{"id":12108,"date":"2018-12-17T21:55:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=12108"},"modified":"2018-12-17T21:55:03","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:55:03","slug":"in-which-democrats-seem-to-have-learned-the-wrong-lesson-from-obamacare-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/12\/in-which-democrats-seem-to-have-learned-the-wrong-lesson-from-obamacare-politics.html","title":{"rendered":"In which Democrats seem to have learned the wrong lesson from Obamacare politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

The \u201cright\u201d lesson is, of course, that in order to ensure one\u2019s signature reform is successful you need to work with the other party \u2014 not just a few members of that party whose beliefs are so centrist as to approach your own, but comprehensively, so that it becomes a part of the fabric of the country rather than setting the stage for a pitched battle in which the other party, when regaining power, does everything possible to demolish the system.\u00a0 This is true for Obamacare, and this is true for the GOP\u2019s tax cuts which the Democrats have pledged to reverse as soon as they are able.<\/p>\n

(And, yes, I know that the standard response is that Republicans flat-out refused to cooperate.\u00a0 Republicans, of course, respond that the Democrats insisted that every core element of the system\u2019s design had to be as they dictated it, and all the Democrats really offered them was the opportunity to put their names behind legislation they had no input into.)<\/p>\n

The lesson that the Democrats have taken away, instead, seems to be that they didn\u2019t fight dirty enough.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a recent Vox article:\u00a0 \u201cThe 3 decisions that will shape Medicare-for-all<\/a>,\u201d by Ezra Klein, which asks three questions which the overall tone of the article implies an answer to.\u00a0 Democrats should have rejected filibuster rules rather than catering to those conservative Democrats who stood in the way of more expansive plans like the \u201cpublic option\u201d or a reduction in the Medicare eligibility age.\u00a0 Democrats shouldn\u2019t have been so worried about upsetting people that they were unwilling to \u201cgo big\u201d by eliminating private insurance.\u00a0 And Democrats shouldn\u2019t have cared about ensuring that the ACA was fully \u201cpaid for\u201d with taxes (note:\u00a0 it wasn\u2019t, even so, with various gimmicks, but they claimed it was, anyway).<\/p>\n

It is already the case that Democrats have, collectively, decided to call their new proposal Medicare for All because it polls better than \u201csingle payer\u201d or other more truly descriptive terms.\u00a0 Do people understand what \u201cMedicare for All\u201d means?\u00a0 Do they have a vague sense that Medicare seems to work for their parents or grandparents?\u00a0 Do they assume that the proposal includes the same sort of supplemental policies as are available to Medicare recipients?\u00a0 Do they imagine that the funding will be as small and nearly-unnoticed as that small bit of FICA that supports Medicare rather than Social Security?\u00a0 In some cases, it seems, based on a prior Vox article<\/a>,\u00a0 that people interpret \u201cMedicare for All\u201d as giving under-65s the option to buy into Medicare at rates which are simultaneously affordable to the people involved and yet don\u2019t require any special taxes to pay for it.<\/p>\n

Yes, Democrats are banking on the generally positive feeling Americans have toward Medicare providing them the ability to pass a law that they will label \u201cMedicare for All.\u201d\u00a0 And, in fact, again per that Vox article, polling shows that 62% of Americans respond positively to \u201cMedicare for All\u201d but only 48% do so when asked about a \u201csingle payer health insurance system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, that same Vox article, again, points out that \u201cMedicare for All\u201d is becoming an umbrella term for multiple proposals, some of which involve the so-called \u201cpublic option.\u201d\u00a0 But near as I can tell, \u201cMedicare for All\u201d has by and large been adopted as a euphemism for single-payer.\u00a0 And this suggests an intention to pass a law the public support of which is conditioned on that public being ill-informed about it, rather than being honest and open about the costs and benefits of such a law.<\/p>\n

And I get that among some Democrats, the question of \u201cwill this law have sufficient bipartisan support to continue to be accepted even when political control shifts to the other party?\u201d is considered irrelevant, either because they think the public is stupid enough that any objections are solely because of ignorance, or because they are convinced that, from here on out, they will never, ever, lose control, or because they can implement a system that will so thoroughly destroy what preceded it that there is no going back, in a burn-the-ships sort of way.<\/p>\n

But nonetheless \u2014 look, I know it\u2019s a lost cause, but we as a country can\u2019t continue with this business of each party trying its best to impose its will rather than working together.<\/p>\n

End of rant.\u00a0 Comments welcomed, etc.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ADoctor_examines_patient_(1).jpg; By Unknown photographer [Public domain], via <\/span>Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u201cright\u201d lesson is, of course, that in order to ensure one\u2019s signature reform is successful you need to work with the other party \u2014 not just a few members of that party whose beliefs are so centrist as to approach your own, but comprehensively, so that it becomes a part of the fabric of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[323],"class_list":["post-12108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-partisanship"],"yoast_head":"\nIn which Democrats seem to have learned the wrong lesson from Obamacare politics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The "right" lesson is, of course, that in order to ensure one's signature reform is successful you need to work with the other party -- not just a few\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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