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Can you explain? My recollection is that there was too much squabbling within the Democrat party to achieve it, with moderates wavering. And with the Senate p
by nobodyandproud 7y ago
Can you explain?
My recollection is that there was too much squabbling within the Democrat party to achieve it, with moderates wavering.
And with the Senate putting in a watered down public option, it killed any chance for the House to submit tgeir own.
- mkr-hn 7y agoNot the person you replied to, but there are different narratives for it: "Democrats didn't want it because their insurance company sponsors didn't want it." "Democrats didn't fight for it because they needed votes from a few people who wouldn't support it." I'm partial to the view that they could have motivated those few senators to vote for a public option if they tried. Democrats wave their hands too much on the viability of progressive policy for my taste. Whether the belief in that unviability is genuine or a smokescreen is uncertain.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoI remember Lieberman and Baucus derailing the effort. And Obama didn’t have the courage to pound the table back then.
- bsanr2 7y agoIt could have been passed through reconciliation IIRC. They didn't, in a bid to insulate the final bill against GOP objections to the legislation as a whole. We all know how that turned out.