The chaotic fight for ObamaCare
By Bob Cusack, Sarah Ferris and Peter Sullivan
2/10/16
Less than 48 hours before the final vote on the Affordable Care Act, President Obama was irritated.
Jason Altmire, a centrist Democratic congressman representing the Pittsburgh area, had just announced he would vote against ObamaCare. The White House needed every vote it could get, with the bill in serious jeopardy of dying on the House floor.
Altmire’s phone rang at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 19, 2010. It was the president.
“What’s the matter?” Obama asked. “We didn’t give you enough attention?”
The administration had given Altmire plenty of attention in the first few months of 2010: trips to the White House, private conversations with Obama and Vice President Biden, as well as many long discussions with then-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Altmire voted no on the House ObamaCare legislation in 2009 and had been undecided on the final measure, concerned about the bill’s cost-containment provisions. He was seen as a pivotal vote because of the 15 years he spent on healthcare policy, both as a congressional staffer or a hospital executive.
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/268877-the-chaotic-fight-for-obamacare
Interesting read of the struggle to pass the ACA. Democrats still held the majority in Congress. Today, Republicans hold the largest majority in the House since 1929. How does Sanders think that he would get single payer through?????
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I read an article where Sanders said that in the Senate there were only 8-10 votes in favor of single payer. What makes him think that he could get it passed if he were president when Democrats couldn't get it passed when they had a majority in Congress??? Calling for a "political revolution" is dicey, just hopes and wishes. It's not based on the reality on the ground that the next president will face next January.
It's silly to say that Sanders has the people behind him based on the very white and very liberal people that voted in IA and NH. The reality is that he will face worse gridlock in Congress than Obama faced.
How many bills did he get passed in 26 years? A handful, less than ten, and three were naming post offices. I think that he has the rhetoric down pat, but that's about it. Again, if Obama struggled to get the ACA through a Democratic Congress, how does Sanders expect to get his very ambitious agenda through when the Republicans now hold the majority???? His only answer seems to be that we'll have a political revolution. Yeah, that's a sound plan.........
Time will tell. Although, I still think that Hillary will prevail.
The problem is that he's an ideologue. Lots of promised goodies with very little chance of getting them passed into law.
It's a crazy election season. The Republicans have Trump and our side has Sanders. Neither is a true Republican or Democrat.
