I agree with Martin Longman here. The politics of Warren and Sanders' plans for a quick move to single-payer aren't great. We've tried that time and time again, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton...they all swung for the fences on health care (well, during Nixon's tenure it was Teddy Kennedy who was swinging for the downs).
Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama are the only two presidents to make significant headway on reforming our health insurance regimen. They did so by passing the best bill they could and then trying to implement it in a way that insured its popularity.
During the debate, Warren was pressed on whether her plan would raise taxes. That's a disingenuous line of attack, because it forces her into the following explanation: "Yes, your taxes go up, but your premiums go down, and if you have employer based insurance, your premiums are largely invisible to you. Plus, if there IS a difference between you premium and the new tax, your employer is likely to pocket it." An explanation like that is honest, but too nuanced for our Stupid Politics.
A better and more realistic question for both Bernie and Warren is this: Will you sign ANY bill that can pass the House and Senate, even if it doesn't achieve your stated goals? That will tell me more about them than a complicated explication of health care funding.
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