Establishment Looks to Crush Liberals on Medicare for All

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/10/establishment-democrats-progressive-medicare-1052215

The united front that helped Democrats save Obamacare just a year ago is falling apart over single-payer health care.

Deep-pocketed hospital, insurance and other lobbies are plotting to crush progressives’ hopes of expanding the government's role in health care once they take control of the House. The private-sector interests, backed in some cases by key Obama administration and Hillary Clinton campaign alumni, are now focused on beating back another prospective health care overhaul, including plans that would allow people under 65 to buy into Medicare.

This sets up a potentially brutal battle between establishment Democrats who want to preserve Obamacare and a new wave of progressive House Democrats who ran on single-payer health care.

"We know the insurance companies and the pharma companies are all putting tens of millions of dollars into trying to defeat us," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who co-chairs the Medicare for All Congressional Caucus. "Which I take as a badge of honor — that they’re so concerned about a good policy that they're going to put so much money into trying to defeat it."

The rift could come into full view in the opening weeks of the new Congress, as the party long bound by a need to defend the Affordable Care Act tries to embrace a new health care vision it can carry into the 2020 presidential campaign.

House Democratic leaders already are emphasizing the need to align behind a more pragmatic agenda focused largely on shoring up Obamacare, without peering too far into the future.

“We want to continue promoting the idea of accessibility and improving the Affordable Care Act,” said incoming Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.). “That should be the primary goal that we have.”

It's a sentiment shared by the major lobbies that fought alongside Democrats against Obamacare repeal and now want to reap the benefits. These interest groups contend that, after a decade of upheaval in health care, the public would prefer simple fixes that strengthen the ACA over a headlong rush into another dramatic overhaul of the system.

Not surprising. These are the same people who didn't even attempt a public option.

so that we are clear, back then democrats and liberals pushed hard for single payer, GOP pushed back forcing progressives to compromise on a solution of which most cons complain about.

what you have to gain by flipping the truth I have no idea

are you saying the business that risk to loose a lot of profits on a single player plan are fighting back?

I didn't write the article.

ah so you are saying nothing. ok well thanks for a useless thread, best to ignore

@vl4d_l3nin: "Not surprising. These are the same people who didn't even attempt a public option."

It amazes me that people these days try to claim it is the Democrats' who didn't want a public option or single payer. No one is buying that shit.

@tryit:

Seems he was just passing on info for people who hadn’t seen it.

I read it. It was interesting.

You wanna talk about useless threads? Just look back through the majority of your posts from the last ‘any amount of time’.

how is it interesting and not exactly what we would expect to happen?

It's funny to think that we could have a solution to this issue if the GOP actually worked together with their peers instead of all but forcing them into our current situation. A situation that, despite being of their own doing, now criticize and mis-blame the democrats for.

Wait that's not funny, it's just sad and depressing. All this money we spend on things and we can't even spend a bit on the health of our people.

@mistervulpes: lol

This revisionist shit dies a long and hard death.

@tryit:

Because it’s news that some of us weren’t expressly following you plum.

Just because you’re glued to news channels at all times, looking for the next thing you can fail to understand and blunder through on the internet, doesn’t mean we all are.

You were ar*ey to him for no reason, so I’m doing the same to you. Accept it and move on. Rather than being ‘tryhard’ all the time.

Single payer is inevitable.

Cons might delay it, but they can't stop it forever.

It’s the same as private prison lobbyist lobbying for harsher penalties, longer sentences, and broader police power. Profiteering off the misery of American people.

They are traitors and should be treated as such.

@Nuck81: Yeah, the industry is consuming itself.

OK REALITY NEWS FLASH

Big business will ALWAYS lobby strong and attack those who threaten to radically reduce their income thru legislation.

nothing in this story should be a shocker to anyone who is out of friggin middle school.

Lol, Democrats. I said it before but most of the establishment Democrats are just lite versions of the Nazi repuiturds.

Some people say that these Democrats are 'centrist' liberals. That's BS. These scumbags are really Republicans through and through. The party needs real liberals in power, otherwise it will be sabotaged again and again. Even the Republican party is more aligned and that's what makes them strong. There really is no disagreements for the Republican party on key issues. If the liberals want to be relevant, there needs to be a similar alignment in key issues.

what in gods name are you talking about?

nobody on the planet is remotely surprised that the medical industry is going to throw a fit over the idea of medicare for all...where you people from?

The Dems had the majority in both house and senate back in 09 and 10, yet they still caved to the republicans, and passed the god awful healthcare plan we have now.

@AlexKidd5000: And you're ignoring the tussle that occurred at the time. A couple blue dog Democrats buried any hope of a public option. They only had the power to do so because zero Republicans were willing to vote for one.

you know its sad when a persons party has to try and take credit for the other parties position in order to not be slammed horribly.

(meaning GOP trying to suggest they were for single payer which they never were)