The Bernie Bros and sisters are coming to Republicans' rescue

[Jim Lane]

36. The point is that there's division in the party about the subject.

You've introduced the subject of this proposed pledge, which I wasn't aware of. I was talking about the bill, Conyers's HR676, which currently has 116 cosponsors, a majority of the House Dems -- but not including Pelosi and Hoyer. Therefore, there's an internal division, with the leadership disagreeing with the majority of the caucus.

Incidentally, the bill does provide for tax increases, but only in general terms. At thirteen pages long (as displayed in LibreOffice), it's in between a one-paragraph pledge and the full text (presumably several hundred pages or maybe a couple thousand) that will eventually be enacted for full implementation. Even this bill, however, could probably be enacted as is (without specific tax increases). I don't share the intermittent Republican fetish about not increasing the deficit. (I call it intermittent because they set it aside whenever they want to give big tax cuts to their paymasters.)

You advance an argument for saying that support for single payer isn't all that great an idea. You're perfectly free to make that argument. My point is not (except sarcastically, for rhetorical purposes) to accuse you or people who agree with you of sowing division or helping Republicans. I'm just objecting to the way that such a charge is being leveled against the progressives.

It's the same deal with regard to midterm strategy. Opinions differ. Let each side make its case, without being accused of disloyalty or of helping Republicans.

My personal opinion on midterm strategy is that pushing for single payer is a good strategy in some states and districts but not in others. The roster of Democratic candidates for the Senate next year will likely include both Joe Manchin and Elizabeth Warren. It's not necessary that the two of them, along with Sherrod Brown and Joe Donnelly and a couple dozen other candidates, hash out a common platform that they'll all run on.

It's also worth noting, from that same Pew poll, that the movement is in the progressives' direction:

Among those who see a government responsibility to provide health coverage for all, more now say it should be provided through a single health insurance system run by the government, rather than through a mix of private companies and government programs. Overall, 33% of the public now favors such a “single payer” approach to health insurance, up 5 percentage points since January and 12 points since 2014. Democrats – especially liberal Democrats – are much more supportive of this approach than they were even at the start of this year. {from "Public support for ‘single payer’ health coverage grows, driven by Democrats" {emphasis added}}

One reason that change has occurred is that people, including elected officials and candidates, have been pushing single payer. There's sometimes a tradeoff between catering to public opinion as it now stands (so as to maximize the chance of getting elected) and speaking out in favor of good policy (so as to move public opinion).