tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post5716947814950105315..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Future of Public Option UpdateJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-90816044834152157652012-01-16T21:44:57.454-06:002012-01-16T21:44:57.454-06:00I think Tom Allen is right, the public option fias...I think Tom Allen is right, the public option fiasco so badly burned the activist arm of the party (rather, those base supporters who were actively working on issues) that it hasn't recovered yet, and I'm left wondering if it will recover at all.Hermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15129351978464340226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-64692351562953887572012-01-16T16:35:15.328-06:002012-01-16T16:35:15.328-06:00And since it was the most important legislative is...And since it was the most important legislative issue of 2009, and the left was betrayed on it by the Democratic Party, why do you think left-wing activists would trust any Democratic politician's promise on that or any other issue ever again? The public option betrayal broke the back of the Democratic Party. Just sayin'.Tom Allennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-20381571413727881272012-01-14T15:27:28.102-06:002012-01-14T15:27:28.102-06:00My impression is that, by and large, health care i...My impression is that, by and large, health care is just not a core issue for the activist left. It was big so long as the ACA was being pushed through the mill, but once something was passed it fell off the radar. <br /><br />Liberal activists seem more fired up by cultural issues (e.g. gender), broad-brush economic issues (e.g. stratification), and - for Obama critics - civil liberties and foreign policy (hence flirtation with Ron Paul).Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-89112078453109548382012-01-13T17:16:15.667-06:002012-01-13T17:16:15.667-06:00Here I was thinking it was the single most importa...Here I was thinking it was <i>the</i> single most important legislative issue for the left since Taft-Hartley, or the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Failure to pass it has, as far as I can tell, turned the House over once, and will turn the Senate and White House over in the fal.<br /><br />I guess that's what comes from reading blogs.Davis X. Machinahttp://davisxmachina.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-78209450689798688212012-01-13T17:12:16.779-06:002012-01-13T17:12:16.779-06:00What about movement in the states? I understand s...What about movement in the states? I understand several of them are trying to cobble together some sort of single-payer or public option with waivers from Washington. I can envision some sort of multi-state nonprofit compact that serves the same purpose without additional legislation ever passing congress.Matthew Carroll-Schmidthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10892616596858483760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-41154510893729904442012-01-13T17:00:51.011-06:002012-01-13T17:00:51.011-06:00The public option will become more relevant as mor...The public option will become more relevant as more employers opt to use freelancers and temps rather than employ full-time workers to avoid paying benefits. There are many families in which all workers are self-employed (mine included) and would like to see an option to buying private health insurance. <br /><br />I and my friends have post college age children and many of us have been thankful to the ACA for making it easier to get insurance for our children who are either unemployed, working in internships or as temps without health benefits.<br /><br />It's important that if we elect a democratic congress and president, that we not give up the fight for affordable health care. There is no guarantee that 2016 will be a democratic year.Faynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-61100875929014108222012-01-13T16:35:46.934-06:002012-01-13T16:35:46.934-06:00I think folks are in limbo on this; waiting for th...I think folks are in limbo on this; waiting for the SC ruling on the law. <br /><br />I sort suspect the mandate, with it's fee for not obtaining health insurance, may -- over time -- morph into a public option.zicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-71377395078495535762012-01-13T16:14:38.867-06:002012-01-13T16:14:38.867-06:00Agreed. The question won't come up again unles...Agreed. The question won't come up again unless and until the ACA is fully implemented and it becomes clear that it leaves a gap that a public option could fill.Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-82173378655973184522012-01-13T14:51:26.803-06:002012-01-13T14:51:26.803-06:00Swain's analysis seems solid.Swain's analysis seems solid.tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13145639900234999261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-77106506321258948622012-01-13T14:45:39.933-06:002012-01-13T14:45:39.933-06:00Good question.
Mainly, it feel like everyone (Dem...Good question.<br /><br />Mainly, it feel like everyone (Democrats and Republicans) is tired of fighting over health care reform.<br /><br />No matter how the Democrats do this year the Public Option won’t be be easier to add in 2013 than it would have been to include it in the first place in 2010. <br /><br />Right now the ACA isn’t that popular. It suffers from the long implementation period. It was passed ages ago and won’t really go into effect until until 2014. Now nobody really sees a difference and opponents can blame everything that’s wrong with health care in US on Obamacare. <br /><br />The strategy seems to be, hunker down, talk about something else, and try to implement the ACA as well as possible. Once there are insurance exchanges, guaranteed issue policies, tax breaks for purchasing policies etc... we can see how they work. Once they exist, people will realize they would rather these things weren’t taken away from them. <br /><br />And once there is an exchange we can revisit the question of whether that exchange should contain a national Public Option. <br /><br />I don't think it's now or never. It was 2010 or 2016.swainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08696058464538049417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-80509894883596322762012-01-13T14:41:33.626-06:002012-01-13T14:41:33.626-06:00Certainly true -- but there's a big difference...Certainly true -- but there's a big difference between favoring it if pushed compared with highlighting the issue. Baldwin and Hirono don't have issue sections on their web sites yet (at least I didn't see any), so we'll see what they do in the future. Hirono is a really good test case (pardon the pun); she's in a classic liberal vs. moderate primary, and it will be very interesting to see whether that's an issue that she pushes to differentiate from her opponent, and if so how he reacts. My prediction has been that even moderates in contested primaries would wind up embracing it...but that's only going to happen if it's a visible agenda item, which in turn may only happen if liberal activists are pushing for it to be on the agenda. <br /><br />As I said, it's still very early, but I'll be watching this one all year.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-68816214064152742502012-01-13T14:32:20.674-06:002012-01-13T14:32:20.674-06:00Tammy Baldwin is a for-sure public option supporte...Tammy Baldwin is a for-sure public option supporter. She's gone on record in favor of single payer in the past.<br /><br />I'd be surprised if Murphy, Hirono, or Warren didn't favor it as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com