Yesterday I posted Bernie Sanders in his own words on health care. cc: Chelsea, a rebuttal to claims made by Ms. Clinton about Bernie Sanders’ health care plan. I included two videos and some links. I don’t usually jump in like this, nor do I like to exacerbate Dem vs Dem conflicts. However, I made an exception here because there are statements out there that are not accurate and need attention.
Today, Senator Sanders was interviewed by MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts about those very misrepresentations. Here is Sanders correcting the record in his own words:
During an interview on CNN following the State of the Union address Tuesday night, Sanders said that Chelsea Clinton’s characterization of his program was wrong.
“Unfortunately, I have to say, as much as I admire Chelsea, she didn’t read the plan,” he said. “And where she is absolutely wrong — this is a plan that works in 50 states in this country, whether you have conservative Republicans or progressive Democrats. It’s a national program.”
Finally, a h/t to @SpeakingUpSarah for finding this ironic (given the current circumstances) image from 1993:
“To Bernie Sanders with thanks for your commitment to real healthcare access for all Americans and best wishes.”
And now this:
It’s true that Bernie has formally introduced his Single Payer Act many times. It is also true that it doesn’t have any other Sponsors!
We need to ask why? My hunch is that although we have others who strongly support Universal Health care most view his plan as impractical. Bernie is great at expressing high level ideas but he’s not been successful with getting much of anything implemented.
We need an honest debate about moving forward with improving our health care delivery systems in this country. It’s complex and their really are no Silver Bullets (Long Ranger reference, am I dating myself) solutions. It’s going to be piece by piece.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that we must get a Congress elected who can do these things. Fighting among ourselves and tossing old, tired RW memes at each other is of no help in getting good Dems elected.