"We have to take on insurance companies to get Medicare for All....

[oberliner]

We have to take on polluters to get a #GreenNewDeal.

We have to take on the NRA to stop mass shootings.

We have to take on special interests to make change—and that starts with rejecting their money in our politics"

Link to tweet

There's no time to waste—it's time for Congress to prioritize action on climate change. We need a #GreenNewDeal for our kids, our planet and our futures.

Link to tweet

I’ve voted against @realDonaldTrump more than anyone else. The reason is simple: When someone is clearly more interested in looking out for special interests than the American people, I vote no—and when their proposals would hurt people, I vote no. That’s it.

Link to tweet

[pecosbob]

1. I don't think she's going to convice many that she's the next incarnation of Mary 'Mother' Jones

Not any kind of expert on New York politics, but to a southerner, from her voting she appears to be pretty much the definition of a Wall Street blue dog.

Edit...but anyway kudos to her for the tweets anyway.

[Blue_true]

2. Show me one Senator that does not give special leeway to their state's big industries.

Show me one. Maybe a new voice like AOC will change that in the near future, we will only know that for sure if AOC runs for US Senator or for NY Governor, races where more than just her congressional district will be voting. It does not matter what AOC says about issues, even when she is right on most of them, she does not have to worry about votes from upstate New York, or Pennsylvania, or Florida, ect.

[pecosbob]

3. It is the nature of the beast

didn't say blue dogs should be kicked to the curb...just like to call a spade a spade and a club a club.

[Blue_true]

6. A person that has to run a statewide or nationwide race has to appeal to a larger audience.

That does not make them evil. I am a businessman, I think that Wall Street and multi-national corporations have corrupted both tax policy and stolen respect for workers, but I also believe both serve a useful purpose in society -just not as important as they make themselves out to be.

[oberliner]

4. I think she could be a formidable candidate

Her anti-Trump voting record in the Senate is second to none.

[GulfCoast66]

5. Universal healthcare will require non profit insurance companies

Which are used in many nations.

Medicare for all polls well until you tell the 50% of Americans that they will be losing their insurance for something NEW. And Better. Trust us.

It will insure electoral defeat.

However, if we expand the ACA, make for profit insurance illegal, stop allowing employers to skirt the requirements by limiting worker hours, raise taxes progressively on high earners we have a real path toward universal healthcare and illegitimate Medicaid because everyone will be covered we can get this done.

We should look to France for our example. Excellent, affordable and universal healthcare. Nothing like Medicare for all.

The ACA is finally popular. We should use that popularity to our advantage.


But I agree with the spirit of your post. We must defeat powerful interest to achieve a more just nation.

[Blue_true]

8. Some changes that I would like to see.

I would like to see the ACA income ceiling raised so that trully middleclass people can join in larger numbers.

I would like to see blue states encourage small business owners that offer health insurance to coleasce into massive buying pools so that insurers can pick them off one by one.

I don't see insurance companies being made illegal, that does not happen anywhere now. What I do see is shrinking their pool through market forces that they change their business model and start to support socialized medicine. I think that Medicare for All will need several big insurance companies clearing things like payments, certifying doctors and practices - ALL under close watch by the federal and state government.

What I would like to see is deep blue, wealthy states like California, New York, increasingly Virginia, Maryland, Washington State, Oregon, Illinois, establish a single insurance buying pool for their states (a collective) and set requirements for any insurance company that offers policies in their states (legal since states now regulate insurers that operate within their borders).

[GulfCoast66]

9. Can't disagree.

Regardless, the easiest, fastest and possibly only way to achieve a Western European healthcare system is by riding the popular ACA.

But it will happen in stages. I fear our more progressive wing will be happy with all or nothing in one session of Congress. Which will never happen.

[Blue_true]

10. Agree with you completely.

Universal health coverage will be incremental. The ACA is a good starting point (actually, the only sane starting point). I do think big states could collect into one massive health insurance buying pool and force things along.

[OKNancy]

7. Medicare for all won't be a good deal for many people who now have ACA subsidies

Medicare will have to drastically change if it is going to be a good deal for young people.
It's great for older folks like me. I pay for my Medicare and a Supplemental policy so I can have 100% coverage.
It's a LOT cheaper than a private insurance policy would be.

However if I was 23 with a low income, the ACA with a subsidy would be much better.

[Blue_true]

11. You hit on a central issue.

Medicare is better for older people, not so much for younger people. A two tier system may be best for a while, people 50 and older going to Medicare, people 49, 11 months and 29 days old or younger going to an expanded income limit for subsidies ACA