The Betrayal of the Progressives on Healthcare Leaves More Questions than Answers
The time has come. Joe Biden will formally accept the nomination to become the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.
It would be an understatement to say progressive Democrats aren’t disappointed in both the failure to get Sanders the nomination and the stagnation on the public health insurance front a Biden nomination signals. And perhaps a smaller percentage of the progressive Democrats are worried that Biden’s nomination is the waving of the white flag to the destructive and expensive private health insurance model that continues to under serve and over charge millions of Americans.
As a progressive Democrat, I can’t help but feeling that not only have we been betrayed, but now are being exploited. There is no attempt at unification by party leadership in either policy or optics. John Kasich, an anti-choice and anti-labor Republican, will end up with more speaking time and press fervor than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. As a Democrat, this is concerning. As a progressive Democrat, this is like smothering a perfectly grilled ribeye in ketchup because it will go down the hatch easier, and hey, everyone loves the red goop, right?
Frankly, I’m not sure if that’s a bite I want to swallow. Health care is too important.
You can skip paying your student loans. You can make good choices for the environment and encourage others to do so. You can be active in your communities regarding education reform, immigration, and other “all politics is local” matters. However, if you can’t get timely, quality healthcare you are playing an incrementally more risky game with the reaper. And looking at the Democratic Party platform, which is no doubt influenced and possibly spearheaded by Mr. Biden, it’s apparent that Democrats don’t share this reality.
Make no mistake: not embracing a national health care program is a form of data denial that I would argue is also borders on science denial. However, because it is a long term crisis, it’s easy — and maybe even politically expedient — to avoid. But aren’t the Democrats supposed to be the party of science, logic, and data? How can progressives trust that the elect-Biden-no-matter-what push is actually a good thing for what we hold true and dear?
Mental gymnastics is the only option. My neurological obstacle course looks something like this:
Democratic leadership really wouldn’t mind a public health insurance platform if they can make that position a palpable and prevailing centrist policy in the country. However, the only way to do that is incrementally and over a long period of time. Joe Biden, who is at least respected by both parties, is the perfect progressive Trojan stallion to build a national consensus around, say, a public option.
If the above despicable display of punditry were the case, all would make sense. The Affordable Care Act — a flimsy, sopping wet bandage on the blood spewing wound of American health care- arguably cost Democrats the ability to make much more legislative progress during president Obama’s first term. With the chance of control of both chambers of congress on the horizon, Democrats do not want to make the same mistake of going too bold and ending up broken.
This reasoning — which, again, could be nothing but fantasy punditry conjecture — is the only way I think a progressive can tolerate egregious dismissals by party leadership. Progressives would have to concede that Democrats are better politicians and deal makers who, with the right person at the helm, can actually go back to work for the country. In other words, progressives would have to view as master strategists who see a Biden-Harris ticket as a way to unify the party.
But this is exactly what Democrats did with Barack Obama. And the inconsistent and sometimes disastrous presidency of Barack Obama created Donald Trump. The potential difference in 2020, though, is the broader support for some type of a public health insurance option across party lines. That is, it will not be as shocking or met with as much resistance if the Democrats seriously pursue a push towards publicly funded health care.
Ultimately, I don’t believe that the nomination of Joe Biden means the progressive movement is dead in the Democratic Party. Progressive politics is the fastest growing segment of the party, and recent elections have shown that the desire for progressive representation in the Democratic Party is strong. And even if such elections may not always end up in a win for a progressive candidate, it’s undeniable that a more centrist primary champion will need to shift at least more progressive to ensure strong Democratic turnout during the general election. For example: in Kentucky, Amy McGrath outspent her progressive primary challenger, Charles Booker 10-to-1 and barely came away with a win. If McGrath wants a strong Democratic turnout on election day, she must embrace progressive ideas.
Because that’s all most progressive Democrats want: their ideas being incorporated in some capacity and recognition that they exist. Many progressives started off as a Democrat loyalists who now hope the party does not leave them behind. Our disagreements on health care aren’t some new, radical idea. President Truman almost got the country national health care until a last-minute lobbying smear drive fueled by private interests groups painted him as a socialist. The same goes for other presidents, politicians, and activists post World War Two.
However, unlike when Mr. Truman was president, we have access to a dizzying amount of data that clearly shows a national health care program is better, cheaper, and more equitable for all.
As of now, I think Biden deserves the benefit of the doubt. The real test will be when he debates Trump over the matter of health care. If Biden (or Harris during an assumed debate with Pence) walk back the public option, progressive support for them will start to crumble, and enough of the Democratic Party may not turn out in the states where it matters most. However, if Biden can make a public option appetizing during the campaign against Trump, I think there is a real shot a public option is on the table.
So, vote Biden, right?
Probably.
But the historical realist in me knows that the America of the last thirty years destroyed part of itself by accepting neoliberal economics as a national religion, 24x7x365 partisan gossip cycles as news, and the financialization of campaigns as a perverted act of freedom. A Biden-Harris presidency will need to overcome not just the challenges of selling a public option program, but the structural forces in place that seek to suppress everyday people from having a larger share in how the country runs. Sadly, Biden, and, to an extent, Harris, have helped build the overlords of finance, politics, and information that they must topple on the way to making America a touch more progressive and equitable for all.
I may not stand with Joe, but I am standing. For now. I encourage all progressives to do the same. But if the time comes when we are told to sit and be quiet, I’ll leave the arena and find my own place to stand with, hopefully, other like minded people. When it comes to life and death, progressives can’t allow themselves to be bullied by those who roll up their sleeves without the intention of ever getting their hands dirty.
