How WE can help Single Payer in Vermont:

[annabanana]

From Progressive Democrats of America:

Here's a project that embodies the spirit of the season, and we hope you'll join us.
Thanks to the work of countless volunteers, Vermont passed the nation's only Single Payer Healthcare Bill.

We won the battle, but now we have to win the war.
Vermont's governor has said he won't make it a part of his 2015 budget.

So now we have to impress upon him and the state legislature that this is not an option. That health care is a human right, and Vermont must get the wheel turning so that other states can follow suit.

A huge coalition of orgs nation wide are standing with The Vermont Workers Center to put thousands in the street at a rally at the capital on Jan. 8th. We're making calls into Vermont and elsewhere, inviting activists to participate.

Very Easy Calls
You get the list and script and all the training you need. All you need is a computer, a phone, and the desire to make a difference.

We're asking all of our Issue Organizing Team members to show solidarity in this vital project.

Please let Mike "The Phone Guy" Fox know if you can make calls between now and Jan 7th, and he'll get you up and running!
mailto:
[e-mail]?subject="I'll Show Solidarity With Vermont"


Conference Call Friday, 12/26
Get energized and organized
9pm Eastern, 8pm Central, 7pm Mountain, 6pm Pacific
[phone], Access Code: 913770

Please RSVP so we're sure to have enough lines set aside.

Can't Make Calls?
No worries. You can still help us by throwing a few pennies in the tip jar to help us finance travel scholarships for hard working volunteers. Click here http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HQFG49o1nzVwvydrbTb4QWPZibSWPtKf and put "Healthcare IOT/Vermont" in the Designation Code box in the lower left hand corner.

Thank you so much for anything you can do.

Peace, health, and prosperity to you and yours this holiday season.

Dr. Bill Honigman and Kurt Bateman

[merrily]

1. Thank you for this important OP, annabanana. For obvious reasons, anyone who favors single payer

anywhere should do whatever he or she can to support single payer in Vermont.

[Vinca]

2. If it is only Vermont going single-payer, only Vermont should decide.

It will be citizens of Vermont shouldering the cost, not everyone who believes, like I do, that we need single-payer in this country. I was disappointed when Peter Shumlin threw in the towel, but I understood it. If we had gotten a public option in the healthcare bill it would have morphed into single-payer as people gravitated to a more affordable solution. We should focus on single-payer for everyone, not on just single-payer in a low population state that happens to be the bluest of the bunch. Sure, it could spread if they get it, or it might not. With so few people in the state it could turn out to be so expensive people leave Vermont in droves because they can't afford the state taxes and that would be a death blow to single-payer on a large scale.

[abelenkpe]

3. This is why democrats lose

You think big money interests and right wing republicans don't and won't throw money at elections efforts to influence politics in other states, towns and areas? They do. But hey, let's discourage democrats and progressives from doing the same.

[Vinca]

6. What on earth are you talking about?

Most Democrats see the big picture . . . ALL of America. If Vermont is able to pull off single-payer without driving its citizens to the poor house, that's great. My point is that affordability is accomplished with a large population base. Do you suppose people would have single-payer in Yorkshire if all of Great Britain didn't? Of course not.

[salib]

4. What?

It will be Vermonters deciding. Simply because some one out of state who is passionate calls a rep or senator in Vermont does not change the fact that we are deciding for ourselves.

In fact, I get a strong hint from your post that we need the rest of the country to do it for us, and that somehow we cannot afford it unless there is more help for us, e.g. The public option.

Is it our choice or not? We are not charity cases. yes, we have to make the tough choice and bear the financial burden of making single payer a reality. Is it really valuable to try to blame rest of the country for.not passing a public option. Is the only way if Vermont get sufficient financial support the the choice is not hard?

As you said, it is our choice. What do you choose to work for?

[Vinca]

5. Sometimes I'm astonished at the hostility in replies to my posts.

I'm saying Vermonters should do what Vermonters want to do. If single-payer can be accomplished and not break the bank, that's wonderful. My point is that it is more feasible for single-payer to apply to a large population base . . . the entire country. I am sure you are aware all Vermonters are not millionaires. I live in New Hampshire, but in the Vermont town nearby people are struggling to stay in their homes because the property taxes are so high. I had a rather nice place in Vermont on 50 acres and had to sell it because the taxes grew to be more than the mortgage payment. What do I choose to work for? Healthcare for EVERY citizen, not just blue state citizens, but even the dim bulbs in the red states who vote against their own interests.

[salib]

8. I still have quite an issue with your response.

It is not hostility. It is (again) incredulity.

I am living in Vermont now. Bought this house about a year ago. I am in what is supposedly a high tax town. However, there is no way that taxes are more than the mortgage on a 30 year note, unless one paid much much less than the property is worth, and even then one just challenges the evaluation, as a property is only worth what it can sell for.

I moved from Texas and after all the taxes added on (all sorts of taxing districts down there) and twice the sales tax rate there, it almost makes the difference in the fact that there is no income tax in Texas.

Now, I point all this out because oftentimes the tax argument is the first and last argument from the right (including the third way right), and is definitely believed to be the "trump card" for those same people. I am really sick and tired of that.

You get what you pay for, if you manage it well. Vermont is a rather frugal place. Just look at the (obvious lack of) opulence of the state offfice buildings. Compare that with Texas. Then see where the money goes. Vermont spends on education and has marvelous outcomes, in spite of the fact that it is very tricky to do so cost effectively when there are so few students for many relatively large and scarcely populated geographical areas.

Vermont is one of the few states where the unemployment rate is higher than the poverty rate, and has a respectable unemployment rate. I.e., in general if you are working in Vermont, you are actually not in poverty.

Single payer in Vermont has always been based upon the premise that we would be doing it alone. Yes, we will try to take advantage of the Medicare dollars already coming in. However, if healthcare is a right, we must make it happen. It IS cheaper and will save money. The forces arrayed against it are ALL wrong-headed at best, and most likely nefarious in their self-interest. They like the current, much more expensive system, as the alternative means less money floating around to be snatched up.

So, please, stop with the taxes talk. I know, it is the hot button issue that will really motivate the conservatives, the republicans in Vermont. It is likely the only really strong rallying factor for them, as Vermont is otherwise surprisingly tolerant on social issues, and finding a mega church is almost as difficult as finding a Target in the state, so the religion angle is not there.

So, (no hostility intended) why are you going straight for the taxes boogeyman? That argument only feeds the nay Sayers and more importantly those that selfishly want the current broken, inequitable, crazy quilt system that the can suck some dollars from. The point in the OP, among others, is to remind us that we have a good chance here in Vermont. A chance that disturbs those nefarious selfish types, because success in one state could easily domino across the country, just as with Canada.

Now, I am glad to hear that you are working for healthcare for everyone and not just Vermont. Excellent. However, that does not explain why you are nay saying Vermont's initiative, let along the request for help in contacting those who have a say in making it happen. Also, is it that you insisted on blaming Obamacare's lack of a public option as to why we cannot make this happen in Vermont. I wish we had a public option also. We do not.

We have a chance here in Vermont. Help us make this happen if you are interested. Please do not help the opposition.

[Vinca]

14. And heaven forbid we discuss any other alternative, like single-payer for all.

We must march in lockstep like mindless Republicans.

[NewDeal_Dem]

7. kr

[Nuclear Unicorn]

9. If memory serves it's not a lack political will but financial reality.

SP will cost $2 billion annually in a state whose entire revenue is $2.7 billion. Unless people want to start phoning in and emailing money I'm not seeing what good this will do.

[TheKentuckian]

11. No, it is political will. Why do I say that? What are the annual health care expenditures?

In 2008 they were 4.9 billion. That means not only is the money there but it is already earmarked and spent for this exact purpose.

Anyone who thought an expense of this magnitude would come out of existing receipts was delusional. I have no idea what number people had in mind but 2 billion sounds like a sensationally magical one beyond all reasonable hope to me. 50% or better savings is something you can't afford not to do.

[maced666]

13. LOL right there - the numbers say run, don't walk away from it.

[True Blue Door]

10. Now the other side will do what it always does when defeated legislatively.

Try to "starve the beast" - i.e., defund programs they dislike while propagandizing the consequences as proving that the programs don't work. Sick, lying pieces of subhuman shit.

[maced666]

12. Help toss dirt on the 'grave'?

'Won the battle'? If you consider scrapping single payer as a win for single payer (yay?)

Why single payer died in Vermont - "plans are in ruins"
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-113711.html

biggest problem Vermont faced- mostly, it faced the impossible choice between cutting provider incomes by a lot or raising taxes to nosebleed levels.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-23/vermonts-lessons-for-fans-of-singlepayer-health-care