2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders claim that he helped write Obamacare
Sanders statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. That meets our definition of Mostly False.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jan/18/bernie-s/fact-checking-bernie-sanders-claim-he-helped-write/
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Another meme bites the dust.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Things start to become a little more difficult for him when his words and plans are scrutinized. No more "coasting along" for him!
Go, Hillary! We love you!
livetohike
(22,165 posts)asuhornets
(2,405 posts)HassleCat
(6,409 posts)Sanders' claim is somewhere between true and somewhat exaggerated, not "mostly false" as Politifact has it. He said "help." He didn't claim to be a major author, a driving force, an inside player, an important architect, etc. He was pointing out that he was involved, so he had some authority to comment, and that's correct. Politifact's analysis is mostly wrong.
TCJ70
(4,387 posts)...how they can say mostly false on that. It's not like he said "I wrote the whole thing!"
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)They're now regurgitating all the shit they've been asked to eat since Hillary announced.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)by the supporters, for voting for the ACA alone, let alone actually having something to do with writing it. The same people claim it is a gift to insurance companies and provides no real care.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Note to Jury: It is not against the rules to point out inconsistency. No candidate or candidate's fans were smeared, attacked or insulted.
Kip Humphrey
(4,753 posts)I mean, I get how very important impressions are to the establishment elite, but I still come down on the side with elements of truth over impression. Sorry PolitiFact but this gets a "no pass" from me.
cali
(114,904 posts)JRLeft
(7,010 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)JRLeft
(7,010 posts)Hillary isn't for that.
dogman
(6,073 posts)This is just one of Rachel's dust-ups with Politifact.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/salute-the-enduring-terribleness-politifactpunditfact
demwing
(16,916 posts)From Politifact:
So theres a good case to be made that Sanders made an important contribution to the final legislation.
Even if we accept that Politifact has a bias, it's got to be a strenuous excercise for them to ignore their own article.
Based on PF's research, this Sanders claim should be "Mostly True."
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Ino
(3,366 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)Yes, Bernie was very involved with the drafting of the ACA
Without Bernie there wouldn't have been 11 billion in the ACA CHCs. He made his vote for it contingent on that. And yes, he fought for single payer and the public option. The following is from the pro Hillary TPM.
ut interviews with various congressional staff involved with the reform effort as well as outside experts reveal that Sanders' role in the creation of 2010's Affordable Care Act is a complicated one.
On one hand, he sat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (or HELP) Committee -- one of the two committees charged with pulling together the legislation. And he championed not-insignificant provisions like expanded funding for community health centers and providing an option for states to experiment with their own systems.
On the other hand, his relentless push for the single-payer model made passing the bill more complicated, some staffers working on the legislation at the time told TPM, and to say he was behind the core elements -- the exchanges, mandates, and the Medicaid expansion --- would be an exaggeration.
At the end of the day, vetting his claim depends on your definition of write.
Was he involved in the creation? He was deeply involved in a variety of ways. He got some important things in there, said John McDonough, a Harvard public health professor who wrote the 2011 book "Inside National Health Reform."
<snip>
Former Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM) was the one Democrat who sat on both committees working on the ACA at the time. He was also a member of Baucus' Gang of Six.
As a regular member of the committee on the Democratic side -- we were the ones who were writing the bill because Republicans were opposing everything, Bingaman told TPM last week. So was very much involved like the rest of us.
Bingaman remembered specifically Sanders community health center provision, but said that he was a strong advocate for other parts of it, too."
Legislative staffers on the HELP Committee from that time contend that Sanders various contributions were meaningful ones.
I think it is an absolutely fair claim for him to make, said one former Democratic aide. I would say, unequivocally, he was very involved in putting his mark on the bill.
<snip>
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sanders-role-in-the-affordable-care-act