General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders talks universal Medicare, and 1.1 million people click to watch him [View all]ehrnst
(32,640 posts)And if that clip Hillary being realistic and relaying what health policy analysts who aren't politically motivated or beholden hurts your feelings, I'm sorry. I happen to like it when politicians are straightforward and honest, even if it means bursting some bubbles.
But facts are facts, the U.S. is the U.S. and all the repeating that they aren't doesn't change reality.
Democrats support universal health care. Single Payer isn't the only way to get there, and certainly isn't the most practical.
I would hope that progressives would want to get to universal health care in the most direct, sustainable way possible. It's very sad that dogma and tribal thinking has rendered many otherwise progressive people angry at efforts to achieve that.
And about Vermont being too small to succeed: Canada only got to federal single payer after all of the provinces did so individually, many much smaller than Vermont. Their small population didn't stop them. Why did Vermont's?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_provinces_and_territories_by_population
And why does Senator Sanders refuse to talk about any lessons learned from Vermont, especially since Single Payer is his political brand. Others seem to be able to:
https://www.npr.org/2017/09/13/550757713/why-bernie-sanders-single-payer-health-care-plan-failed-in-vermont