But it’s hard to keep our facts straight. Here’s an article by Sam Stein that misses the fact (according to Donna Smith who watched it) that during the committee debate on Kucinich’s amendment some of the Republicans cited states’ rights as their reason for voting yes. That may or may not have been sincere, but it was not just after-the-fact as Stein reports.
Also, nobody imagines a single Republican will vote for any healthcare bill, so I’m not sure why Stein suggests that question. The more interesting point, I think, is that the amendment did not cost the Dems a single BlueDog, and there’s no evidence it would.
That, combined with progressives’ desire to keep it in, ought to result in the language remaining. Except that there is a reason George Miller voted No. Barack Obama told him to.
Meanwhile, RealNews.com has produced a good video on single-payer with commentary by me. But the video begins by stating incorrectly that Weiner’s amendment would have allowed states to do single-payer. As stated later in the video, that was Kucinich’s amendment, which was voted on and passed. Weiner’s amendment would have created national single-payer. And it is THAT which will be given a floor vote.
It’s important to keep these points straight, because we have to demand passage of national single-payer while also demanding that states’ right to create single-payer is left in the non-single-payer bill.
A citizen reports:
“Dennis Kucinich came today to Aurora I helped organize the talk. My main message is he was not pleased about HR 676 coming to the floor, he thought it was basically a trap where they were going to kill it and declare it dead ASAP. He pointed out there will be no mark up or hearings or debate-(he believed)… He thinks it will be voted on as soon as they get back and he thought Weiner made a poor choice and said he did not consult… Drop me a line if you want more info, but DK said he would be posting organizing tools on his website starting tomorrow. He said much much more important was HR 3200 keep his amendment. He said he may vote for 3200 if the amendment stays. He urged us in IL to organize around single payer in the state. Hopefully we will have video ready soon.”
Photo by Chip.
Here’s the latest from PDA.
And Robert Kuttner says: Do single-payer next year. But he fails to notice state single-payer language.
Rob Kall reports on Specter’s waffling on single-payer and on teabaggers importing cabletvism (shouting and name-calling) to town hall meetings (meant to be places of discussion and debate).