-the most important question is whether or not a proposal or -demand encourages people to get excited and involved in the process, -beyond the usual suspects (lbo-talkers, union officials, professional -politicians, etc.) <<
Nathan: > Which is why at the moment I'm much more excited by the
>"fair share" legislation targetting employers like Wal-Mart than
>single payer, since a whole bunch of folks are very excited and
>involed in thinking about challenging irresponsible corporations,
>rather than sitting in wonk rooms to design the perfect payment system
>for health care. <
Jim again>it's important to combine (1) what issues those outside the "usual -suspects" are interest in with (2) a long-term perspective. Sneering -at "wonk rooms" suggests that you've forgotten about the latter, -Nathan. Therein lies a bunch of leftie sins, which I'll leave -unnamed...
Jim, I spend most of my time in "wonk rooms" so I'm not bashing that work. But what I am attacking is promoting the perfect theoretical system when it's either not going to happen or likely to be implemented in a really screwed up fashion, which is where I see single payer right now.
If you want my strategic view, I'm for pushing employer mandates as far and extensively as possible to the point that the employers start screaming for a single payer system. Right now, employers see dumping their health care responsibilities altogether as an option, so are equally fighting both unions and any taxes to pay for single payer. But load them up with legal mandates to pay health care for their employees and a simple tax to pay for universal health care could suddenly look attractive.
What I see right now is a bunch of conservatives attacking employer mandates and they are even mouthing single payer arguments at points -- a lot via the centrist New America Foundation -- to attack the Maryland Wal-Mart bill and other "fair share" proposals. So at the moment, int he context of actual legislative battles, a lot of single payer advocates are being used by the rightwing to undermine the fair share health bills.
Nathan
JD
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