Conyers confirmed in his speech yesterday that the progressives backed off and follwed the President in the 90's.
Sound familiar? Ther majority of the people favor a national, not for profit system, but the politicians favor the for profit companies, their investors and those who contribute to their campaigns.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6499259&mesg_id=6499259 Edited on Wed Sep-09-09 12:47 PM by slipslidingaway
Single-payer was marginalized and taken off the table during the Clinton health reform debate. We are repeating the same mistakes in 2009 by ignoring the polls which say that the majority prefer a government run, national health insurance, system similar to Medicare.It's Time for a Real Debate on National Health Insurance
May 12,1993"...Critics dismiss managed competition as a bureaucratic hoax that should be renamed the "Insurance Industry Preservation Act."
Near the end of the discussion, anchor Robert MacNeil offered Woolhandler the last word "since you're in the minority"-to which she responded: "Robert, I'm not in a minority. Polls are showing two-thirds of the American people support government-funded national health insurance."
...Because it won't "provide Americans with the care they need," the doctor replied.
But she could have offered another response: If much of the public supports national health insurance, and it's not debated seriously in Washington or the national media because of the power of special interests like the insurance lobby, what does that say about the health of our democracy?"Extra! July/August 1993
Healthcare Reform: Not Journalistically Viable?
"...The media slant in favor of managed competition seen before the 1992 election (see Extra!, 1-2/93) continues. While the phrase "managed competition" appeared in 62 New York Times news stories in the six months following the 1992 election, "single-payer" appeared in only five news stories during that period--never in more than a single-sentence mention.
...The justification media managers give for the imbalance of attention is that while managed competition is supported by the Clinton administration, a single-payer system is not "politically viable." What this means is that news judgements are based on elite preferences, not on popular opinion: The New York Times' own polling since 1990 has consistently found majorities--ranging from 54 percent to 66 percent--in favor of tax-financed national health insurance..."
Americans Support Single payer. Why Doesn't Celinda Lake?
"...Similar strong support for Medicare for All was found the last time health reform was on the top of the nation’s agenda, during the Clinton administration. In 1993, a citizen jury sat for 8 hours a day for five days in Washington, DC before making their choice among the then-leading options for health reform: managed competition (supported by Clinton), medical savings accounts, and single payer. Single payer received 17 out of 24 votes (70 percent). There were 5 votes for Clinton’s plan, and none for medical savings accounts. Focus groups conducted that year by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake reported the same strong support for single payer. “After conducting extensive focus groups on health care, pollster Celinda Lake discovered that the more people are told about the Canadian system, “the higher the support goes.” In contrast, according to Lake, working Americans found the managed competition idea “laughable.”