The Cassidy/Graham bill was announced for Monday ahead of time. So WHY did Bernie announce

[pnwmom]

his single payer bill on the same day? Why couldn't he have waited TWO WEEKS for the Obamacare crisis -- and the Medicaid and Medicare crisis -- to be over?

What he has done is provide a distraction -- which aids the Rethugs -- while we should all be fighting FOR the ACA and for MEDICAID and MEDICARE (Which the Cassidy/Graham bill will also take a hatchet to.) I have heard Dems say right here that they are only focused on single payer now, not saving the ACA. Which is exactly what the Rethugs want.

For single-payer, it wouldn't have mattered a bit in the long run whether Bernie announced in mid or at the end of September. For the ACA, FOR MEDICAID, AND EVEN FOR MEDICARE, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. PASSING THE GOP WILL HAVE HUGE EFFECTS ON ALL THREE. (In addition to closing up the Medicare drug benefit "donut hole," the ACA contained tax on high earners for shoring up the Medicare trust fund. Without it the GOP will argue that Medicare is unsustainable.)

We can't let anything distract us. We have to fight now, by calling and emailing our Congress, just as hard as we did before.

Don't get distracted by the lure of the single payer. If the Rethugs fail with this repeal, they will then need 60 votes instead of 51. NOW, IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, IS THE TIME TO SAVE THE ACA, MEDICAID, AND MEDICARE.

[R B Garr]

1. AMJoy played a Graham clip that is going around goading Sanders' that

his single payer will never be because the ACA is going down. Graham lumped them together that way, which isn't surprising. First things first. Building coalitions is more important that grandstanding.

[4now]

2. Maybe he wants to repeal and replace Obamacare.

[oasis]

3. I have confidence in our Democratic Party leadership.

They'll handle it.

[pnwmom]

4. Our leadership needs US to be bombarding our legislators with messages to save the ACA.

[oasis]

6. True that. First order of business for Pelosi and Schumer would be to

stay clear of the Oval Office and focus completely on ACA.

[MFM008]

26. Yes helping him look good

needs to stop. He wont follow through on these promises anyway.
And his entire purpose was to eliminate everything Obama did.

[Demsrule86]

5. I don't feel confident in anyhting...bad timing. I hope this doesn't

cause the demise of the ACA...because it is the only avenue to universal health care...the current single payer bill will go nowhere.

[oasis]

7. Schumer needs to have a serious talk w/Bernie about

putting the cart before the horse.

[pnwmom]

9. Bernie won't care. He does what he wants to do. n/t

[LexVegas]

8. Attention. nt

[arthritisR_US]

25. +1000!

[leftstreet]

10. Looks like Trump's whole term will be a continual assault on ACA

Just when people thought they'd 'done' something with their calls, letters, town hall mtgs, protests, etc and McCain made headlines with his no vote - here we are back again

It's possible Bernie's bill is less of a distraction, but more or an answer for fatigued voters

[pnwmom]

11. We will have a break for a while if this bill doesn't pass by September 30

because then it would require 60 votes -- till the next budget reconciliation next year.

[Jim Lane]

12. I simply do not see a line of causation here.

The reason to introduce single payer is to lay the groundwork for action in future Congresses. Nobody expects it to pass this year or next.

The latest attack on the ACA will depend, in the first instance, on whether the proponents can win over enough of the Republicans who've voted against earlier versions. Those people (the swing votes on saving ACA) don't care a rap about the single payer bill. With or without a single payer bill, the Democrats and independents will all continue to vote Nay.

You might as well say that working on a DACA deal is bad because it's a distraction from defending ACA.

[flamingdem]

14. Good reasoning, it's apples and oranges, the repukes are all about finding votes

and that has little to do with anything Bernie is up to.

[Demsrule86]

18. I disagree...during the last vote the GOP brought single payer to the floor...and some believing

we can get single payer because of this bill which won't happen...may not rally around the ACA this time giving the Gop cover...I will never get over this if we lose the ACA. ideology should never Trump human lives. Also, it just sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

[davsand]

13. Provides a pretty dramatic contrast next to the GOP "plan."

Frankly speaking, the nation is now talking about a potential "everybody covered/single payer" scenario rather than cutting a couple dozen million people off from care like that GOP plan proposes. Think of it as a "Door number one or Door number two" scenario. Outside the extreme tea party asshats, most people really don't want to see their fellow Americans die because they can't afford medical care.

I'm somebody that will be well and truly screwed if the Republicans get what they want. Pretty sure that I'm not the only one capable of comparing and contrasting the two positions, either.

Bernie et al knew EXACTLY what they were doing.


Laura

[pnwmom]

15. But the overall message is the same: the ACA should be replaced.

Either with Bernie's plan or the Rethug plan.

Bernie could have waited 2 more weeks -- for the Cassidy/Graham bill to tail -- and not sent that message, but he chose to go ahead now instead, with a bill that undermines, that doesn't support, the ACA.

[davsand]

16. The ACA isn't perfect. We all know that it needs improvement.

Attempting to move the Medicare for All discussion to the front of the bus is actually overdue, IMO. I remember an awful lot of people right here at DU who were screamingly pissed off that Obamacare was not enough at the time it became law. Yes, the ACA is a lot better than anything Ryan and his pals are presenting, but it is not the be-all end-all and should not be viewed that way. There's an old belief among organizers, that when you are only able to get half a loaf in your negotiations--and you know you've run out of plays--you take that half loaf and then come back the next day for the half you didn't get that last time. No surrender. No retreat.

I believe that Hillary's assessment was accurate at the time when she said single payer was not an option. The political climate was every bit as bad as it is now. HOWEVER, the American public has changed since then. If there's anything I think the GOP has done lately to help this country, it has been that they have shined a spotlight on just how very bad it was in this country before the ACA passage, and how bad it could be here with the hack and burn changes they propose.

It's easy to feel like we live in a nation of "sheeple" sometimes (look at the idiot in the Oval Office and it's impossible not to feel it!) but, I honestly believe in the compassion and essential goodness of the American public. Yeah, we have assholes like Ryan and Cruz trotting around out there, but we also have a whole bunch of people lining up to help out in Texas and Florida right now. Presented with options that help people rather than hurt them, I think the American public--IF THEY UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE--will choose to side with the angels rather than the tea party buffoons.

I see this discussion about Medicare for ALL as presenting an opportunity to help people rather than hurt them. I honestly think the American public is more than capable of telling the difference between the GOP and the Dem views. I won't insult them by saying they can't.

Pax.


Laura

[pnwmom]

17. I've already heard people here say they're not going to push Congress to stop the repeal

because they want Bernie's plan instead.

So 32 million people could lose their coverage while we dink around, without majorities in the House and the Senate, hoping that somehow we can pass single payer without them.

The Rethugs have a TWO WEEK WINDOW to pass their repeal bill, and after that they will need 60 votes instead of 51. So they are getting desperate, and we should be fighting back with all we've got -- not wasting any time or thought on single payer. There would have been NO DOWNSIDE to waiting till October 1 to introduce Bernie's bill. There was nothing to gain by introducing it when he did instead of two weeks later -- and so much to potentially lose.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Can you link to those threads, please?

That would be a silly way to think, but I don't think there are many supporters like that. I think the thing to do is persuade them they're wrong, rather than blame Sander's bill.

[KitSileya]

24. I haven't seen that here, but on twitter

I've seen Russian bots claiming that acacare was saved so now was the time for the fight for single payer. Unfortunately, too many on the left have shown that they are easily deceived by these bots.

[Demsrule86]

20. Tell that to the millions who will lose any coverage because of this...Can

you give them a date or even a scenario of how single payer passes? I doubt it.

[TCJ70]

22. You did see that this poster described themselves as...

...one of the people that would be "well and truly screwed if the Republicans get their way", right? You need to check your blind rage.

[Demsrule86]

19. That is the problem...this bill undermines...the ACA.

[ucrdem]

21. Of course it does.

We've heard all the excuses before, to the letter. The only question is why some would want to see the ACA fail. But don't try to answer it here.

[dlk]

27. Hillary is Currently Receiving Much Media Attention While On Her Book Tour

[delisen]

28. and her honesty about Trump being a danger and

unfit helps. it is Trump who wants to destroy the ACA.

Should Sanders speak as plainly and forcefully about Trump, or if he would strongly defend the ACA I believe it would be helpful.

Instead he has chosen different path.

[pnwmom]

29. So? Book tours are planned months in advance. Bernie's announcement could have waited 2 more weeks

without inconveniencing anyone. And he could have instead been leading the charge in the fight against the repeal bill. But he's not.