The humiliating inability of Republicans to legislate even when they control the Presidency, House and Senate has emboldened the left wing of the Democratic party, led by Bernie Sanders, to push to replace Obamacare (designed by the Heritage Foundation and first trialled by Mitt Romney) with "Medicare-For-All," a state run, universal healthcare system that will end the out-of-control transfer of tax funds to insurance companies and the bonanza for Big Pharma.
“We have got to have the guts to take on the insurance companies and the drug companies and move forward toward a Medicare-for-all, single-payer program,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” on Friday night. “And I’ll be introducing legislation shortly to do that.”Even before the Republicans withdrew their Obamacare repeal bill, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee and a close Sanders ally, previewed this message at a rally in defense of Obamacare on Thursday.
“Don’t just be satisfied with defeating Trumpcare ― set your sights on creating real Medicare for all!” he told a cheering crowd of hundreds of activists.
Representatives of several major progressive organizations ― the Working Families Party, the Progressive Campaign Change Committee, Credo, Social Security Works and the National Nurses United ― all echoed this push in conversations with The Huffington Post on Friday and Saturday.
“The problem is the insurance companies, Big Pharma ― they’re gonna come back and use the chaos to their advantage,” predicted Social Security Works executive director Alex Lawson. “If Democrats go with a half-a-loaf policy, Republicans are going to blame them for the failures of Big Pharma. They have to immediately pivot to expanding Medicare.”
Bernie Sanders, Top Progressives Announce New Medicare-For-All Push
[Daniel Marans/Huffington Post]
(via Naked Capitalism)
(Image: Bern the White House)
