Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren Team Up With House Progressives to Challenge Nancy Pelosi on

[Uncle Joe]

Drug Bill

(snip)

The relative weakness of the bill coming to the House floor makes a mockery of the health care debate unfolding on the presidential campaign trail. While 2020 Democratic hopefuls debate a sweeping, comprehensive reform of the healthcare system, Democrats in the House are having trouble giving authority to the government to negotiate lower prices for more than a mere 25 drugs. The gap between the two debates could hardly be greater, even though Democrats in the House have a free hand policy-wise: After all, the bill has little chance of passing the Senate and becoming law, so it’s largely a messaging exercise.

All year long, the relationship between the Progressive Caucus and the House leadership has simmered behind the scenes, emerging only in fitful moments, like in July when Pelosi resigned to passing a border supplemental spending bill that added few checks to the Trump administration’s cruel caging-of-children policies. The impeachment fight has mostly created unity among House Democrats, against a common enemy’s efforts to abuse the power of the presidency by leveraging foreign aid in order to damage a domestic political opponent. But lingering in the background all year has been the drug pricing fight.

AS THE PROSPECT documented last Friday, Pelosi and her staff, led by top health policy aide Wendell Primus, have frozen out progressives from deliberations over the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, exercising extreme control over the process. They bypassed legislation written by Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), which, thanks to progressive organizing, had the support of a majority of the caucus. Instead, Pelosi and Primus sought to find a compromise with the Trump White House, only to see Trump savage the bill on Twitter, indicating that it didn’t have his support. Despite that reversal, all the provisions weakened or watered down to gain Trump’s support remain in the bill, leaving open large gaps in who will benefit from the effects.

(snip)

The Progressive Caucus has not taken a stand like this in some time, perhaps not since it pledged to oppose the Affordable Care Act if it didn’t include a “robust public option” in 2009 and 2010—a pledge that was broken. Because Pelosi finds the bill’s passage to be an important marker of the House continuing to govern amid the impeachment inquiry, it has become a viable fight for progressives. A loss would be extremely embarrassing to Pelosi, and would signal that progressives do have the power to dictate terms on policy when they so desire—or at least can’t be utterly ignored. If the House manages to pass it without improvements, the opposite conclusion can be drawn.

https://prospect.org/politics/sanders-warren-team-up-house-progressives-drug-pricing/

[George II]

1. What are SENATORS doing "teaming up" to challenge the Democratic Speaker of the House?

[LongtimeAZDem]

2. No kidding!

With friends like these . . .

[sheshe2]

4. They would do better to go after Mitch, leader of the Senate.

He has left 400 bills sitting on HIS DESK IN THE SENATE that the Congress has passed. Why are they planning an attack on Pelosi? She is doing her job. Perhaps they should see to theirs.

[Autumn]

8. Because the bill was watered down to please the Republicans. It's all in the article.

I'm very pleased to see them doing this together.

[lapucelle]

10. Ryan Grim wrote the piece, and it was published "in partnership with The Intercept".

[guillaumeb]

3. This should be a lesson to any Democratic politicians

who suggest that compromise with the GOP is essential.

[ritapria]

5. The Bill has ben whittled down to next to nothing

We have to stop taking the money from Big Pharma and stand up for the American people . As Bernie and Liz have proven , if you stand up for the American People , the American people will provide the funds to get the job done . Deliver for the People and they will deliver for You

[vsrazdem]

6. This has been so watered down, it is almost nonexistent, all to satisfy Trump, who won't back it

anyway. Its a joke.

[JoeOtterbein]

7. K n R ! Thanks for posting! nt

[BeckyDem]

9. They're an important team. +1

[bucolic_frolic]

11. I think this a problem best left for comprehensive heath care reform

and at present we have bigger fish to fry

[Nitram]

12. Nancy Pelosi is not our enemy. Nancy Pelosi is standing up to Trump like no one else.

Let the next Democratic president propose a health care plan. Until then, keep your eyes on the ball. This post is just a "squirrel!" Without a majority in the Senate, this is a pie in the sky. With Trump in office, it is dead on arrival.

[redqueen]

13. It's enough to make you give up hope.

How many years have we been wondering why our party starts negotiations from a position of compromise?

How many?