The 2024 Democratic Party platform contains little emphasis on healthcare compared to previous years, despite it remaining a top concern for voters. The draft platform obtained by Politico in July does not mention a “public option” or “universal healthcare,” reverting from the party’s 2020 platform that had outlined reforms like a public insurance option. While the Biden administration has touted record-low uninsured rates and taken some steps to lower healthcare costs, such as capping insulin copays, overall healthcare affordability remains a major challenge. Premiums for employer-provided family plans continue to rise faster than wages and inflation, and over 40% of adults report having medical debt. The 2024 platform’s light treatment of healthcare is a disappointing shift from the more ambitious proposals of the past. Progressives who had pushed for policies like Medicare for All will need to mount a renewed effort to keep healthcare as a central priority for the Democratic Party. The party’s own rhetoric in 2020 about healthcare being a “right, not a privilege” must be upheld, and voters should demand that candidates put forth concrete plans to achieve truly universal, affordable healthcare coverage.
Learn how a bill becomes law and you will realize why and how important it is to get as many Dems elected as possible.
Last time Dems had trifecta (2021-22) they had 50-50 senate - with 2 asshole republicans disguised as Dems (Sinema and Manchin) who blocked every progressive bills such as election integrity laws, immigration, reproductive rights. Of course that doesn’t absolve actual repubes. In fact not even 10 out of 50 republican senators had balls to stand up for what’s right.
If the Democrats want to get as many votes as possible they should give people more reasons to do so. Now is the best time to introduce a universal healthcare plan, even if it can’t pass it provides a PR field day when Republicans reject it.
Sinema and Manchin were doing exactly what party leadership wanted.
I also have massive issues with Sinema and Manchin but you can’t look at their voting record against actual republicans’ and say that with a straight face. Last I looked at it the most agreeable Republican voted with democrats like 25% less frequently than Manchin and Sinema did (been a while so definitely an IIRC situation). The takeaway though was that it doesn’t even compare. Especially given what we’d get out of a WV Republican, which would almost always be a “no” out of spite.
It’s not so much about how they voted. It’s more about how they refused to vote on key bills. Because of their position so many bills couldn’t even come to floor. I distinctly remember while heated debate was underway about student loan forgiveness, immigration, and inflation reduction - those two were running around in Texas with republicans to “find a common bipartisan ground”. Mind you the same republican they were hanging out with had publicly stated that they had no interest in solving problems whatsoever.