Even as Republicans are currently faltering in passing Trumpcare, the Democratic leadership is not fighting a smart fight. Here is why.
Democrats need to be smart as they oppose Trumpcare
Trumpcare delayed is not Trumpcare defeated. The grassroots is doing its job, but the Democratic leadership is failing miserably.
I spend many hours a day monitoring several cable and broadcast channels as well as many news rags to get the flavor of the political discourse and direction. While Republicans delayed a vote on their evil, immoral, poorly CBO scored Trumpcare bill, Democrats are not appropriately attaching the lead weights to ensure it never rises to get a vote.
Every Republican whether they support the Senate version of the bill or not always make sure to tell the listening and watching audience that Obamacare is failing or is on a death spiral. They fail to mention that Obamacare is in trouble partially because of the uncertainty created by Donald Trump and the Republican direction of Trumpcare, as well as the sabotage by the Trump administration that is in effect.
Chuck Schumer’s statements after the Trumpcare Senate Bill delay was much less than inspiring or informational for Americans who are scared, concerned, and uninformed. He did not use his airtime wisely for the entire health care cause.
Americans will get a shock in October when insurance companies release the new Obamacare Marketplace rates. Democrats are doing very little to lay the pathway for those rate hikes to the Trump administration and not Obamacare proper. The failure to start articulating this early to insulate Democrats and Obamacare from being blamed for said increases is a dereliction of their duty. Every single Republican is already laying the groundwork to blame Obamacare which will make the passage of their bill more plausible.
The current success of progressively stopping Trumpcare must be attributed almost entirely to the very activated grassroots. It is time for the grassroots to start telling the Democratic leadership what they expect them to do.
So here are our marching orders as I see it.
- Continue calling Republican Senators and Congresspeople. Let them know you do not want Trumpcare. Let them know in the short term you want Obamacare tweaked.
- Start calling Democratic Senators and Congresspeople. Let them know they need to grow a spine. They must start using their airtime to inform Americans about Trump’s sabotage of Obamacare. Tell them to inform Americans that the uncertainty created by the Trump administration as well as direct actions by his HHS Director Tom Price is responsible for much of the increases they will see in October.
- Tell both Democrats and Republicans that given the failure of our healthcare system, single-payer Medicare for all is the system we want.
DailyKos recently reported that Elizabeth Warren pretty much said it is time for Democrats to bite the bullet and support a single-payer Medicare for all system like Canada or the UK. Bernie Sanders told a reporter that in the short term eligibility for Medicare should fall to 55 now.
These are scary and stressful time. But with all the chaos and with Americans wanting change, this is not the time to moderate our moral wants. It is time to activate, fight, and demand them.
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