Bernie Sanders delegates mount convention rebellion over 'Medicare for All'
Source: Politico
A revolt is brewing among Bernie Sanders delegates three weeks from the Democratic National Convention.
More than 360 delegates, most of whom back Sanders, have signed on to a pledge to vote against the Democratic Party’s platform if it does not include support for "Medicare for All," the petition’s organizers told POLITICO. They argue that single-payer health care is an urgent priority amid a worldwide pandemic and the biggest unemployment crisis since the Great Depression.
“This pandemic has shown us that our private health insurance system does not work for the American people. Millions of people have lost their jobs and their health care at the same time,” said Judith Whitmer, a Sanders delegate and chair of the convention’s Nevada delegation who helped spearhead the pledge. “There’s people leaving the hospital now with millions of dollars in medical bills. What are we going to do about that?”
The warning is all but certain to set up a clash between Sanders’ most dedicated supporters and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who opposes Medicare for All, at a time when the party is seeking to demonstrate unity ahead of its August convention. Though the petition signers have little chance of revising the platform to include Medicare for All support, they do have the numbers to draw attention to their protest and cause.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/27/bernie-supporters-medicare-single-payer-381972
Yogi Berra had a saying about this.
= new reply since forum marked as read
This is NOT the time or year, to be pulling this crap unless they want 4 more years of trump. MFA is a goal, not a requirement this time.
First and foremost--GET RID OF TRUMP!!
Apparently she's an "award winning journalist". 
I guess I just have higher standards.
It only creates division and distrust. Their negativity generates apathy. Apathy generates complacency. Complacency discourages voter turnout. Low voter turnout gives Republicans a chance to steal the elections.
Candidates are picked for other things like "electablity", or experience.
And you are wrong. Most polls I've seen use the language not of "universal healthcare" but on single payer, and or M4A. Including the one I posted showing 75% support with Democrats.
I would concede that many are confused about the terminology and what they exactly mean. But most polls are asking about single payer/M4A. Here are just a few I found in a short google.
pacific research:
https://www.pacificresearch.org/pollwatch/
Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-progressives/
cnbc:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/28/most-americans-now-support-medicare-for-all-and-free-college-tuition.html
And to achieve UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE you cannot do it without some form of SINGLE PAYER federally directed and enforced. Its just not possible, and has never happened. There are all kinds of examples of nations allowing private contractors for lab work and specialists in conjunction with their medical system. But the basic cost and the bulk of coverage is guaranteed by the taxpayer, and national policy that ensures every citizen can find a doctor, get basic care, including whatever care is available if you get a more serious condition. No matter how rich or poor you are. That basic standard is enforced by federal law, even if it is left to Provinces or States to implement. The base, the foundation, of universal healthcare IS single payer (tax payer) funded.
But why are you or anyone in here arguing about this? I can't believe I am even arguing FOR single payer, supported by Democrats, with another Democratic supporter.
The majority of Americans, when asked about "single payer" or M4A, want it. And of that majority, Democrats overwhelmingly support it. Why fight that? Its a winning proposition. What happened to the notion that Obama raised? That it wasn't just on him. We had to demand change. Biden is not a robot. He can be swayed by good arguments, and polls.
Why wouldn't we want
what we want?
....are in favor of some form of UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE. You even confirm my point toward the very end, i.e.:
But I still don't see any of the actual polls, just interpretations or analysis of polls. I'd love to see the actual questions asked of the respondents.
Two final comments:
The third link merely refers to the second link and does an analysis.
The second link contains an advocate of "Medicare for All" (Saikat Chakrabarti) sporting a t-shirt with the face of Subhas Chandra Bose, who organized an armed force that fought AGAINST the Allies in WWII, and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds or thousands of Americans in Asia. He also traveled to Germany as Adolf Hitler's guest. Why is a "Progressive Democrat" wearing such a shirt? I didn't read much beyond that point, but the CNBC link covered the gist of the second link w/respect to Universal Health Care.
collaborator's picture. He's grinning ear to ear along with proud non-Democrat Corbin Trent who actually ran Republican candidates against Democrats in general elections with his organization BNC.
Why on earth should anyone listen to their advice or care what they want?
As of May 27th:
https://www.kff.org/slideshow/public-opinion-on-single-payer-national-health-plans-and-expanding-access-to-medicare-coverage/
I hope that clears things up for you on what a majority of Democrats and Democratic leaning independents want in terms of health care coverage policy.
Gurlll pleeeze!
Aren't they?
Joe/Kamala or Biden/Harris 2020!! 
They're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Biden Bandwagon & abandon the revolution!! 
Most are a hybrid of public/private, state/federal mechanisms to administer funding.
For instance:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Germany
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Australia
For someone who lives in Canada, you don't seem familiar with the fact that Canada didn't go single payer as a nation untill all of the provinces did independently of each other. That took over a decade (and Sanders claims M4A will take but two years!) - then in 1968 a very liberal administration added a federal layer to it. But no, it's not run at the federal level like Medicare or is proposed in M4A - but at the province level, more like Medicaid.
And the last election, better access to health care was a major issue for the candidates, wasn't it? Of course, it's preferable to what we have in the US in terms of getting everyone covered, but not without problems in access.
Green Mountain Care didn't get off the ground, and neither did single payer in California. ColoradoCare was defeated soundly at the ballot box in 2016. So we're definitely going to take a LOT longer than Canada did if we try to replicate their process.
The last window we had in the US was in 1971. Ted Kennedy was sent by Democrats to tell Nixon in 1971, "Single Payer or nothing" and we got nothing. And Nixon was proposing a plan that was to the left of the ACA. Kennedy said before he died that this was one of the biggest regrets of his political career, because if he had stayed at the table and compromised we might be much, much closer to UHC than we are now. Instead our purity cost us decades.
He learned from that lesson, and so did Democrats when they got the ACA into actual existence. The majority American Democrats want the ACA repaired and then expanded, as the KFF polling indicated.
And no one has been able to tell me this - perhaps you can? If the SCOTUS of 2012 ruled that states did not have to participate in Medicaid expansion to more impoverished residents, even if funded by the Federal Government, what makes you think that the SCOTUS of 2021 - with Gorsuch and Kavanaugh - will dispute that and rule that states must participate in expanding Medicare to everyone? You know that the GOP will fight it all the way to SCOTUS like they did in 2012. Remember, even Canada, with a much smaller population than the US, administers it's health care primarily at the province level. They don't run it all out of Ottowa.
they're the same as Republicans except for some social issues, and how Hillary's policies are erased. 2016 was the most progressive platform in history. But somehow it didn't exist. Changing some language in the platform is hardly being dragged anywhere. "Even Hillary" WTF.
Popularity for Medicare for All grew slightly among Democratic voters, with a 2 percentage point increase from 2018.
Support among independent voters was steady at 68 percent.
However, support among Republican voters declined 6 percentage points over the course of two years, from 52 percent support in 2018 to 46 percent in 2020.
https://www.kff.org/slideshow/public-opinion-on-single-payer-national-health-plans-and-expanding-access-to-medicare-coverage/
?w=800
?w=800
Again, get with the majority and enter the 21st century.
The primary is over. It's over. Move on.
Lord give me patience.
No real surprise though... deflection is a wonderful, go-to tactic for a lot of people to better maintain the thin pretense of discussion to better avoid the substance of the actual discussion-- that substance being an editorial that lacks objective evidence to support its own sentiments authored by an absurdly biased writer.
But sure... go ahead and pretend hate and jealousy are at the root of critical thought. "We have done it for decades..."
As long as they vote Biden (the nominee) when it counts, I'm not sure why this is inappropriate. I agree that an open debate about the issue needs to be had. If the majority of the party (represented by the convention delegates) votes to have the debate on the issue being in the platform, why shouldn't it be debated? Dems don't usually march in lockstep that I have ever observed.
Laura
their intentions.
Certainly it won't make a difference in terms of numbers, so why exactly are they doing this? It certainly doesn't promote unity.
I just see it as another booing of John Lewis. It accomplishes nothing positive.
Last edited Tue Jul 28, 2020, 05:56 PM - Edit history (1)
are handling Bernie's humiliating loss. 
Now the mean bad Democrats are making her nibble half a bowl of excrement. Poor Nina. It must be exhausting being angry and wrong all the time.
I found out that if you're old, you need to sit down when you headbang so you don't fall over and hurt yourself. I figured this out at a Tom Petty concert!!
