HarthorneWingo wrote:GONYK wrote:HarthorneWingo wrote:I guess you're still lucky enough to have healthcare. Unfortunately, a lot of younger adults who have lost their jobs and hence their health care. Perhaps you should look at those statistics I posted earlier on what demographic is getting most hurt by this pandemic and our healthcare model and compare that with Biden's plan ... which, according to AOC is actually worse than Hillary's plan.
Here are some additional reasons why Biden's plan sucks. But if you think you can win this election without these voters, then be my guest.
There are two realities at play here. One is that there are people out there without insurance. That is extremely unfortunate that a lot of people are out there getting screwed over, especially at a time like this.
The second reality is a political one. That inescapable truth is that M4A isn't happening this election cycle, no matter how many people don't have insurance right now. If people declare they won't vote for Biden as a result, ok. Not voting is not going to bring anyone any closer to achieving it.
AOC stamping her feet and declaring this a dealbreaker doesn't change that. She has no seat at the table. No one is negotiating with her.
I will wait to see what Bernie says about it now that he's endorsed Joe and will be working with him craft policy. All of this applies to climate change as well.
I know you see it as a political hurdle while I see it as a lack of leadership. Even if, in reality, it can't happen right now for whatever reason, that doesn't mean that you don't fight for it. And, I will add, that now is the perfect time to make this argument.
No argument here. Advocacy for progressive issues should continue. That's what Bernie is doing right now. He's using his leverage to inform Biden's agenda.
What he's not doing is declaring things dealbreakers. This isn't a negotiation. The endorsement was already given. This now about finding common ground where the opportunity presents itself.
Can you imagine how bad things can get if the south suffers more severed climate change-related weather catastrophes this late summer/early fall on top of this pandemic and economic collapse? Are we really going to continue to fund our Defense Dept. in the same way and not redirect some of that vast resource of money to help everyday Americans? Biden continuous talks about working with republicans, just like Obama did. Remember how well that worked out for Obama. They stuck it up his azz sideways. We need someone with bold ideas who can argue them passionately to the American people, not someone who wants to work with conservatives.
Well, a primary election happened, and Joe Biden was decisively chosen as the person that a large majority of Democrats wanted as their nominee.
Now, I totally understand that you and many others find him lacking as a leader. I have absolutely no interest in trying to sway you from that belief. I'm just pointing out the political reality of him being the nominee, and progressives having to work within that for this election.
Biden built a winning coalition with his agenda. He's not going to wholesale adopt the agenda of someone who did not win.
EDIT:
Here's a view from the young progressive voters. This is how they feel about Biden. Now, you can make a decision. Either you want their vote because either you feel you need them to energize your campaign or because you feel it's because these are the right policies for these times or both. Or can say, we don't need them and we'll got it alone.
Genuine question: What does resolution look like to you? Is it M4A or bust? Is it Green New Deal or bust?
I don't think young progressive voters have established that kind of cache at the ballot box. Certainly not to the degree that other constituencies that voted for Biden did. So why would Biden drop the 70% to pursue the 30%?
Before you tell me that the 70% also wants those policies, keep this in mind:
The survey was conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which regularly asks Americans about health policy issues as part of its Health Tracking Poll series. It finds that 56 percent of the country supports a "national health plan, sometimes called Medicare for All" and an even larger percentage—71 percent—supports the idea when told that it would "guarantee health insurance as a right for all Americans." When told that such a plan would eliminate health insurance premiums, 67 percent say they're in favor.
One way to look at these numbers is as strong public approval for the broad outlines of a single-payer health care system, which would create a single national health insurance plan run by the federal government and financed through taxes. That public is support is why so many 2020 Democratic presidential contenders have been warming up to the idea.
But the more revealing part of the survey, I think, comes from the questions focused on the costs of single payer, all of which caused support for Medicare for All to drop below 40 percent. Told that it would eliminate private health insurance and require people to pay more in taxes, for example, support fell to 37 percent. Told that it would cause some medical treatments and tests to be delayed, support dropped even further, to 26 percent.
https://reason.com/2019/01/24/new-poll-shows-medicare-for-all-is-popul/
In the election we just had in Wisconsin where everyone was fully aware of the pandemic and havoc it is wreaking, Biden still won by 34 points. If there was any opportunity to declare that the current situation has caused people to re-prioritize what they are looking for in a nominee, that was it.
To be clear, I'm not saying anything about the merits of the policies. Strictly speaking to the political reality here.
So what does an acceptable compromise look like for a voter like you? Do you trust Bernie to secure it?
