I have only seen national DSA leadership oppose the idea or turn it into a personality contest with Jimmy Dore.
How is that democratic at all?! They are openly contradicting the democratically-decided party line…
What an absolutely shit organization.
Here’s the quote:
2019 presents a unique opportunity for the Democratic Socialists for Medicare for All campaign: to be a key player in pushing HR 1384, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, to a vote in the House of Representatives. DSA is not alone in this work. National Nurses United, along with nearly 30 other national and local unions and progressive organizations are coordinating to take advantage of this moment. Since Bernie Sanders’ presidential run in 2016, single-payer advocates have been successfully turning Medicare for All into a litmus test for politicians. A floor vote in the House will force representatives to finally reveal whether they’re on the side of healthcare profiteers or the side of the working class.
No, it makes me think less of the DSA for thinking that forcing a floor vote will do anything. That’s the lib shit I’m talking about. The Spectacle won’t create a socialist movement. The left has been doing the same “Oh, were going expose them and then everyone will know the truth” for decades and it doesn’t work. Knowledge isn’t power and the truth won’t set you free.
I really don’t understand this perspective.
If M4A was going to be voted on, it’d give socialists any opportunity to advocate for M4A in their lives.
Already, this fight for M4A has helped me engage politically with people in my life. My parents and a couple friends have been much more receptive to M4A since the pandemic started.
People need healthcare, regardless of the Congressional agenda. If you are only able to effectively organize based on whether or not something is going to get a vote in Congress, that’s a reflection on you.
People want a concrete political project to support.
The conversation around M4A was much more lively in political organizations, unions, and in my personal life during the Democratic Primary. That is because there was a national political project advocating for M4A immediately.
Hey, hi, how do you propose getting people healthcare in the immediate future without any sort of congressional vote?
lib shit is sitting there and not exercising your influence. Forcing a vote lets the left see who’s against med4all, and who needs to be primaried.
No it doesn’t. We already fucking did this with all the cosponsors on the M4A bill. We just did it again with the House voting for $2K. It’s not getting passed in the Senate and it takes 11 of 18 Blue Dogs to kill it in the House. In the time that you could have actually been working on something useful with power behind it, we will have instead put a bunch of effort into tearing each other apart over a meaningless gesture. When Nancy Pelosi votes for M4A because she can knowing it won’t pass, what are you going to say when the libs say “Uh, actually, Pelosi is a progressive sweaty, she voted for M4A”?
