this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2024
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The Democratic party has been talking about public healthcare since FDR in the 1930s.
Yes and Medicare, Medicaid, the children's health insurance program (chip), the affordable care act, all passed by Democrats. And there's now three states with their own public option, all passed by Democrats.
I don't understand why you don't want politicians talking about things you support more. I wish the public option and Medicare for all were brought up even more. Talking about it less doesn't make it more likely to happen, even if you're not sure if the votes will be there to do it I the next cycle. If politicians who support Medicare for all keep doing well in elections, other politicians will see that and adopt that position too Then hey maybe enough someday will finally get elected they can get it all passed together. Politicians love passing stuff, it makes them more likely to be re elected. FDR didn't get re elected four times by doing nothing.
Talking about it more won't make it happen either. Political action will. The Republican party did not care about reproductive healthcare until after Roe was decided. Over the course of 50 years, political action on their part allowed them to succeed. The only major obstacle to public healthcare has been "Republicans don't like it". It's been 90 years, and still no luck. It took 60 years of grassroots political action from workers, starting with the founding of the Knights of Labor to the passing of the NLRA, all while organizing against an entire anti-labor government as well as anti-union bosses. Are you telling me that 1 of the 2 major parties is so incapable of political action that they can't move past "it hurts their feelings"? The Democratic party is not interested in progressive policy. They haven't been since Reagan. Don't chase their carrot.
Talking about it won't make it happen. But political action can't happen if it's not talked about! We're again at this impasse where according to your view point, no one is allowed to stake out a political position unless there's already a certainty for it to pass. How is anyone supposed to build consensus and improve support for something like that? More people from any party, whether that's democrat republican independent or a third party, supporting your position is a good thing and makes it more likely to happen. Running on a platform and popularizing it is political action. And "republicans don't like it" is generally the obstacle when you're talking about democrats passing a law yeah. Because they get elected to congress too and can vote against it (or worse the president). I'm not claiming every democrat supports it, obviously that is not the case. But getting more and more people to adopt the position is how you get to the political action. Politicians staking out a position and then people voting for the ones whose position matches your own is how this whole thing works.
You absolutely missed the point. Democrats didn't like Dobbs. That didn't stop the Republicans from getting it. The entire government, corporations, and capitalists didn't want unions to exist. That didn't stop workers from getting the NLRA. If 90 years isn't long enough for a national policy on public healthcare, then how much longer before we actually get it? I helped organize my own union across 3 states, including Texas, against a massive anti-union company. There were multiple points where I was the only active member of the organizing committee. I achieved my goal in under 3 years. We're the largest union in our sector. There is no excuse for the democrats. You don't need to like them or defend them in any way to vote for them. Don't make the mistake in thinking that this time they won't pull the carrot away.