Nancy Pelosi says no to Sanders' health care proposal

[Virginiá]

It's obvious who's side she's on.

Yes, she's always been in favor of the policies that will get Democrats elected all over the country because she knows that's the best way to go about passing progressive legislation. Remember that the legislation that Pelosi brought forward as Speaker always passed, no matter how many blue dogs were in the Democratic caucus at the time.

I'm actually rather pleased she isn't willing to try and pass legislation that will cost Democrats a hypothetical majority right after losing their large majority for passing similar legislation.

[Virginiá]

*cough* Watered-down legislation that only gives to the private industry instead of really focusing on those without healthcare *cough*

Well, yeah. I totally agree. That actually makes it so much worse. They blew their only shot to implement real reform and instead sacrificed their majorities in Congress for a half-baked insurance company giveaway. If they took back Congress and tried to "reform" healthcare again, they will probably lose their majorities once again. At least as long as the electorate skews somewhat conservative with the "free stuff" mentality.

They need to just stop with healthcare and focus on one of the myriad other issues this country has.

[Virginiá]

I disagree, as long as there are 44 million people with-out insurance and 38 million without adequate care we need to focus on this. I think it was their goal of a evolutionary healthcare process instead of a revolutionary one that allowed so many to cower in the corner and let the GOP run a muck on their plan. The amount of gaffes and incredulous stupidity that was allowed on the part of the Democrats really was the reason that ACA became a fraction of its intention, one that if fulfilled, many would be happy with.

I could get on board with it if it's one of the last thing they did after 4~ years or so of working with a governing majority. Assuming they had a large enough majority to fix it, we need affordable college / student debt relief, much better labor laws across the board, major infrastructure expansion, voting rights expansion / campaign finance reform, .. the list goes on.

After the spectacle that was PPACA, the public will no doubt revolt against Democrats just like they did before if they start tinkering with massive healthcare proposals again anytime in the next 10 - 15 years. Students have been waiting for relief for years (basically all my friends from college would agree). The infrastructure is crumbling and its time we expand it instead of just maintaining. Labor laws / unions have been steamrolled by morally bankrupt Republicans for decades now. These things should be prioritized ahead of more healthcare reform.

It's not fair to just risk it all for healthcare time and time again while other seriously important issues go neglected. Besides, at this point, I'm not even sure I trust them to actually enact the reform they always talk about in debates and op-eds. Those special interests aren't just going to go away and they have already shown themselves to be either too greedy or too spineless to ignore the threats of the healthcare lobby.

[Virginiá]

I'm glad to see a voice of reason in this topic, much like Pelosi has said. Obamacare cost Democrats the majority and Pelosi the Speakership. The absolute best case scenario is bare minimum majorities in both Houses of Congress (at absolute best). I'd rather not cede massive seats in Congress to the Republicans in a failed attempt to further reform healthcare right now.

I'm a strong supporter of single-payer healthcare, but I just don't think it is possible nationwide for the time being. We should work with what we have and perhaps take up a proposal during Bill Clinton's second term by lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 55 (or even further beyond that, to 50). That would be a significant reform. We could easily incrementalize additions to government-run healthcare by expanding eligibility. I fully believe that only an incrementalist approach will lead to full universal healthcare for all Americans.

Great post! (admittedly because it makes me feel not alone in my thinking)

Any attempts to pass major healthcare proposals at this time will only cost Democrats seats in Congress/elsewhere. Small tweaks like you mentioned would be a lot better and probably be risk-free. If Democrats are going to risk their majorities for anything, it might as well be Congressional gerrymandering reform, so they can no longer worry about getting redistricted out of a House majority.