Rex wrote:
I'll tell you what though - the Republicans are still semi honest about their agenda of cutting taxes for the wealthy across the board. Why anyone not in the top two percent in the US, when it comes to money, would ever vote for them is beyond me, but whatever. The Democrats, on the other hand, talk a good game of wanting healthcare for everyone, but that is a flat out lie. The Democrats could have done sooooo much more when they passed the ACA. It's not like it is THAT difficult either, they could have just glanced at pretty much any, or all, the other countries in the western world where universal healthcare is a given. Better healthcare, at a fraction of the cost compared to the US. The government directly negotiates costs with the pharma industry, or import drugs, to significantly lower the costs for everyone. The truth is, neither Obama nor the Democrats were willing to go up against the pharmaceutical industry, which to no surprise also happens to be the largest donor group in the US. The Democrats in the end ended up voting with their donors rather than trying to get the best possible healthcare plan passed. The ACA is in the end a shit plan compared to pretty much every other country in the western world.
this is wrong. i honestly do not have the energy to type 5,000 words on health care, which i could do. when the ACA was being developed and passed, democrats had 60 seats in the senate and could have passed a robust health care plan. in fact, they could have jammed it through, but they didn't. they held hearings. they allowed for a huge amount of republican amendments because they wanted the bill to be something resembling a bi-partisan health bill. ted kennedy died and a republican won the special election to replace him, which meant dems had only 59 votes.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/the-real-story-of-obamacares-birth/397742/
if you followed this at the time, democrats wanted to go further and closer to universal coverage, but joe lieberman ruined that.
https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/02/16/16766/elimination-public-option-threw-consumers-insurance-wolves
single payer is gaining traction. democrats have been seriously working health care solutions since the early 90s. they've made it a priority item. republicans have ZERO interest in medicaid and have been trying to ruin it since 1965. republicans do not give a shit about poor people or the lower middle class/middle class as a whole. they feel that people should pay for their own health care and that insurance companies should be able to do whatever they want. democrats don't have all the answers, but they are looking for answers. republicans have proposed an answer of "well, if you get sick, figure it out on your own"....ACA did not go far enough, but it went 10000x further than congressional republicans wanted to go.
everyone here admits the US health care system is fucked. no one here is bragging about our system. everyone wants a better solution.
My point is this: if the Democrats are ok with losing races galore on every level, then just keep on trucking. However, if they actually want to win races, then they HAVE to stop voting with their donors and ACTUALLY represent their constituents. If they did that, then I bet people would actually be bothered to vote to a higher degree.
this is easy to say, but their constituents actually have to come out and vote. republicans are beholden to their elite donor network (kochs, mercers, adelsons) and they win election after election. why don't they face the same criticisms?
