Bernie Sanders On Secret Health Care Bill: "I'm Speechless"

[L. Coyote]

Jun 19, 2017

'I will do everything humanly and legally possible to make sure this horrendous piece of legislation…never sees the light of day.'

[L. Coyote]

1. Whats In Senate GOP Health Care Bill Is Secret

Jun 19, 2017

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) joins MTP Daily to discuss the Senate GOP health care bill and the Democrats’ strategy to delay Senate business over it.

[greatauntoftriplets]

15. Thank you, Senator Duckworth.

So great to have you representing me.

[brer cat]

19. You have an excellent one, greataunt!

I have a repuke.

[greatauntoftriplets]

20. Ugh, sorry about that.

[murielm99]

34. She is my senator, too.

We have two great Senators.

[greatauntoftriplets]

35. We really do.

I hate to see Dick Durbin getting older, but we all do.

[murielm99]

36. Durbin has been a mentor to Cheri Bustos.

She is doing well as a Congresswoman in her QCA district. The last time I saw her, she was proud and somewhat amazed that she is now in a leadership position with other Democrats who are mainly from the West coast. I would love to see her as a Senator if Durbin has to retire. But we would need a strong person to take her seat in the House of Representatives.

[ProudLib72]

2. McConnell doesn't care

He just doesn't care at all. Nothing we say will have any impact on him (or Ryan). I watched Schumer read out the list of bipartisan steps that ACA went through. I could just picture McConnell with a sly, evil grin twiddling his thumbs, ready to shove his piece of vile legislation through the Senate ASAP.

[L. Coyote]

3. They care about billionaires getting massive tax cuts. They want to steal a TRILLION dollars.

This is the biggest damn heist in American history. And they don't have pay for killing people in the process.

Link to tweet

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. McConnell cant do this horrific harm to the entire country without half of us voters

consistently voting for him and telling him it is OK to do and half of the country seeming to care so little they dont vote at all.

McConnell and Ryan and friends are criminals, thieves, no different than the guy who breaks into your house only these guys wear suits.

Poor people have medicine and food that in some cases was paid for with rich people money and they WANT IT BACK.

They will do ANYTHING including giving a death sentence to 25,000 of us a year to get it back.

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. never sees the light of day.

"Light of day" is one thing that it has never seen. Along with public debate, thoughtful consideration, analysis and transparency.

[L. Coyote]

5. Sanders And Warren DESTROY "Cowardly" Republican Health Care Bill

[Demsrule86]

13. No they don't...they talk about it...we can't destroy it as we lost the election...

It is a terrible bill and will kill many...a tragedy. I hope many will realize that unless we vote Democratic in every election, we can kiss our country goodbye.

[JCanete]

27. you don't understand how the money works if you think it has affiliations like that. You

are right about who's better. The Democrats have been consistently to the left of Republicans, but that team rhetoric is far simpler than the reality. We can kiss our country goodbye if we don't also make sure our Democrats are fighting for us. Yes, the Republicans are far gone. That brand will never ever fight for the people, but the people can't just hope that a party fights for them...they have to make that party fight for them. They have to shape that party in the image of that progressive champion.

[Demsrule86]

28. Before we can worry about 'out Democrats' we have to have some power...you can't

hold a minority party to any sort of standard...it simply won't work and guarantees more time as a minority party...and take my word...having the GOP in power is way worse than any Dem Congress would be.

[JCanete]

33. I know and agree, but if we get to a point where the GOP is not a good investment...rest assured,

even more money than is currently, will flow in to the Democratic party as good investments. We can't idly vote for the most viable D and expect our will to hold more sway than that kind of green. We certainly have to exercise our will in the primaries, but even there we will be fighting against the investments of big money. So I don't know, while I agree, people should have ultimately voted Democratic last election, I'm just not comfortable with a blanket assertion that that is what people should always do. I say keep the Democratic party and its candidates good, and then vote for them.

[Demsrule86]

37. Your idea of what is good and those who fund Republicans are completely different.

And who are your or I for that matter to decide what is 'good'? Big tent and we vote Democratic always...fight for your person in the primary and then vote for the Democratic candidate in the general...it is how we get decent policy.

[JCanete]

41. what do you mean who are you or I to decide? This is a democracy. We are supposed to be part of

that decision. Don't tell me money doesn't skew things in favor of fewer voices over more voices. You know that isn't the case. The point is money talks. It talks on the Democratic side too and our politicians have only so much power to buck that influence, especially if we aren't demanding that they do so. It doesn't actually make it easier for them if we shut up and wait for them to make the changes. If we don't demand them they will be ignored, just as so many fucking things have been ignored by both parties for the last 30 years. Democrats have only recently picked back up on some of these threads as there has been a demand to have them addressed by the public, from occupy WallStreet to Black Lives Matter. There's a reason for that. There was not loud enough clamor for this change, and that meant politicians pushing for it were putting their necks more on the line.

[Demsrule86]

42. We work to change the party at the grass roots level...we can run for office. We can

make our opinion known...but look at what has happened when a minority segment of a party decided to have purity test and then got made an went home refusing to vote for the Democratic party...not enough of them to win outright...we need a big tent for a majority and members won't all agree with us...that is the reality of situation.

[Demsrule86]

39. I believe Democrats including Pres. Obama and Pres. Clinton have always fought for us.

The horrors are unleashed by the GOP and often in years where spoiler Greens have convinced some Democrats to vote against their own interests.

[Expecting Rain]

6. Perhaps it would have been better if we'd elected the Democratic nominee for president in 2016?

This sort of stuff is hardly unforeseeable.

[hay rick]

7. Our candidate lost by -3,000,000 votes.

Sigh.

[The Wielding Truth]

8. Our candidate lost by a plus of 3 million votes. Is that what you meant to say?

[hay rick]

9. Hmmm.

It's probably clearer if I say Trump won by -3,000,000 votes.

[The Wielding Truth]

11. Yea, that's it. Or even. Our country lost when Trump played a crooked hand and took the Presidency.

Bernie would have made a huge difference. We would be on a much better path. Hillary should be our President. Just think of the incredibly competent people she would have brought in with her. Citizens United might have been overturned soon and we would be working in every sector to tackle the problems of climate change.

Health care would have been closer to universal coverage and accountability would be a actuality. A woman President would have been fine. Intelligence compassion and an understanding of government would have been so satisfying to see.

President Barack Obama brought us out of the stinking hole of incompetency that Bush and his rich friends at wall street lead us into and we really needed another leader to do the things a responsible person of great character would of had to do to keep us strong.

That is why the ones who want to own this country and us in it, hated the progress that our President Obama made. They wanted to herd us into groups of frightened irrational hot heads and rob us blind again.

Thank you Obama for all you and your administration did to help us. I hope that we are strong enough to reestablish our democracy after this group of manipulative salesman will have to move on when we stop buying their lies.

[beam me up scottie]

10. Never give up, never give in!

Thank you Senator Sanders! We're not going to sit around and cry - we're going to fight!

[Demsrule86]

12. Face reality...if the GOP has bribed the so called moderates, there is nothing we can do to stop

this bill...elections have consequences...If people vote for a gorilla, Trump or Stein...there is literally blood on their hands. I say we call everyone...and make no mistake there is no single payer around the corner. Maybe it was not such a good idea to put up a single payer plan that has no chance of passing while not putting up a bill to improve the ACA which might have made difference.

[beam me up scottie]

14. Who did what now? Gorillas?

What on earth does introducing single payer have to do with fighting this legislation?

You do realize it's possible to fight to save the ACA and push for single payer health care at the same time, right? And that Medicare for all legislation has been introduced every single year for quite some time? Why should progressives stop fighting for it just because Trump is in office?

Maybe you should tell the 100+ Dems who co-sponsored the bill that you think it "wasn't such a good idea":


'Medicare for All' Bill Reaches a Record-Breaking 104 Co-Sponsors in Congress
Wednesday, April 26, 2017 - 5:45pm

WASHINGTON - Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), a group of 21,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals, announced today that H.R. 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act has reached a record number of co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, now totalling 104.

H.R. 676 was introduced in January by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), and has rapidly gained support from members across the country, adding 28 new co-sponsors in April alone. The bill would yield about $500 billion annually in administrative savings and provide immediate coverage to the 26 million Americans who are currently uninsured, achieving President Trump’s campaign promises of more coverage, better benefits and lower costs.

“Americans are fed up with an inhumane, profit-driven health system that leaves millions without care,” said Dr. Carol Paris, president of PNHP. “Quality health care is not a luxury, nor is it a commodity that can be bought and sold in a marketplace. It is a social good that can be best delivered through a single-payer national health program."

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/04/26/medicare-all-bill-reaches-record-breaking-104-co-sponsors-congress

****

Of course nothing we introduce will pass - whether it's improvements to the ACA or single payer - but that's not a reason to give up. I applaud our progressive lawmakers for their determination and dedication now more than ever.

[Demsrule86]

21. Putting in single payer at this time was a mistake...we should have advanced a bill that would

improve the ACA. We can't get single payer for now and the prospects don't look good. We had a path to single payer with the ACA without it , we don't. Some think wrongly that if the ACA goes down, we get single payer. We get nothing...worse than nothing because this bill makes it worse than before the ACA...hard to believe that is possible.

[beam me up scottie]

24. That makes absolutely no sense.

1) how is there a "path to single payer through the ACA" when the two health care plans are completely different?

2) how would your imaginary bill improving the ACA make it through congress?

3) how is introducing legislation that improves the lives of every man, woman and child in this country a mistake?

Medicare for all bills do not affect our senators' efforts to block Republican legislation, the two things are not related. Our senators can fight for the ACA and propose better legislation at the same time - and that's exactly what they're doing.

[Demsrule86]

38. 1. Public option.

2. It wouldn't but neither did the single payer bill...the idea is the GOP held it up as proof that no one supports the ACA.

3. It can't get through congress and never will...it undermined the ACA.

If single payer arrives it will be through a public option with the ACA...or adding older voters to Medicare...dropping the age...none of that can happen without the ACA...all the time to craft a bill that undermined the ACA and is going nowhere was foolish.

[beam me up scottie]

40. 1) didn't happen when it was originally passed and it definitely won't happen now

Better to shoot for Medicare for all instead of trying to reform the ACA since the public is on our side. Neither will happen now but the former has a better chance of succeeding eventually since it's already being considered by the states.

2) the GOP lies about all of our proposals, their alternative facts have absolutely no effect on progressive legislation

Why on earth should our lawmakers care about what the GOP will say about their bills? No matter how many people our bills help Republicans will find a way to lie to the public about them. This is why it's important for our side to get our message out.

Introduce legislation that helps Americans then go all out on advertising. Remind voters who's fighting for their best interests and who's voting against them. Why should we let them intimidate us into giving up?

And again we are capable of fighting to save the ACA and proposing better legislation at the same time - and that's exactly what our progressive legislators are doing. Good for them, it proves they actually give a shit.

3) Nonsense. Medicare for all legislation has been proposed every year for over a decade and there is no proof that it ever undermined the ACA.

Like I said: NOTHING we propose will get through this congress and I still have no idea why you think that means we should stop introducing legislation that the public supports. I'm glad our senators and congresspeople haven't given up, we don't need defeatists.

[Demsrule86]

43. We won't get that either. We will get nothing until we take the entire government...house, senate

and presidency. We still have a gerrymander to deal with...going to be tough. Do you remember when the GOP tried to get rid of the ACA over and over? It was a waste of time. Putting in bills that go nowhere is a waste of time. They never make it to the floor for debate...thus only political junkies even know about it. We need to focus on winning elections and fighting to save policy.

[Demsrule86]

22. Some Bob'ers voted for a Gorilla rather than Sec. Clinton.

The number of votes he got is disputed but he got some.

[beam me up scottie]

25. So what? How is that relevant to the op or my post about fighting to keep the ACA?

If you have issues with Trump voters then take that up with them, I'm not responsible for their votes. I have absolutely no interest in wringing my hands and crying about last year's election, it's a waste of time and effort.

[Demsrule86]

29. What will lose us the ACA is the vote taken in November...Now I am fighting too...but

we all know it is a dicey situation, and no matter how hard we fight we could lose...and it all goes back to not electing a Democrat as president or a Democratic Congress...so those who voted for someone else or stayed home cost us the ACA should we prove unsuccessful at saving it...not the Democrat elected or the DNC...remember the Democrats gave up the House to give us healthcare in the first place.

[beam me up scottie]

32. Again - how is that relevant to my post?

There are many theories about why we lost and like I already said - I'm uninterested in blaming anyone or rehashing it over and over and over again.

[MineralMan]

16. I'm glad to hear that Senator Sanders plans to vote with Democrats

in the Senate against this bill. Good for him for speaking out, too. Now, we just need three GOP Senators to vote NO as well. Maybe Bernie Sanders can convince them to do that.

[L. Coyote]

17. D'oh!

[MineralMan]

18. Is that you, Homer?

I'm praising Bernie Sanders, you know.

[Orsino]

23. That was a pretty good speech...

...for a speechless guy.

[LisaM]

30. Perhaps Senator Sanders should have been more realistic about the ACA

Despite its being called "Obamacare", it wasn't really the bill Obama (or Hillary) wanted. No one thought it went far enough. But with as much trouble as it took just to get to that starting point, as I think of it, it would have been helpful for a hopeful Democratic nominee to acknowledge that it was a step forward, not the disaster he painted it as during the debates.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-idUSKBN14Q2E5

[MineralMan]

31. Well, not exactly "speechless." He joined a number of others

who spoke clearly against the bill, including Al Franken, who was very emphatic as well. In fact, there were quite a few people who did that, not just Bernie. I thank him for his participation in the event and for joining Democrats in condemning the bill.