General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: John Conyers, Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act - has 117 sponsors - No need for Sanders plan [View all]factfinder_77
(841 posts)The Senate voted down a single-payer health care amendment introduced by Republican Senator Steve Daines on Thursday, in a political gambit aimed at putting Senate Democrats on the record on a divisive issue. The amendment failed to pass after no lawmakers from either party voted for it. Fifty-seven Senators voted against the amendment, while 43 voted simply present. Four Democrats voted against the amendment: Senators Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Jon Tester of Montana.
Dainess amendment was far from a true test of Democratic support for single payer, however. Senator Bernie Sanders, the most popular progressive politician in the United States who supports a single-payer health-care system, denounced the amendment as a political trick designed to embarrass Democrats, ahead of the vote. His office had previously announced that even he would not be voting for it, giving Senate Democrats cover to reject the amendment as a political ploy.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/congress-healthcare-single-payer-debate/535143/