Campaign For America’s Future: Opinion: Heather Digby: Obamacare Is Up And Running, But That’s Not The End Of The Story

The New Democrat

For all of you Progressives out there or people who define your politics as progressive who may read this post, federalism is not about centralizing more power with the Federal Government and having less for the states, locals and individuals. The opposite is true, but for you Progressives who like to see some type of public healthcare system available to all Americans, whether it be single payer or something else, federalism is the route you should be looking at. Because it could actually accomplish your goal instead of you running to the Federal Government and holding protests and rallies at Congress and the White House and other places demanding that they pass Medicare For All single payer. Just so we clear that up.

One of the public option proposals that I’ve seen that I’m in favor of comes from perhaps the two least federalist members of Congress. From Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Jim McDermott two of the most progressive members of Congress. However they have a single payer proposal Medicare for all, but what they do is to say, “that we’ll allow each state. To set up their own Medicare plan and system that would have to meet basic federal standards. But each state would be able to run their own Medicare system and manage their health insurance system themselves coming from Medicare.”

Most of the single payer proposals have been Medicare For All run completely by the Federal Government. But the Sanders-McDermott plan would be a federalist Medicare For All single payer plan and each state would have their own Medicare system. Which is probably the only way we’ll ever get Medicare for all. Meaning no other form of health insurance in this country private or public. We are already seeing states trying to pass something like this.

Vermont and California to name a couple of states and the public option that I’m in favor of that I mentioned last night, would be done with a federalist system. Meaning the states would be able to run their own Medicare public option. And this is how you get a country behind you. Instead of trying to force things down their throats, you give them choices and options and the freedom to manage their own affairs.