mojo up and at 'em. Then suddenly he became all about the war budget, and the drones, and his pleas last summer asking us to tell our Congress critters we wanted a war in Syria, Jeez, something right out of the Cheney/Bush play book.
And now the Crimea.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)We let Republican's take control of the house in 2010. Actually by then they already had control of the house. We voted for a dem in the white house, but we didn't support our dems in congress.
We can work for change, but until and unless we actually do, the change we want is not going to happen. Or it will happen very slowly, as in the ACA first. So how do we work for change?
We work with grass roots groups to protest and FUND the people who are fighting for what we want.
Where was the money and the footwork to keep dems in control so we could actually get something done? We voted in Obama and then we sat back to watch him fight it out all alone.
Right now we can work for change by supporting the pacs that are working to get/keep majorities in the house and senate. We can work for change by helping our local dem offices to get dems out to vote.
WTF is wrong with this country and it's apathetic voting history? Why can't dems get people out to vote like republicans can?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)They fought mightily to save banker bonuses while serving the rest of us gruel... and here we are.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)The republican'ts had nothing to do with it.
We only had a majority in the house a couple of months, IIRC. And we never had a solid majority (enough to force our hand) in either the senate or house.
I think I will stick with blaming the apathy of dems more than the POTUS for our failures these past five years.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)They gerrymandered themselves into it. Dems outvoted R's by (I don't know how many, I think a million more) votes but the districts were gerrymandered so the R's are the ones who got elected.
Also, Obama did not support us. Emanuel told the left to STFU.
Obama put Wall Street in the White House. Obama abandoned the public option without a fight. Obama had back room deals with health insurance companies that he tried to keep secret.
If Dems can't get people out to vote it's because they don't know how to frame things and how to message things. They also don't play offense, they play defense. If they ran on expanding SS and single-payer they would get people out in droves. And they would force the R's to run against both those. So why aren't they doing that?
If they did we could get enough people excited to overcome the gerrymandering.
cstanleytech
(26,347 posts)Why do I blame ourselves? Because we are to focused on whos gonna be president or whos gonna be our senator or congressman but we overlook the state level elections which is where the republicans focused on for the past 30+ years which is how they managed to gerrymander the districts and seize control over more and more of the elected offices.
If we want true change then we need to pay attention and start working at our local level such as school boards.
It wont be easy and it will take years to do but really its the only way we are going to fix the problem.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)2012 was the first national election after the 2010 census. And, in Minnesota, we Democrats took back the state legislature majorities, despite redistricting following the 2010 election which gave Republicans control of the state legislature. Minnesota has an excellent system for redistricting so gerrymandering didn't happen.
The 2010 election was completed before any redistricting took place.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)I know that low Dem/left turnout for 2010 has been debunked. Perhaps it was low indie turnout?
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Mid-term elections are an opportunity. Whoever manages to turn people out and get them to to polls wins. In 2010, low turnout gave control of the MN legislature (both houses) to the Republicans. We took it back in 2012. In the meantime, Repubicans did everything they could to trash this state.
I don't care who didn't turn out, but the Democrats lost in 2010. It is up to Democratic election activists to GOTV and make sure that crap doesn't happen in 2014.
Blaming Democratic losses on gerrymandering is just an excuse. The reality is that we can win if we're willing to do the work required to win. If we're not willing, the Republicans win. Personally, I prefer Democrats winning to Republicans.
GOTV 2014 and Beyond!
cui bono
(19,926 posts)of people who might not vote available to come out and tip the balance, but it wouldn't be done if it weren't effective.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)then that's just an excuse. What it means to me is that we need to double or treble our GOTV efforts where gerrymandering slants the results.
Note: There isn't really any gerrymandering in Minnesota. Redistricting follows strict rules that prevent it from happening.
Redistricting is a state-by-state thing. Only in really egregious situations does the Federal government have anything to do with redistricting. It's up to the people in each state to control their own state's policies.
Still, even where gerrymandering exists, there are always districts where a district can be flipped by turning out voters en masse.
I recommend that we do that and in spades.
GOTV 2014 and Beyond!
cui bono
(19,926 posts)ensure a win for whoever gerrymandered it.
Gerrymandering absolutely affected the elections where more than a million more votes for Dems but more R's got elected. That's just a fact.
I agree we need to get as many people out to vote as possible, that's a given. Doesn't mean gerrymandering isn't a real reason for election results.
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)You say, "But we did not support him after we voted him in."
It was Barack Obama who chose Rahm Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff.
It was Rahm Emmanuel who made sure Howard Dean was ousted from his position as DNC chair.
As you may recall, it was Howard Dean who had promoted the 50-state strategy, and who had demonstrated its effectiveness in the previous election cycle.
Under the new DNC chair, the Democratic Party abandoned the 50-state strategy, and we lost the 2010 midterms.
Those moves were made by Obama and Emmanuel.
I think those moves were big factors in what happened in 2010.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)Sanders, Warren, Kucinich...
It's the ones who do the work of the corporations and the ones who care more about their own careers that won't. Too bad we elected way too many of them that won't. But we only had two choices for president and unfortunately we got the best that was offered and he didn't care to even pursue the public option, which he claimed to want.
It's not about them reading our minds. How about they do their damn jobs and run this country as a true democracy?
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)poster) and by Republicans. Republicans damaged the country, and the poster clearly did absolutely nothing but whine.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)So if now isn't a good time, when is? During the negotiations didn't seem to work out well for those that were arrested for daring to bring it up, or did you forget about that? Did you think no one tried? If we don't remember why it failed in the first place we will likely fail again. Can you understand that concept, history repeating itself and all of that, it's a fairly common saying?
You did hear about how we would "fix" the problems as they manifested themselves didn't you? So when the perfect time comes up to start thinking about making some "fixes" to the ACA you'll be sure to let us know, won't you?
Or do you think the ACA is perfect now? I really would like an honest answer to this question.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)and how to bring pressure to improve healthcare. That's not what this OP is about, however.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)Hard to dispute that.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)or in what ways he would like to see people act, does he become so angry?
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 10:52 PM - Edit history (1)
So actually wanting single payer passed depends on how one is asked? I have yet to see Manny respond to a single question, without deflection, put to him by anyone. Most people who post on an issue have no problem elaborating on their views because they are anxious to share their ideas about what they believe in.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)The "didn't have support" or "was never going to pass" is still the rejoinder used when discussing alternatives to the ACA.
So, it appears that some of you still need to be reminded of the actual reality.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)They weren't passed, and that was despite a great deal of effort by gun control groups and the White House. Popular support doesn't mean something can pass congress. Public opinion and congressional votes are very different.
Also, where are these talking points? On DU? Or are you talking about in the broadcast media?
Here is my basic point. Sitting around complaining after the fact does nothing to further single payer. If people aren't willing to work for it, nothing will change. The reason the right , like the Tea Party, has an influence is because they get shit done. They don't mistake sitting around complaining years after the fact on a message board for activism.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)about it.
This 'what did you do about it' meme, is the WRONG question when one understands what the role of a citizen is as opposed to the role of the person/people they elect to represent them.
Here's what I assume Manny and most Democrats I know did about it:
1) Worked pretty damn hard to elect Democrats to speak for them in Congress.
It worked, we got a majority.
2) Called those Reps and wrote to them frequently to let them know the will of the people.
3) Watched the process closely and contacted them to let them know they had the support of the people.
What did THEY do?
Well some of them were WONDERFUL, they knew that a PO was a compromise, but perhaps the first step that was possible.
If you were watching too, you know who fought for it and who didn't.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)negotiations, and Obama turned them down.
Single payer advocates were plentiful -- and silenced and excluded from the debate.
And that is what I despise about third way, DLC politics. They know the can't win in a fair debate so they exclude and ostracize proponents of better solutions. They do it over and over. The Hillary got the election already, no need for anyone else to try because it is mine. It's my turn after all crowd don't just want to win. They want to silence those who disagree with them.
Had single payer advocates been given their turn to speak in favor of their ideas, we would at least have a public option. I remember that Obama claimed until just weeks before the bill was decided on that he favored a public option. He knew how popular the idea was. He just didn't have what it takes to really sell that idea and insist on it.
So much for DLC, third-way politics. Should be called "sold-out to big corporations politics" because that is what it is.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Does electing Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush as the next president and electing a Republican controlled senate improve any of that?
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)needs really don't care because they (right, mistakenly but try telling that to them) think that Democrats and Republicans are, when all is said and dumb, the same.
And to some extent, they are right when we nominate DLC types and pretend to the public, the potential voters who could vote if only they believed they had something to vote for but have decided they don't.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)There's an OP right now trying to convince us that the public option was unattainable, even though elected Dems never tried.
If the people understand the numbers are there as far as the citizens are concerned and get riled up enough, perhaps they will demand what they want and demand that the numbers be there in congress as well.
Knowledge is power.
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 08:17 PM - Edit history (2)
and as a result changed his focus from single payer, the subject of the OP, to the public option, when reminded that no one actually ran on a single payer in 2008 so that couldn't have been part of the "change you can believe in" Manny says he voted for.
I would love to see single payer brought about, and I would love to see a discussion of what we can do to bring that about. What I'm not so keen on is depressing the Democratic vote and activism in order to allow the GOP to gain even greater control of government.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)The thing is, regarding the history, since no one ever tried to get single-payer we'll never know. Same with the public option. No one tried to get it so no one can say with any certainty that it was not possible.
Here's info about Obama and the public option:
By Zaid Jilani on December 22, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I didnt campaign on the public option, President Obama told the Washington Post. But he touted the public option on his campaign website and spoke frequently in support of it during the first year of his presidency, citing its essential value in holding the private insurance industry accountable and providing competition:
In the 2008 Obama-Biden health care plan on the campaigns website, candidate Obama promised that any American will have the opportunity to enroll in [a] new public plan. [2008]
During a speech at the American Medical Association, President Obama told thousands of doctors that one of the plans included in the new health insurance exchanges needs to be a public option that will give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market. [6/15/09]
While speaking to the nation during his weekly address, the President said that any plan he signs must include a public option. [7/17/09]
During a conference call with progressive bloggers, the President said he continues to believe that a robust public option would be the best way to go. [7/20/09]
Obama told NBCs David Gregory that a public option should be a part of this [health care bill], while rebuking claims that the plan was dead. [9/20/09]
Despite all this overt advocacy for the public option, it appears that Obama was reticent to apply the political pressure necessary to get the plan in the final hours of congressional negotiation. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who threatened to filibuster the creation of any new public plan or expansion of Medicare told the Huffington Post that he didnt really have direct input from the White House on the public option and was never specifically asked to support it.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), one of the most ardent backers of public insurance, blamed the demise of the public option on a lack of support from the administration. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) perhaps the most visible defender of the public option in the entire health care debate went even further, saying that Obamas lack of support for congressional progressives amounted to him being half-pregnant with the health insurance and drug industries.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/12/22/74682/obama-repeatedly-touted-public/
Regarding Obama saying he never campaigned on the public option:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/yes_obama_did_campaign_on_the.html
A summary of Obamas proposal still up on BarackObama.com says it Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who cant find affordable coverage with a real choice. And a document his campaign put together, Barack Obamas Plan for a Healthy America, says:
The Obama plan both builds upon and improves our current insurance system, upon which most Americans continue to rely, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans. The Obama plan also addresses the large gaps in coverage that leave 45 million Americans uninsured. Specifically, the Obama plan will: (1) establish a new public insurance program available to Americans who neither qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP nor have access to insurance through their employers, as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees
On the other hand, the words campaign on have a fairly specific meaning they imply making some issue or message a particular focus of your campaign, as in, In 2004, President Bush campaigned on terrorism. And while it was indeed a pretty weaselly thing for him to say, Obamas comment was, on that score, accurate.
http://www.salon.com/2009/12/22/obama_public/
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)I see now my previous post to you inadvertently said public option when I meant Obama nor anyone else campaigned on single payer. I think you'll find that substitution is the only way my post makes sense. The OP posted about single payer, not the public option. He only turned to the public option mid-thread after having it pointed out that no one ran on single payer in 2008, so that was not part of the "change we can believe in" he so consistently mocks. The OP has made it clear he opposed this Democratic administration from before the inauguration. He won't name a single Democratic President in his lifetime that he has liked.
Some here may believe the two parties are the same, that we might as well have Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush as president. I do not. I help the Democrats win elections because I believe they are better. As flawed as ACA is, it is the only national healthcare legislation in American history. Some are determined there be no national healthcare and will do everything they can to help Republicans regain power to ensure that ACA is overturned rather than improved. I don't share that goal.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)To get single payer, you needed Lieberman's vote.
How, exactly, do you get it?
Doesn't help. Lieberman knew he could not win re-election. Rile all you'd like, angry voters are not a threat.
Committee assignments? His goal was to get on TV as much as possible. Yanking committee assignments just gets him more TV time.
Lieberman killed his own proposal for a 50+ Medicare buy-in. You are now claiming you could get his vote for single-payer or public-option for all.
So explain how you would have gotten that vote. And then we get to move on down the list of blue-dogs.
Or does history only count when you want it to?
cui bono
(19,926 posts)If you don't try to attain something there's no way to know that you couldn't have done so.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Early in the debate, Lieberman proposed a Medicare buy-in for 50+ as a compromise instead of the entire ACA.
After Kennedy's death, Democrats started pursuing it. Lieberman said he'd never vote for it.
That is the guy you need a "yea" from, in order to pass a public option or single-payer. So how could we have gotten his vote?
cui bono
(19,926 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)Which might explain why you're having so much trouble understanding history.
January 2009: Lieberman tries to get a public option for 50+ instead of the ACA.
November 2009: Lieberman says he'll never vote for his own proposal.
Once again, the question you are desperately running away from:
How do you get Lieberman's vote for a universal public option or single-payer? He's so against it he killed his own proposal.
Because that's what you have to do in order to pass it. If you don't have a plan to get his vote, then no one is going to believe you are really trying to get it.
Bonobo
(29,257 posts)grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)BainsBane
(53,111 posts)People need to work for it, to make their demands heard. During the primaries, neither Obama nor Clinton proposed single payer. Democrats never put it on the table during the negotiations when Obama first took office. For it to have been a possibility, we would have had to work hard to demand it, just as we will have to do for it to be an option in the future. Sitting around and complaining that Obama didn't deliver something he never promised or proposed, something that people wanted but did little to nothing to bring about, is pointless. It only serves to depress activism and Democratic votes. If anyone wants to propose an idea of how we can actually take steps toward bringing about single payer, I'd love to hear it. I, however, am suspicious of efforts to spread disillusionment with the Democratic Party rather than proposing steps for actual change.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)as a matter of fact, the majority of citizens in the US were not in favor of it, since dem and rep alike had insurance at work that they were pleased with and did not want to lose it. That's why Obama said in the very beginning he was in favor of a public option but it would not be able to get it right away..it would take time. But he did pass the ACA and that is a huge step in the right direction (especially considering the expansion of medicaid), because now everyone is talking about single payer and the majority of people want it. It is the push we needed to get people to wake up to the real cost of health care in this country. And if Obama had not gotten ACA passed, I'm not sure we'd be were we are today, with the majority now favoring single payer.
I found the OP irritating and frustrating, however, I think the way you are attacking Manny in this thread is very unpleasant and unnecessary. Even if you disagree with him, you don't have to be so insulting. You do keep putting words in his mouth and you really cannot speak honestly for anyone but yourself.
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)It could be 198% and still not happen.
Not sure, then, what you suggest we do about this.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)That is the answer to your question and the reason why not ...
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)are an oiligarchy
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)And Congress was not for it, although they should have been for a plan that would have resulted in that.
Vattel
(9,289 posts)So don't blame him too much.
AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)He may have won by a landslide, twice, but he never got anything resembling a mandate either time.
Funny how that works.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)Vattel
(9,289 posts)polichick
(37,152 posts)jazzimov
(1,456 posts)First of all, most people don't know that that Medicare for all IS single-payer. Look at the polls for Medicare for all and for single-payer. Medicare is well-known and popular. Single-payer is seen as "gasp Socialism!"
We couldn't even get a Public Option through the Senate. Largely because it was promoted as a back-door to "gasp Socialist" single-payer.
Ridiculous? Yes. Meaningless? Hardly.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Whisp
(24,096 posts)sheshe2
(83,996 posts)He just stirs the pot here. Manny just loves to do that.
No plan, just rustle up some outrage.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)you mad? I (and others) seem to think it is succinct....
Fanclub angry....Fanclub smash!!!!
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)2/3's of Americans polled are mis-represented. They couldn't all be concentrated in small states, could they?
Perhaps part of the frustration of a do-nothing congress is the way districts are drawn so that it doesn't matter what the majority of Americans say.
That's when people disengaged in activism. That's what should promote debate here. Personally, I can't just hold my arms up, walk away and claim, "we'll they're not represented by the House
. sooo
there ya go!"
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)this is your interpretation....but hardly the definitive ONLY interpretation...
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)It does not make sense to answer the question this way.
Please separate yourself from any need to reply with a nasty comment and just say something, or just ignore me, if you don't really want to answer. I'd rather have a conversation about what the majority of Americans feel and how their congressional representatives respond.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)and please do not tell me what to do...
You said...
That's when people disengaged in activism. That's what should promote debate here. Personally, I can't just hold my arms up, walk away and claim, "we'll they're not represented by the House . sooo there ya go!"
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)I'll tell you what you can do. You can quit pretending you are follow a thread of conversation here.
I'd explain further, but I'm afraid the boat has sailed
This is what my "ignore" list is for.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)as I said "interpretation"...its just your interpretation of the situation...that doesn't mean it is the only one..or how someone is actually reacting...No one said anything of the sort like "throwing up arms" What they are saying are FACTS...at the moment....not that it cannot be changed...but what the current climate IS....no one said anything about "giving up" at all did they? Therefore it is YOUR interpretation....and not necessarily the only one...
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)and 90% wanted them. So if they cannot do that for 90% polls, 75% even less.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Or didn't want to work hard, or take a risk.
Any way we slice it, they aren't getting the job done.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)WE don't have a majority in the House...therefore WE don't get to decide what they vote on...and guess what.....
If WE don't get out the vote.....we will see a repeat of 2010....what are YOU doing to prevent that?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)And two-thirds of Americans.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)or are you conveniently forgetting that bit of info? He was also ill for a while before he died....Also Gabby Giffords was shot...
you are grasping at straws as usual.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Closely-held secret, but Snowden let the cat out of the bag last year.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)and it has to pass the House AND the Senate...
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)About two days?
And what's stopping the Senate from returning the filibuster to what worked for many, many decades?
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)You do realize that fully 1/3 of the Stimulus was tax cuts for the Middle Class right?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)its called strategy...perhaps you have heard of it? Someday the Dems may very well be in the minority in the Senate...then you will have your "representative govt" run straight up your...
MindMover
(5,016 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I found this...
When the economy's at full employment, as it was in 2007, it's usually only about 40 percent of U.S. households that aren't paying income taxes....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/18/who-doesnt-pay-taxes-in-charts/
MindMover
(5,016 posts)what .....
AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)Aren't you forgetting who the 60th vote was?
Joe Lieberman, D? Insurance companies
NO WAY was he going to let that pass.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)phleshdef
(11,936 posts)Either you have the votes to pass something or you don't. Period.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)they implored [LBJ] not to push for civil rights in this first speech, since it had no chance of passing. "The presidency has only a certain amount of coinage to expend, and you oughtn't to expend it on this," said "one of the wise, practical people around the table". Johnson, who sat in silence at the table as his aides debated, interjected: "Well, what the hell's the presidency for."
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/23/what-is-barack-obama-presidency-for
phleshdef
(11,936 posts)And math trumps everything, even platitudinous, false historical equivalency commentary from the Guardian.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Precisely.
phleshdef
(11,936 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)He worked hard, very hard.
Her gave speeches. Twisted arms.
He didn't sit on the couch and mutter about "those on the Left". He got the thing done, even though the "smart set" told him it was impossible, that he shouldn't waste his time.
BeyondGeography
(39,392 posts)Skraxx
(2,985 posts)Lazy?
Sitting on the couch, muttering, not getting anything done, listening to the "smart set"...Interesting framing their, pal.
You couldn't be more transparent if you were made of glass.
Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)I think your attack on Manny is unwarranted in this particular case.
Autumn
(45,120 posts)intimidating bulldog. It didn't bother him a bit to intimidate a senator or two to get what he wanted
phleshdef
(11,936 posts)Actually the same thing happened to Obama with passing ANY health care reform. He gave speeches. He kept at it. He did work very hard to see it through. As close as the votes were and the "seat of the pants" way the bill got passed was a pretty good indicator of the fact that it goes as far as what was likely politically and legally possible at the time. Anyone with a feel for the political environment of the time, especially considering the opposition set out from day 1 to block anything they could and people like Joe Liebermann who had immense power at being the 60th vote and had just spent the past election season campaigning for McCain and coaching Sarah Palin on foreign policy, should see the reality of the situation for what it was.
treestar
(82,383 posts)He wants to judge our Democratic president as harshly and unfairly as possible. And hide behind using other Ds to do it. In the process he makes LBJ sound like a sociopathic thug wannabe dictator.
Your post is spot on.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)He was a protege of Rayburn in the House and Russell in the Senate. He was a whip, a minority leader and a majority leader. He had enormous power and experience on the Hill. He was the product of a system that does not exist anymore.
By the time he got to the Oval Office he was an old man with YEARS of "arm twisting" under his belt. He knew how to count votes--it's a skill that takes years to develop. He knew where every body was buried and he knew how to make deals.
To suggest that a green, junior senator elevated to the White House could have that same skill is, frankly, naive. Obama had slightly--and just slightly--more experience in dealing with Congress than a governor elected to the Presidency might have.
See Robert Caro if you have any questions.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)Post Edit
Let's just say, there will be fiestas. There will be parties. It will be grand.
Number23
(24,544 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)this is a problem in representative democracy. Who are they working for, because it is NOT the people that elect them to serve.
Number23
(24,544 posts)Itching for a fight, are you? I may not be the best person for that.
When a president, a VP and Congress can't even enact a law that is supported by 90% of the population, it's obvious that something is wrong. And unlike Manny's OP, that 90% number was not cherry picked from one poll. Just about EVERY poll had the amount of support for background checks and extended gun control at around 90% and that was months after Sandy Hook. And still nothing happened.
My point and why I (mistakenly, I now realize) agreed with you was that you seemed to also recognize that if 90% supported background checks and nothing happened months after a monstrosity like Sandy Hook, then 75% supporting single payer is practically nothing and that yes, Congress has ignored the will of the people many, many times.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Did you click the link I supplied?
It was based on something like 10 polls.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)push ACA to the next step and the step after that. We are not a people who make things easy on ourselves.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)vote for this democrat no matter what .... any democrat is better than a repuke ...
.
well look at how well that worked in Florida ....
tavalon
(27,985 posts)This year or the year the SC committed treason. Long time ago, but I never, ever forget that one. Never will.
Yep, gearing up to go out and remind folks to vote. No need to offer rides, just reminders. We do mail voting. I don't know exactly how I feel about that, so I won't go into it.
JI7
(89,283 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Democratic message board who gives a crap about facts.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)ah, why do I bother? For the privilege of being called a ratfucker?
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Not capitulate like scared pups.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)they go in screaming bloody murder and in 3 months are hedging all bets ...
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)Unfortunately, the House is now so gerrymandered that this vote had almost no impact on the Repiglickin majority in the House.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)Freaking sitting around complaining accomplishes nothing. Neither does rehashing the past ad naseum with no offering of suggestions to work toward now.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)if the house districts weren't gerrymandered, a lot of things would be different.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
MindMover
(5,016 posts)bullshit, I have heard that line for 35 years ... if you do not have the message and follow through with it, you will have stinky turnout for the next 10 cycles ....
bullwinkle428
(20,631 posts)...that's for sure.
Squinch
(51,074 posts)learn that polling showing 2/3 of Americans doesn't necessarily translate to congressional votes.
Then he'll do that post where he backpedals on this post.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)The oligarchs however do ...
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)adirondacker
(2,921 posts)Squinch
(51,074 posts)adirondacker
(2,921 posts)Credits go to HeatherMC for posting a while back.
Number23
(24,544 posts)brooklynite
(94,901 posts)...the challenge is convincing elected officials that THEIR voters care ENOUGH to hold them accountable.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)KG
(28,753 posts)and let's stop pretending that ACA is a step in that direction. it just aint.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)riversedge
(70,407 posts)right direction either. Insurance companies are left deeply entrenched even if only allowed to get 20%. I recall Pelosi had originally had written it for 15% but lost another 5% in the last minutes of negotiations. Big Pharm is still involved--with their massive campaign contributions. Maybe a tiny step with the expanded Medicare but the SC put a bummer on that one when states were allowed to opt out--Leaving behind millions.
In addition the Republican pushback has taken its toll--we have to admit that.
This is starting to look like the NCLB education massive bill--there are so many exceptions that it is almost unrecognizable. The private market --selling technology, books, etc is more involved that ever (Walton, Gates etc families--Jeb Bush) --the Standardized test industry is massive--Pearson, Questar and other Educational testing companies). [The voucher and private school industry is a whole other matter).
I can see it has helped many around me-yet I also see that many are left out--even the lowest package in my area is too much (live in a red state--no Medicaid expansion).
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Single-payer is a very difficult battle at the federal level, due to the overrepresentation of "red" districts - Alabama and California have the same power in the Senate, and since 2010 gerrymandering in the House.
What the ACA does is moves the battle for single-payer to the states. Alabama isn't gonna pass single-payer. But California might. At a minimum, public option should be an easy sale. Vermont is already going single-payer as soon as possible (2018).
Public options will result in de-facto single-payer, since they don't profit. They should end up cheaper than the private options, which will attract customers. Despite conservative claims, they will not produce a mountain of dead bodies, which will attract even more customers. That makes their risk pool larger, and thus better, than the private insurance companies. Which makes them even cheaper, and even more customers. The cycle continues until it drives private insurance out of the state.
Success in the "blue" states makes it much easier to do the same thing in some "purple" states. Success in both "blue" and "purple" makes it a much, much easier federal battle.
Single-payer in 2009/2010 was not going to pass Congress. But the ACA gives us a framework to build it anyway. Yes, it's going to take a while. But we've been working on it for quite a while - single-payer has been proposed in every single Congress since the 1930s. We'll get there, and the ACA is a massive step towards it.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Specifically, what "courage" would have resulted in Lieberman voting for it?
He knew he couldn't win re-election. So threatening that is out. He really only cared about getting on TV, and yanking his committee assignments just gets him more camera time.
So what, specifically, could have been done to get his vote?
iandhr
(6,852 posts)If you took a poll that said asked about single payer most Americans would oppose it because that is a "government takeover" and "socialism"
They are unaware that medicare is a single payer system. If we want to win this debate never use the words single payer. Use the words medicare for all.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)beneficiaries. 30% of beneficiaries sign up for Advantage Plans run by insurance companies. Part D is all insurance company. People buy supplemental policies, etc. It's much more complicated than folks admit. Medicare is very similar to the ACA.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)the govt owns the hospitals and doctors and nurses work for the govt....
pnwmom
(109,021 posts)Our system gives a minority of 41% a chance to block changes wanted by 59%. It was designed to slow down the speed of change and obviously, is effective at doing that.
Kaleva
(36,382 posts)While polls may have shown that 2/3's supported a single payer system, that didn't translate to calling members of Congress in support of, in money for ads, or in contributions to campaigns.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Kaleva
(36,382 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)If there was a huge outcry for single payer in 2009, I sure don't remember it. People forget that a large minority of the American people were happy as clams with the old system. A lot of people were apathetic. We here on DU amount to a super small fraction of 1% of American voters.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)Kaleva
(36,382 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)please enlighten me...
MindMover
(5,016 posts)DanTex
(20,709 posts)Opinion polls don't tell the whole story. The way the system works, well-funded special interests can trump the will of the people. Healthcare is not the only place where this happens. Gun control is another example, where polls show that most Americans supported every part of Obama's proposals, and even beyond that.
I think the Dems make a mistake, though, when they don't even bother discussing policies that are "too far left". The way "too far left" policies become mainstream is by talking about them, over and over. Whatever the Dems propose, the GOP is going to call it Stalinism anyway.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)when Americans call Capitol Hill in overwhelming numbers, flooding switchboards, threatening electoral defeat, etc. When Americans actually write snail mail letters in huge amounts, that works too. I'm not sure how reactive they are to emails. Showing up at town halls and screaming bloody murder ( DON'T TOUCH MY MEDICAREEEEEEEEEEE ) works also.
When Americans don't overwhelm Congress, the default is to go with big business and whoever pays the most in campaign contributions.
I've been watching politics for 39 years, and this is the standard template. Of course, Congress is going to do the brain dead easy stuff like post offices and fund DoD, but if Americans really want significant change, they have to actually call or write a snail mail letter or show up to protest in the hundreds of thousands.
Oh, and by the way, the invasion of Iraq happened despite huge protests. So, my point about protesting is diminished by that fact.
I know you're not going to agree with me, Manny, so let's just agree to disagree, shall we ? Have a pleasant evening.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)would be able to vote on any bill that is in front of the legislative branches ... and that vote would be sent to our representatives and would be seen just like any political news channel today ....
steve2470
(37,457 posts)only the C-Span crowd and DU and the Freepers, etc would actually do it on a regular basis. The other 95% of American voters would yawn and go watch Dancing with the Stars. It's a good idea, don't get me wrong.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Like I said, it's a good idea. I'd gladly do it daily.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Go to your friends and family. Try to get them to call Congress or write a letter or go protest, etc. Usually you get some half ass apathetic response. " Oh they're all crooked, they are all the same, it doesn't matter, etc etc etc ". We are represented but...the rich and big business are represented BETTER. Money talks, bullshit walks, that kinda thing. Hell, most people don't even VOTE. So many people are not even REGISTERED to vote.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)I simply say, we have the medium to reflect that same concern over legislation if we use this medium to do it ...
writing a letter by you or your friends, I do not know you did that and I do not know when you did that but with this medium we have that advantage, and of course, we have the advantage of worldwide instantaneous transparency ... of just exactly how you want your representative to vote ...
steve2470
(37,457 posts)If I'm wrong about American apathy, I will gladly admit it here in GD. You heard it here first.
Maybe you and a few others can go do crowdfunding ? I'm serious.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 02:43 PM - Edit history (1)
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 01:36 AM - Edit history (1)
Because it clearly lays out who gets to vote on legislation.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)At least I think that's what he's proposing.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)we vote for our representatives who in turn vote for legislation ...
my wrinkle is, we the people thru this medium tell out representatives how we feel about this or that bill ... with complete transparency ...
BainsBane
(53,111 posts)or make a phone call. Nothing is keeping you from doing that now. That isn't going to get money out of politics. That requires changing SCOTUS.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)And you are not acknowledging the power of the internet ...
jeff47
(26,549 posts)How'd that turn out again?
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)But please, PLEASE, keep ignoring how we got here.
If anyone bothers to read the link... two words:
PATH DEPENDENT.
WE will get there.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Raine1967
(11,589 posts)We'll get there.
It's just not gonna happen today.
(or four years ago,on this day, when the POTUS signed it into law)
Path dependent.
we will get there with every other industrialized country. I personally wish that people knew more about how Canada, (independant of GB), Great Britain. France and Switzerland got nationalized health care.
Sick and tired of people wanting things that were never path dependent. We can get there. I think people really should understand how we got HERE
TheKentuckian
(25,035 posts)their investment?
Remember how it was transformed from a private system to a public one?
Remember how anyone that was offered a retirement plan through work was excluded?
Remember when Social Security was a hodgepodge of state regulated and operated plans?
Remember how we taxed benefits for being to generous while inflation was 17%?
All we have to do is that stuff again and make a numb of structural improvements and it will be fixed later and tide us over until we can pass universal care when the Republicans all disappear from the face of the Earth as we enter the age of Aquarius.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)That's what you're getting at. End of discussion.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)What the ACA gives us is it moves the battle for single-payer to the states. We do not have to attack it on the federal level, as you propose.
The battle in Kentucky will probably be rather difficult. But it will be easy in Vermont - it's already won. It'll also be pretty easy in the other "blue" states. Those "blue" states give us successful examples to use to win in "purple" states.
Then we return to the federal battle, when we already have a lot of states with single-payer or public options.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)The basic same thing happened on the ACA, the bill had to get passed in Congress and through both houses but the votes in Congress did not break two-thirds as the people wanted. This is a good reason to throw the zeroes in Congress to the curb and bring in heroes.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)He is talking about. It would have been much simpler to have a single payer and I think it will some day. All of the ills of ACA just may be it is based on a GOP plan, Medicare is a DNC plan. I write my Congressional members frequently, sometimes I get a reply. But I am handicapped with Ted Cruz.
treestar
(82,383 posts)I hear very little of that sentiment.
Medicate for me maybe, but for all, no.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)2/3 of Congress. I'm pretty sure you know this but ... In our system of government, elected officials write, vote for and enact laws.
GreenPartyVoter
(72,384 posts)YoungDemCA
(5,714 posts)Who donates to their campaigns?
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)and completely irrelevant to my comment.
GreenPartyVoter
(72,384 posts)and not the public who write the laws. My point is that they are supposed to be representing said public, but that other interests have their ear instead.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Just what in Holy Hell does it take to get Democratic politicians to show some political courage? Even after a landslide victory in the Presidential election, with massive throngs of Democratic voters literally filling the public spaces Obama campaigned it, and with polls showing overwhelming public support for single payer/public option, the President took it off the table after one meeting with Big Pharma.
Yes - Democrats may not have been able to win a Single Payer bill. BUT THEY DIDN'T EVEN TRY. They will never beat the Republicans unless they stop trying to appease them and start fighting them.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Or, Did he take it off the table after one meeting with big pharma AND recognizing that SP and the PO had/would have less than the number of votes to pass, either house?
Fighting and getting nothing of what you want is worse than not fighting and getting some of what you want. Moral victories are only important to those with the luxury of being able to suffer the loss.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)on the defensive. Everyone complains about how the Republicans continually attacked the President and the Democrats during the health insurance debate. That is exactly what they should have done, from a pure-politics standpoint.
A big part of the reason Bush Jr. was able to get away with so much bullshit was that elected Democrats, for the most part, chose to go along to get along (e.g. Iraq War Resolution). I advocate for an taking an aggressive posture vis-a-vis the Republicans, rather than always searching for ways to appease them.
Republicans and their weasely Blue Dog enablers don't want Single Payer? Make them take the risk of fighting against it. Given the public sentiment at the time, the issue carried more risk for them that it did for the Democrats. They threaten filibuster? Fine! Make them stand there in the spotlight pontificating non-stop about how they don't want to help people lower their health care costs, all the while commenting from the sidelines with OUR message.
Framing legislation based upon what Republicans will accept is a non-starter. Compromise is an end point, not the initial action.
gcomeau
(5,764 posts)Congresspeople and Senators do. And yes, for those of us with memories, we COULD NOT POSSIBLY have gotten single payer through those bodies. Do you even remember how much effort it took to break filibuster in the Senate just to get what *did* pass?
Single payer didn't have a snowball's chance in hell, no matter how much we might wish otherwise.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...could have helped shift the debate, and we may have been able to use the threat of single payer as leverage to insist upon a robust public option.
Saying we could never have gotten single payer really misses the point that we could have used the demand to shift the debate.
All of the so-called "pragmatists" have helped ensure that the terms of debate continue shifting to the right. Now really, how pragmatic is that?
LWolf
(46,179 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)If he's gonna do that, the threat of single-payer isn't going to do shit. Because it's such an obviously empty threat.
Nope, what we did is move the battle from the federal level, where Republicans have the advantages, to the state level.
So the battle now is in "blue" states. VT is already won. We need to be fighting in CA, NY and the rest of the "blue" states. Once we win there, we can use those examples to win in "purple" states. And then return to the federal battle in a much, much stronger position.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...had there been a strong contingent promoting single-payer, and had they been able to publicly make their argument -- including pointing out how much single-payer would save us across the board in health care costs -- then the public would also be involved, and would be able to put pressure on Lieberman. And honestly, as visible as his back-stabbing ways were, he certainly wasn't the only so-called "Democrat" who did not support the more liberal positions such as public options and single payer (cough Baucus cough).
But then you change the subject to claim that the "pragmatists" moved the battle from the federal level, to the state level.
Which IMO is a large crock of you-know-what.
I seem to remember a certain liberal Democrat, from the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party", who pushed for a "50-state strategy" in all of our races. He in fact was quite successful in demonstrating that a 50-state strategy was the way for Democrats to win at the STATE level and as a result at the FEDERAL level. But those very same "pragmatists" you like to promote, were the very ones who insisted on removing said Democrat from chairing the party (cough Rahm cough). I remember the end result of that tussle; do you?
Just substitute "corporatist" for "pragmatist", then you will get a clearer idea of what agenda is being served.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Lieberman.
Tell me how you as president get his vote.
Hint: you can't. But please try.
Well?
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...how you get Lieberman's vote if you DON'T try.
Thanks.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)They did try ... they just didn't do it on TV for you.
Try to recall these facts.
1) Lieberman campaigned AGAINST Obama and for McCain in the 2008 elections. McCain was going to appoint Lieberman to be SecDEF.
2) Lieberman was not going to run again, and he had said so. He also knew that a 7 figure job with a think tank would be waiting for him if he prevented a public option. Guess where Lieberman is today. Hint, in a 7 figure job with a think tank.
3) Lieberman's nickname was "Senator from Aetna".
Now, again I ask you ... as President what leverage do you have to flip Lieberman from a NO to a YES.
Don't feel bad when you can't come up with a coherent path here ... no one can, and I've been challenging folks with this exact set of facts going all teh way back to when this was actually happening.
The best attempts so far (1) use the DOJ to blackmail him, (2) tell him you will cut aid to Israel if he won't vote YES. Those are 2 stupid ideas, but they might have gotten his vote.
I doubt you can do better.
Well, can you?
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...of starting negotiations at the high end of what one wants, rather than starting in the middle and ceding ground from that starting position.
You know, of course, that Lieberman voted how his corporate owners... er, handlers... instructed him to vote. We only needed to put the scare into them, in order for them to put pressure on him.
Of course it's all hypothetical, we all know how it went down, and we can't know what would have happened if things had started out differently. But our side started from the middle position, not from the more progressive position. Our side (cough Obama cough) ceded ground before negotiations even started, and that is not a winning strategy -- unless one's real goals are not one's stated goals, which is also a possibility.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)You can't explain how anyone, including YOU as President, could flip Lieberman. Because it could not be done.
You can deflect from that (cough) FACT (cough), all you want.
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...you can't see the forest for the trees. Bogged down in the details, you are unable to grasp the big picture.
The point I and others have been making is that one starts from the MOST one wants when negotiating. If done right, that can change the forces at play. But our Democrats barely even TRIED to do that. Instead of acting as a party with a vision, they acted as technocrats. They jumped right into the weeds and started trimming them, but they never considered draining the swamp.
I am arguing that our side had a flawed strategy, and you are countering with arguments about tactics. I don't disagree with your points, they are just non-responsive at the level of strategy and what could have been done to create more of a movement in the direction we would have liked.
We are talking past one another at this point.
TTFN
Chathamization
(1,638 posts)It doesn't really matter if 99% of the population want X if they're still willing to vote for people who oppose X over those who support it. And when you have support contingent on the wording of what's going on (for example, most people being opposed to the government temporarily nationalizing financial institutions but being in favor of temporarily taking control of them), politicians are naturally going to think about what's being spun by who.
We can complain that it's an oligarchy, but when you look at our ancestors facing down guns and now say that Americans are powerless to stand up to TV commercials it's pretty damning.
WhaTHellsgoingonhere
(5,252 posts)In his own words.
"I never campaigned on the Public Option."
Response to MannyGoldstein (Original post)
Richardo This message was self-deleted by its author.
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)??
YoungDemCA
(5,714 posts)The Republicans only listen to their far-right, Koch-manipulated primary electorate -who make up a minority of the population but sure as hell vote and participate in the process. And each officeholder only has to pay attention to those people in their respective, highly gerrymandered districts.
gopiscrap
(23,766 posts)that diaper wearing piece of shit Ronald Reagan, When we had a chance after WWII he campaigned long and hard against a single payer. Hope he rots in hell!!!
Skraxx
(2,985 posts)ecstatic
(32,777 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 08:10 AM - Edit history (1)
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)and completely ignored by this crowd, as usual.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)the ACA is going to survive.
Number23
(24,544 posts)He's having a ball laughing at the folks who rec his tripe. My guess is he was probably jealous of all the attention Will Pitt's been getting lately. Needed to turn some shine his own way.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)And that's where the rubber meets the road.
So have one of those swell (gosh I got 'em riled) "Manny" days.
MindMover
(5,016 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)that SS not be used to finance the debt, green power...
but the decisive factor isn't what we want but whether we'll keep voting for people who say "fuck YOU, America--but I don't think gays cause hurricanes/will keep the gays from causing hurricanes"
Amonester
(11,541 posts)They have to fundraise more than legislate.
moondust
(20,019 posts)Republicans would just as soon see you dead if you don't have at least a million in the bank.
Many Democrats are risk-averse and have no stomach for anything more than incremental change. The Massachusetts system had a track record of not catastrophically failing and not bringing down the demonic wrath of the insurance industry and Wall Street so that was enough.
Please die quickly.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Kurovski
(34,655 posts)Kucinich could have at least tried and made ONE friend at Goldman Sachs.
A game of Squash, a knick's game, some kind of play date.
JI7
(89,283 posts)Kurovski
(34,655 posts)I think Dennis won a few elections himself, or am I confused on that?
JI7
(89,283 posts)elizabeth warren won her fist election and it was statewide . she never held elected office before either.
Kurovski
(34,655 posts)gee what a goof Kucinich was for not going third-way to look more Republicanish.
JI7
(89,283 posts)and the person representing it is the Dem that beat him.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Manny claims the polls supported the PO.
A good candidate would have been able to mobilize those folks and get elected, right?
I mean, if the President was supposed to leverage those poll numbers to get a PO, certainly Kucinich should have been able to leverage those same people to get the nomination.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)So that means corporate greed trumps the will of the people.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)legalized too, but. . .
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)promote single payer. We do not need to disrespect the ACA.
We can say, "The ACA was a good first step. Now we will adopt a plan that will remove the profit motive from our heath care system."
IT IS A WINNING FUCKING ISSUE.
brooklynite
(94,901 posts)n2doc
(47,953 posts)They may say they want all sorts of progressive things, but in the end most just vote for the one who scares them less.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)K&R
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)mother earth
(6,002 posts)that is sustainable...stalling isn't going to make that truth go away. It is becoming, and increasingly so, very, very obvious, damned the plutocracy, and all the apologists, the victory will be in single payer, as true then, as true now & will be until it is reality.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Until people start electing representatives who actually PASS these thing, it's doesn't freaking MATTER what the polls say.
Democrats have been PISS POOR at pushing the issues people care about, and too worried about trying to deal with GOP attacks. Until we stop playing their game, we won't win on issues like this.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 10:26 PM - Edit history (1)
I mean, that seems pretty basic, so I'm not sure what your "two thirds" point is.
randome
(34,845 posts)I thought everyone understood this by now but apparently it's news to some.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Treat your body like a machine. Your mind like a castle.[/center][/font][hr]
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Arkana
(24,347 posts)Most of the time public opinion does not count for SHIT in Congressional thought processes. Sometimes, that's a good thing--that's why we never got a federal ban on gay marriage. But it's caused our politicians to retreat inside a bubble that insulates them from the pulse of the American people.
polichick
(37,152 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)The whole system is such a hodge-podge of compromises that were expedient 230 years ago that I still don't understand why people here hold it up as an example to the rest of the world...
ProSense
(116,464 posts)http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024088636
Obama just launched single-payer in America
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024088437
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024699353
How to strengthen Obamacare, courtesy of the Progessive Caucus.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024702695
Obamacare: It's Obama's signature achievement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024695694
yodermon
(6,143 posts)apologies if you don't actually have 10 fingers.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Then you'd have a good point.
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)Remember the Repukes wanted to change it into that? Here's a voucher and now go BUY your own insurance, from a for profit business. Somebody HAS to be making a profit. Do you really think they want to put insurance companies out of business with single payer like a Medicare for all? They would never agree to that, and besides that would be SOCIALISM.
rock
(13,218 posts)the Dems can be real bad and still get elected! (They're still far ahead of the repiggies!)
Progressive dog
(6,924 posts)laws would be different and probably on a daily basis.
Arkana
(24,347 posts)Arkana
(24,347 posts)Studies have showed that American politicians think that voters are more conservative than they actually are, so already we're fighting an uphill battle.
It's not a needless distraction to understand this.
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)People seem to be missing or ignoring that part of the OP in their attacks or criticisms.
If two thirds of the voters wanted Social Security dismantled into something much less, then that could happen.
If two thirds of the voters wanted abortion illegal, then that could happen.
If two thirds of the voters wanted draconian laws regarding personal ID's, then that could happen.
If two thirds of the voters wanted our constitution ignored so that they could feel safer about terrorism then that could ... oh wait, it did happen.
I don't think single player was on the table during the start of the formulation of the ACA but imo it could have been brandished by our pundits as something that would work great but which we were willing to abandon in order to accommodate the Republicans.
It needed to be framed that way. The public needed to see why single payer would work and that it was being bargained away in order to get Republicans (and others) to deal.
P.S. We won't need to rehash the past if our strategy as a party reflects that lessons have been learned.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)Our lobbied/bribed Congress will never pass something that runs counter to their briber's interests. Single payer would have cut into the profits of those big monied interests. So no, we do not have real representation in this country.... we have shills doing what big money wants them to do, and the majority of the people can go pound sand.
leftstreet
(36,117 posts)harun
(11,348 posts)certainot
(9,090 posts)if the left is going to keep ignoring talk radio don't expect anything different. single payer was politically 'impossible' mainly because of 25 years of ignoring rw radio.
RW radio (managed by the 1%'s think tanks) enables and intimidates politicians and media enough to allow to give 20% the 'popular' standing of 50% or more.
the teabaggers that screamed and yelled to stop the public option were nothing more than dittoheads, motivated by myths and lies and yelling talking points made real to them with 25 years of unchallenged talk radio repetition (and many lies about canadian and european single payer), while the left stuck their fingers in their ears. they were loud, amplified by 1200 coordinated and ignored radio stations.
the left was and will continue to be beaten by a few hundred very loud lying assholes. those stations and most of those blowhards were and still are ignored- and that's why we don't have single payer.
and it is the same tool that stopped the clinton health care back then.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)what the common people want is irrelevant. The corporations are solidly in control of both parties and they set the agenda for what will and what will not happen, they write the legislation, they choose how elections are run and who we get to vote for. They have locked down the presidential elections completely, control the federal legislature, and are hard at work controlling most state legislatures as well. It is a level of corruption not seen in this country since the last quarter of the 19th century.
polichick
(37,152 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,334 posts)I don't recall it. Foolish ranting, methinks.
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Oligarchies control the nation now, if Big Pharma and the Insurance Racket wanted socialized medicine - they would pay billions of dollars to lobbyists to pay for PR the WH and Congress would go right along with it. They are pro business all they way. Obviously the SCOTUS is pro business all the way too. Even if it hurts the nation at large.
When the majority of people want something in this country, we are supposedly represented by people in D.C. that do our will so to speak. OF COURSE that is not how things work anymore and only an idiot would believe we are truly represented by people that look out for our best interest. Clearly that is not the case. We get lucky and maybe a handful really do care about the working class.
The people will never equate into Koch brother level influence...we just don't register on many reps radar anymore. We can't back up to their front door with a truck loaded with money, Big Biz can.
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)ErikJ
(6,335 posts)lame54
(35,343 posts)but if we failed where would we be?
The watered down overly compromised ACA barely squeaked through
It is currently our best path towards single payer
Rilgin
(787 posts)Some form of health insurance reform was inevitable.
If the democrats (in particular the Administration) had not made back room deals and chased the pipe dream of bi-partanianship with the republicans but instead had proposed a good public expansion of medicaire for all and had politically fought the opponents with back room and public pressure, maybe it would have failed ... and the compromise would have resulted in ... wait for it.... wait for it.... wait for it... the ACA. This bill was always possible as the end result of a political battle.
By chosing to take the long time republican plan as the basis of health care reform and not fight first for something better before compromising we lost the chance that we would have something that actually moved us in the right direction... single payer... medicare for all... public option.
Personally, I believe the political fight would have won. Until Obama started making the back room deals and made some policy choices that supported the status quo rather than made it clear he was for actual big changes, he was mobilizing millions to public rallies. Certainly the most zealot and secure republicans would not care but some of them might have found their shirt collars constricting enough to start worrying about their jobs.
lame54
(35,343 posts)Not the same you can say about any other theory about how it should have been done
Rilgin
(787 posts)Of course the ACA passed. It is a bill that mandates individuals purchase Insurance from private insurance companies if they are not otherwise insured. It expands Medicaid for states that accept the expansion and provides subsidies to some to purchase the mandated insurance. It is not single payer nor does it have a Public Option. It reduces the number of uninsured but it is not Universal Health Care or Insurance. Within the insurance area, it imposes some regulation on insurance policies and insurance company practices.
That we agree is fact. However, this thread seems to be whether we could have gotten something better than this in 2008 and that is purely opinion.
Imagine a health problem. There are two possibilities: surgery or medicine. The Surgery would 100% improve the symptoms in the short term but has some trade-offs and might have long term bad consequences. The medical and diet course was less assured and would be much harder to accomplish results. If it worked it would be better long term as a cure. Now Imagine the patient elected surgery and is trying to analyze whether it was a good decision. Its not much of an argument that it is a fact that the Surgery happened to analyze if the decision to take the easier path was the right decision or foreclosed on a better path to a better result.
With regard to the ACA, it is a fact that it passed and it is a fact that in the immediate time frame more people have enhanced access to healthcare and insurance is better regulated than it was. It is purely opinion as to the following:
1. That it can be improved as some supporters of the current ACA contend.
2. That the ACA is an incremental step towards a Public Option or Single Payer as some supporters contend.
3. That any other better bill could not have passed.
To these ACA booster memes, I would add the following questions which can only be answered as opinion.
1. Long term is the ACA a good bill. Is it sustainable.
2. If democrats had fought for a better health care bill with a Public Option or one based on Medicaire expansion that it would have lost.
3 If democrats had fought for a better bill and lost this year, that the issue would disappear and we would not get a more engaged public who voted against those who thwarted the better bill.
4. That if democrats fought for that better bill initially and could not get the congressional votes, that they could not have negotiated the current ACA leaving a base and population feeling that at least they had a democratic party that fought for a better bill.
5. Will the ACA cause a backlash and put more republicans into office leading to the killing of the subsidies or killing the bill.
So anyhow, this thread seems to be about opinions on the passage of the ACA rather than an alternative approach.
There are a lot of other opinions.
lame54
(35,343 posts)but you are still arguing about an unknown
while I'm talking about a known
turning back the clock and starting over may leave us empty handed
Rilgin
(787 posts)I am expressing my opinion about this thread topic. You are derailing it and trying to claim your opinion as fact.
The title of this thread is "But we couldn't *possibly* have gotten single payer!". It is not a thread on whether we did get the ACA.
You are asserting something on the order of "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".
That is a valid opinion and has some merit but is not always true and is a mere opinion not a "fact".
Sometimes taking a path forecloses taking a better path. I went to graduate school a long time ago. I was waitlisted in a school considered the best in the country with an unspecified chance of getting in off the waitlist. I was given admission at another school which was good but had some drawbacks. It was slightly more expensive farther from my family and not specialized in my preferred area but it was a good school. I choose to accept it, moved and signed a lease at the lesser certain school. I took the bird in hand. After signing the lease and going to class, I was accepted off the waitlist for the other school. Now, the school I attended was very good and I do not regret it but I probably would have been much better off If I had chosen the other path and waited for the waitlist.
This above is a true story from my life and the basic topic of this thread which you have derailed. Would we have gotten in the way of health care reform if we had chosen another path or negotiated differently It is your opinion that we are better off getting the ACA (the bird in hand). That is opinion and I am not sure I agree with that opinion.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Legislation, such as it is, still has to come from Congress.
Mojo Electro
(362 posts)It's not like the will of the people matters with all that money at stake.
crimeariver1225
(19 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)and what the people want is not a factor in decisions of government unless what the people want is aligned with the needs of the 1%, or is of no consequence to the 1% agenda.
As you know, Medicare for All is contrary to 1% interests and the 1% agenda.
Until we the people decide upon an effective means to remedy this situation, it will continue to worsen, and become more difficult to reverse, and terminate.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Yes, it polled well. Polling doesn't pass bills. Congresspeople do.
You need Lieberman's vote to pass the bill. How do you get it?
He knows he can't win re-election. So you can't threaten that.
His primary goal was to get on TV as much as possible. So yanking his committee assignments does not help - that just gets more TV time.
Heck, he went against his own proposal for a 50+ Medicare buy-in. Medicare for all is going to be a much harder sale.
So how, exactly, do you get his vote?
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Divernan
(15,480 posts)Witness the hysterical, irrational responses from those folks who live under the bridge, Fremont-wise.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)More than 90 percent of Republicans voted for the assholes who are trying to repeal Obamacare, blocking Medicaid expansion and working to destroy the safety net.
So there is that. Maybe if they value a public option, they could vote for candidates who actually support it.
Yavin4
(35,453 posts)Sure, leave out all other contradicting evidence and arguments and focus on one poll result in order to win over the Obama hater crowd here on DU.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)At least you could click a link and read before lambasting a person.
Yavin4
(35,453 posts)How many polls support banning assault weapons?
And where is the legislation supporting the polls? No where.
You know that polls do not result in legislation getting passed into law.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002482243
As Sanders points out, it will come via the Obamacare provision.
Uh... we should be thanking *Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden* for single payer in America.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024088636
Obama just launched single-payer in America
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024088437
Obamacare: It's Obama's signature achievement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024695694
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Trying to squeeze any sort of peace on earth out of our government in Washington has been a steep uphill climb for years. For the most part we no longer have representatives in Congress, because of the corruption of money, the weakness of the media, and the strength of parties. There are not 535 opinions on Capitol Hill on truly important matters, but 2. Our supposed representatives work for their party leaders, not for us. Luckily, one of the two parties claims to want to work for us.
When the Democrats were in the minority and out of the White House, they told us they wanted to work for us but needed to be in the majority. So, in 2006, we put them there. Then they told us that they really wished they could work for us but they needed bigger majorities and the White House. So, in 2008, we gave them those things, and largely deprived them of two key excuses for inaction. We took away the veto excuse and came very close to taking away the filibuster excuse, and -- in fact -- the filibuster excuse could be taken away completely if the Democrats didn't want to keep it around.
This is not to say that either excuse was ever sensible. The two most important things the 110th Congress refused to do (ceasing to fund illegal wars, and impeaching war criminals) did not require passing legislation, so filibusters and vetoes were not relevant. But the Democrats in Congress, and the Republicans, and the media, and the White House all pretended that wars could only be ended by legislation, so the excuses for not passing legislation loomed large. The veto excuse will be gone on January 20th. The filibuster excuse could be gone by January 6th if Senator Harry Reid wanted it gone.
The filibuster excuse works like this. Any 41 senators can vote No on "cloture", that is on bringing a bill to a vote, and that bill will never come to a vote, and anything the House of Representatives has done won't matter. Any of the other 59 senators, the 435 House members, the president, the vice president, television pundits, and newspaper reporters can blame the threat of filibuster for anything they fail to do.
Now, the Senate itself is and always has been and was intended to be an anti-democratic institution. It serves no purpose that is not or could not be more democratically accomplished by the House alone. The Senate should simply be eliminated by Constitutional Amendment. But the filibuster is the most anti-democratic tool of the Senate, and can be eliminated without touching the Constitution, which does not mention it. If you take 41 senators from the 21 smallest states, you can block any legislation with a group of multi-millionaires elected by 11.2 percent of the American public. That fact is a national disgrace that should be remedied as quickly as possible.
The filibuster was created by accident when the Senate eliminated a seemingly redundant practice of voting on whether to vote. Senators then discovered, after a half-century of surviving just fine without the filibuster, that they could block votes by talking forever. In 1917 the Senate created a rule allowing a vote by two-thirds of those voting, to end a filibuster. In 1949 they changed the rule to require two-thirds of the entire Senate membership. In 1959 they changed it back. And in 1975 they changed the rule to allow three-fifths of the Senators sworn into office to end a filibuster and force a vote. Filibustering no longer requires giving long speeches. It only requires threatening to do so. The use of such threats has exploded over the past 10 years, dominating the decision-making process of our government and effectively eliminating the possibility of truly populist or progressive legislation emerging from Congress. This has happened at the same time that the forces of money, media, and party have led the Democrats in both houses to view the filibuster excuse as highly desirable, rather than as an impediment.
Were the Democrats serious about eliminating the filibuster excuse, they would either take every step possible to get 60 senators into their caucus, or they would change the rule requiring 60 senators for cloture. Possible steps to reach that magic number of 60 would include ensuring the closest thing possible at this point to honest and verifiable outcomes in the Minnesota senate election and every other senate election of this past November, immediately seating replacement senators for Obama, Biden, and Democrats appointed and confirmed for other offices, appointing Republican senators from states with Democratic governors to key jobs in the Obama administration and immediately seating their replacements, and providing Washington, D.C., with a House member and two senators (this last approach changing the magic number to 61 and potentially providing the 60th and 61st Democrats). Simpler and more certain would be simply changing the rule, specifically Senate Rule 22, which reads in part:
"'Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate shall be brought to a close?' And if that question shall be decided in the affirmative by three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn -- except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case the necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of the Senators present and voting -- then said measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, shall be the unfinished business to the exclusion of all other business until disposed of."
This would seem to suggest that it takes 60 senators to block a filibuster and 66 senators (if 100 are present, otherwise fewer) to end the power of 60 senators to block filibusters. But that's not the whole story. William Greider recently explained:
"In 1975 the filibuster issue was revived by post-Watergate Democrats frustrated in their efforts to enact popular reform legislation like campaign finance laws. Senator James Allen of Alabama, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate and a skillful parliamentary player, blocked them with a series of filibusters. Liberals were fed up with his delaying tactics. Senator Walter Mondale pushed a campaign to reduce the threshold from sixty-seven votes to a simple majority of fifty-one. In a parliamentary sleight of hand, the liberals broke Allen's filibuster by a majority vote, thus evading the sixty-seven-vote rule. (Senate rules say you can't change the rules without a cloture vote, but the Constitution says the Senate sets its own rules. As a practical matter, that means the majority can prevail whenever it decides to force the issue.) In 1975 the presiding officer during the debate, Vice President Rockefeller, first ruled with the liberals on a motion to declare Senator Allen out of order. When Allen appealed the "ruling of the chair" to the full Senate, the majority voted him down. Nervous Senate leaders, aware they were losing the precedent, offered a compromise. Henceforth, the cloture rule would require only sixty votes to stop a filibuster."
If Vice President Biden's assistance appears needed for this, it can wait until January 21st. If it waits longer than that, the credibility of the filibuster excuse will collapse, because the Democrats will be publicly admitting that they prefer to keep that excuse around.
If the Minnesota election remains undecided, cloture may require one fewer vote under current rules, but the Democrats will have one fewer senator. The outcome of that race will only be decisive if the Democrats refuse to change the filibuster rule and pursue other attempts to achieve a caucus able to vote for cloture.
If, through one means or another, the Democrats eliminate the filibuster excuse, our job will be to organize and agitate immediately to take full advantage of this rare opportunity for actual representative government. Greider proposes reducing to 55 percent of the Senate the number of senators needed for cloture. I propose reducing it to 50 percent plus one. Either way, nobody is proposing that a minority be empowered to decide anything, only that a majority finally be permitted to (even to the extent allowed by an anti-democratic body like the U.S. Senate in which both Wyoming and California have the same number of senators). Should that happen, all I can say to Wall Street and the military industrial complex is: get ready to be shocked and awed!
If the Democrats choose to keep the filibuster excuse around, our job will be to overwhelm them and the media with our refusal to believe it. Yes, we'll also want to lobby for peace, justice, jobs, green energy, and health care. But we'll never get them unless we insist on pressuring the Senate on this seemingly arcane little matter of passing bills, or what we might call a campaign for "No taxation without representation."
http://election.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4711992
If only...
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)I'm so sick and tired of whiners who have 0 ideas except to vote for Republicans or 3rd party candidates who will GUARANTEE a Republican in office.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)explaining that Democrats needed to get rid of the filibuster ASAP while they had a majority in the House, Senate, and White House, and start to pass progressive legislation.
He proposed a fantastic solution for Democrats, a solution that they could have, and should have used.
Maybe you read something else.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)nothing. No, wait, they do do something! They whine. But get them off their asses to convince other ordinary people in the land that the right wing ideology of the past 33 years is what has damaged this country? Hell no, that takes effort!!!!! They just want to sit back with a beer on their fat asses and criticize whoever is in the White House and the Dems in Congress, and that's all folks! Don't expect one more thing out of them. They're sleepy, cozy and aren't used to doing much of anything.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)As an activist, Swanson co-founded the website After Downing Street (now War Is A Crime .org), based around the U.S. congressional concern of the Downing Street Memo. Additionally, Swanson embarked on a campaign to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney[2] through the now defunct website ConvictBushCheney.Org[3] as well as contributing to the introduction of Dennis Kucinichs The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush.[4][5] Swanson has also aided in the organization of campaigns such as Velvet Revolution's opposition of the United States Chamber of Commerce and Tom J. Donohue,[6] and October2011.Org's Occupy Washington movement.[7][8]
As an author, David Swanson has written several books; Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union[9] (2009), War Is a Lie (2010), When the World Outlawed War (2011) and War No More: The Case for Abolition (2013).
Swanson currently blogs through various political sites, including his own co-founded site, WarIsACrime.Org[3] and Democrats.com,[1] where he serves as the Washington Director.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Swanson
And I'm not exactly anti-Obama, but, or maybe you are referring to me? I've protested every war since Vietnam, protested at WTO protests in Seattle (where my partner and I beaten by cops with batons) and Cancun, was heavily involved with Occupy, where I marched with Jesse Jackson and in several cities, and protested against ALEC, etc... I've probably been an activist since before you were born, as were many other liberals here.
I'm not gonna take any trash from posters whose most significant political activity to date was most likely writing a love letter to Obama that got published on Tiger Beat, or watching us on TV while cops were attacking us when Occupying.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)his house, his entertainment, travel, etc. He makes money off his "activism," so I don't call it activism.
I suppose I am referring to a handful of whiners on DU (some of which are actual Republicans), whom we all know so well, who have no ideas, express lots of Republican ideas, and do absolutely nothing but whine.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)IronLionZion
(45,614 posts)What exactly are you doing to increase the number of single-payer supporters in congress, besides continuing to beat this broken skeleton that may have once been a dead horse.
Forward, not back.
brooklynite
(94,901 posts)underpants
(182,988 posts)Just sayin'
mvd
(65,180 posts)I don't expect to get 100% of what I want; that is teabagger foolishness. But I do expect us to aim high and not stray too far from progressive principles. Single payer should have never been off the table.
krawhitham
(4,651 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)Some places already do. Available now in Contra Costa county and parts of Los Angeles.
It is one of the options on the Covered California website.
Eligible for ACA subsidies and all.
The state of Vermont is setting up a public option as well.