General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf ACA is overturned, we need to borrow a page from history.
Ever heard of the Anti-Saloon League? It was arguably the single most effective single-issue lobbying group this country has ever seen. It worked tirelessly for decades to get Prohibition enacted, and most especially to get the hated saloons closed. Unlike the the Women's Christian Temperance Union, they dealt with no other issue whatsoever. They churned out literature and pressured legislators, ruthlessly bringing the wrath of their organization down on any politician who dared to express "wet" views. It worked. Even after Prohibition was repealed, the old-time saloons never returned. That was what they really wanted.
This is what we need to do: Form a strong, determined organization devoted to getting a single-payer health care system in this country, throwing our support hard behind legislators who share our views and fighting hard against those who don't. Our organization should also work hard to educate the public on this issue, especially low-information voters. I don't think there really is a grassroots organization like the Anti-Saloon League of old for the issue of health care.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)"SINGLE. PAYER. NOW."
Scuba
(53,475 posts)mike_c
(36,281 posts)Poll after poll shows strong support for single payer, universal health coverage and medicare for all, whether couched directly in those terms or expressed in terms of the outcomes of those programs. Americans ALREADY want single payer by a significant margin, and that's in the current climate, where nearly all debate about it has been suppressed except for regular ridicule in the corporate media.
The problem is that our leadership is not leading-- they are bought, paid for, and owned by profitable corporate interests. But with a little leadership, I think we could swing this debate in the right direction, which is to say leftward, in a relatively short time.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)No organization that accumulates this sort of power will be able to stick to a single issue. They'll be too much temptation to channel some of it's efforts into other issues.