I beg you to stop politicizing this, COVID-19 as all about M4A.

[sheshe2]

People are dying because we have an ass in the WH who is an incompetent and denying states the means of fighting this virus.

We have nurses, doctors and staff on the front lines dying with no means of protecting themselves. I have a godchild that is there. She doesn't know if she is bringing it home to her husband and children when she leaves work. Think about that. Think about the grandmother and great grandmother a few months shy of 94, they can't visit for fear of passing it to her. She gets it, she dies. Think about me and people like me, the home caregiver that can't see them for fear of bring the virus home.

The number in Italy moments ago, 51 doctors have died doing their job. They had the best healthcare in the world and they died, DOING THEIR JOB.

I beg you and Bernie to stop politicizing this, after all it by his own words said it is not about "Me". It is about US. I take him at his word.

Posted this as a response here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287689673#post31

At his round table the other night on COVID-19 along with a few of the squad and not a healthcare professional in sight turned to his stump speech...M4A and did not confront the crisis at hand.

[Peacetrain]

1. Amen to that!!

[mcar]

2. Kick!

[mr_lebowski]

3. Not sure how bringing up how nice it would be if everyone had insurance at a time like now ...

qualifies as 'politicizing', but ... YMMV, and apparently does.

[sheshe2]

8. Yes, my mileage varies.

Yes, my mileage varies when that is all you talk about and not bother to address the crisis at hand. Millions are going to die. Work on what stands squarely in front of you and not what is a decade out.

People are dying at a rapid rate, just watch the numbers on CNN. We are only two weeks in.This all is happening in real time. The Doctors are working triage and life and death decisions are in their hands. They can't treat them all. It has become survival of the most fit.

Trump is committing genocide right before our eyes. He is denying states the help it needs, could Bernie possibly take one moment to address that?

[questionseverything]

29. do you realize for the uninsured everyday is a crisis?

everyday the uninsured are one accident away from homelessness, one sickness away from death


sorry you have to visit what they live with constantly

[sheshe2]

35. So.

In 30 years as part of the "establishment" what has he done about it?

He also could not motivate himself to come to Washington to even help negotiate a bill that would help the poor unemployed workers, the ones he says he is fighting for, during this crisis. He came back after the fact, when it was a done deal and from what I read "Spit Fire" when the heavy lifting had already been done.

[questionseverything]

42. my post didnt say one thing about bernie or biden for that matter

my post was about the peop left uninsured ,without healthcare at all

but since you asked, the money for the community clinics in the aca, the clinics that support the poorest of the poor, that money came from a Bernie amendment

my spouse and I pay taxes into medical for those that qualify for medicare, we pay taxes for those that qualify for Medicaid, we pay for products that pay for the insurance that employers give employees, in fact we have some part of paying for everyones healthcare. I simply think we should be included in the healthcare.

SO INDEED

[msongs]

4. italy has universal health care and guaranteed one month paid vacation nt

[sheshe2]

12. Yep.

[BidenBacker]

22. Italy has what Bernie wants

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Didn't do them a helluva lot of good, did it?

[Thekaspervote]

25. +1000

[Gore1FL]

49. You are conflating two different things.

Pandemics and how medical treatments (perhaps caused by a pandemic) are paid for are two different things.

I fear for those without insurance and without income, myself.

[BidenBacker]

78. That was exactly my point

that if Bernie was trying to convince people that simply having coverage would be the solution to the virus he's entirely missing the point or is shamefully using it as a political talking point.

Either option is not very encouraging.

[relayerbob]

5. M4A would be a disaster

Having Trump controlling ALL of our medical care would be one of the worst tings ever, amplifying this mess a hundred times over

[ZZenith]

6. Thank God the benevolent insurance companies have our backs!

[relayerbob]

9. It's about having alternatives

But I trust them more than government ... and I hate insurance companies

There are better options than either all M4A or all insurance, but no one cares, it's either about money or power. I reject both

But a hybrid system, like Germany, Canada, UK, etc has is what seems to the work best so far (none of the countries they spout about on the debates have purely socialized medicine)

[ZZenith]

13. But you would agree their balance is way closer to socializing the costs than ours, yes?

[relayerbob]

32. AS I said elsewhere

I am, however, totally opposed to letting our health care system by controlled by our fucked up political system.

I would prefer a non-profit, NGO to handle billing with no "managed care"

I would also point out, our death rate from Covid is among the lowest in the world, so our health care professionals are quite good, thanks

[ZZenith]

36. Get back with me in a couple of weeks on that death rate, thanks.

[DENVERPOPS]

46. Yes ZZ !!!!!!

I guess he hasn't read the headlines today.......

I am a Biden person, and so tired of hearing Bernie's rhetoric especially as of late!


My wife, a dedicated Bernie lover since before the 2016 election came in to the den a week ago and stated: "I am voting for Biden....I am so tired of listening to the crap he is starting to throw, I think he is beginning to sound an awful lot like Trump......."

LOL

Truthfully, I am beginning to worry as much about the Bernie lovers as democrat voters if Biden wins, as I am about the Trump voters.
The Republicans have been masters for years at picking out an egomaniac "Dem" and grooming them as "Vote Splitters"

[relayerbob]

64. Rate .... not total number

And that is due to politics, not our doctors, nurses and caregivers abilities. They are working their asses off and dying to save people's lives. Having Trump have full reign on a fully nationalized healthcare system, would only make it worse.

Also, having to do with RATE, is that due to lack of testing, our numbers of cases is far too low, we likely have well in excess of 500k cases already, if not 1 million.

Absolutely way too many more people are going to die, but this needs to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the douchebag who got us here - Trump.

But your dark sarcasm is duly noted

[ZZenith]

65. Your preference for a for-profit healthcare system is noted as well. Cheers.

[relayerbob]

66. Where exactly did I say that?????

Don't make shit up

I said clearly "NON PROFIT NGO" and barring that a hybrid system that gives neither all the power. Giving Trump all the power would be even more disastrous and M4A would do that. And I would add here, if any hybrid system would be highly regulated.

Try thinking outside a binary box

[DENVERPOPS]

73. I say again

Get back with me in a couple of weeks on that death rate,....... thanks...........

I think I read in CPR? that the DEATH RATE in NY City DOUBLED IN ONE DAY and I believe they said the DEATH RATE was going to get far worse??????

I will agree with you that there is a lot of under reporting which would skew the figures, but there is also a large delay between infection, and deaths.........And that, the CDC has been saying for three months, is what makes it so dangerous.
The Health system is doing a miraculous job, but there is a limit and they are all approaching that limit and the apex isn't even here yet.........

[luvtheGWN]

56. Perhaps your main beef is with your fucked-up political system.

Not with the prospect of universal healthcare.

[ZZenith]

62. Precisely.

[relayerbob]

63. Ya think?

Of course it is. Would YOU want Trump running the entire medical system? How about the next Trump? How about one 50 years from now - the GOP is still trying to destroy the safety nets put in by FDR. Not trying to take it our on you, personally, but that is the likely prospect of an all-government run health care system.

I absolutely want universal healthcare, and even specified how I want to see it done - non-profit NGO, without the "managed care".

[luvtheGWN]

71. Funny how we don't have that worry.

And we don't have "managed care". That's US healthcare-speak.

And you don't have a healthcare "system". You have a for-profit healthcare insurance system. And that's the big difference between what you have and the rest of the first world countries have.

[relayerbob]

72. Yes, obviously it is

And some of us who live here are trying to fix it, as you might have discerned had you actually read, or tried to comprehend, my posts.

So, since you aren't from here, anyway, I'd appreciate your not attacking me, it's not MY fucking system. I am opposed to both for-profit and politically charged government interference as has been going on here for decades. What part of non-profit NGO do you not understand?

I'm not sure what you are, or where you are from, but please don't ever respond to me again.

[Celerity]

19. to claim the UK as a 'hybrid system' is very disingenuous

I am a UK citizen, London-raised.

The private sector healthcare there is extremely limited and small, and mostly caters to the rich flying in from around the old remnants of the Empire and places like the ME with the ruling Saudis, UAE, etc jetting in for Rolls Royce health holidays.

Also, the private insurers used in the other advanced nations in the world are VASTLY more regulated and cost effective than the US for-profit model.

There is not a single OECD nation that would switch systems with the US for healthcare. The US spends far more per person than any other nation and delivers overall poor results. It is a giant wealth extraction scheme as currently configured. MFA will never pass under the current overall American political superstructure, but it is simply bollocks to say it is a good model, even with full-blown Obamacare unimpeded by any Rethug interference.

[ZZenith]

21. Thank you.

[BidenBacker]

23. I thought I detected an accent in your posts

I saw that Boris has it now.

[Celerity]

28. BoJo the bellend can go sod the fuck off, along with the rest of the Tories and their Lib Dem

former enablers. The Lib Dems propped up Cameron the pig-fucker (literally) for years in a 'Confidence and supply' scheme that enabled the Tory rotters to subject the nation to a brutal austerity regime that made (via asymmetric warfare means of disinfo and scapegoating) Brexit more than possible, it helped to ram it through. They (The Lib Dems) even ran on a 'proto-Leave' Leave platform back several years ago, then turned around and had the jacobs to try and recast themselves as uber-Remainers. A pack of bootlicking opportunistic berks.

[BidenBacker]

33. LOL...you really shouldn't hold back when you post, Cel

We Yanks are dealing with more than enough crazy shit on this side of the Pond to worry much about the British idiocy happening on the other side.

Not a problem for Putin, though...he can fuck up many different countries and regions of the world all at the same time. Vlad is a master at multi-tasking.

Why isn’t there greater outrage about Russia’s involvement in Brexit?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/17/why-isnt-there-greater-outrage-about-russian-involvement-in-brexit

FDR & Churchill must be rolling over in their graves with embarrassment. They worked with Uncle Joe but never trusted that SOB Stalin. Flash forward 75 years and we got a coupla Putinpuppets for leaders.

[relayerbob]

31. To assume I am for insurance is a mistake

I am, however, totally opposed to letting our health care system by controlled by our fucked up political system.

I would prefer a non-profit, NGO to handle billing with no "managed care"

I would also point out, our death rate from Covid is among the lowest in the world, so our health care professionals are quite good, thanks

[Celerity]

44. Then why did you push clear disinfo about the UK? Also you've no idea what the true and final death

rate for COVID-19 in the US is going to be. The US healthcare infrastructure is woeful in terms of not only cost per capita but also many other metrics as well. I do not play 'we are number 1!' jingoistic games, never have, never will, regardless of what nation of which I am a citizen we are talking about. Dog knows I have been shredding our shambolic government's (Sweden, where I current reside) response to the pandemic so far.

[relayerbob]

51. Try not being a jerk

Might go a long way.

https://healthmanagement.org/c/it/issuearticle/facts-figures-the-uk-healthcare-system

So, now you are in SWEDEN, talking about how wonderful the UK system is, while attacking the US!!????

Buh bye, blocked

[Celerity]

53. I was born in Los Angeles, moved with my parents at less than 2 years old to London, where I was

raised. I am half Swedish (father), half Barbadian (mummy), and I am now in Stockholm with my wife, doing post grad studies and also working. Not my problem if you cannot handle well thought out and cogent critique/repartee that happens to challenge what you posit, and again, not my problem if you are so provincial in outlook and mindset that you think/assume everyone sticks to living in one nation state.

Block away, your loss.

[relayerbob]

38. You also don't have a political party whose main purpose

for 75 years has been to destroy your countries social safety nets.

Our political system is way different, and as I said in the other post, I don't support EITHER solution as proposed or executed. But having Donald Trump wrap his fingers around the throat of out ENTIRE healthcare system would be a disaster.

[Celerity]

47. Go tell that to a MFA fangirl, cuz you are not engaged in a colloquy when you're conversing with me.

I am a very cynical person by nature, and there is almost no chance that even if we take back the Senate, that even a mundane Public Option will pass. Too many trillions in potential profits at stake, as I have painstakingly laid out in a myriad number of prior posts on multiple threads from days gone by.

[relayerbob]

50. You aren't even making any sense

If "even a mundane Public Option will pass", then what are arguing for? Or even about? What's the odds of M4A passing then?

And you claim to be a UK citizen, so what the fuck are you even discussing this for?

[Celerity]

55. you need some manners, ya' obviously got no broughtupsy, to wax Bajan for a wee bit

so what the fuck are you even discussing this for?

<< very tactful, NOT


I am a US citizen by birth, London-raised, Stockholm-dwelling at present, and I can weigh in on whatever subject I chose to, you are not the board police. Furthermore, simply living outside the US does not annul my right, nor anyone's right, (especially our fellow citizens' rights) of input.

As for your second point, I make all the sense in the world, despite your binary thinking.

1. MFA will not pass.
2. The Public Option will not pass.

saying one does not preclude the other

[The Magistrate]

77. A Skilled Politician, Ma'am

With the wind of a solid mandate at his back, and at least a nominal majority in the Senate, might be able to get some public option through. There are Democratic Senators whose arms would need some good twisting to get that done. Even just repairing harm done over the last fw years to the Affordable Care Act would be worth a good deal. Some formula for forcing acceptance of the Medicaid expansion on recalcitrant states would be great benefit.





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[Celerity]

80. have a look at this, Sir, from July, 2019, attacking Biden's (and thus all the other candidates as

well) Public Option plans.


Partnership Statement On Biden Health Care Proposal

https://americashealthcarefuture.org/partnership-statement-on-biden-health-care-proposal/

WASHINGTON – The Partnership for America’s Health Care Future issued the following statement regarding former Vice President Joe Biden’s proposal to implement a new government health insurance system:

“We strongly believe that every American deserves access to high-quality health care, and we agree with the majority of Americans who believe the best way to achieve this is to build and improve upon what is working, while coming together to fix what isn’t,” Lauren Crawford Shaver, the Partnership’s Executive Director, said. “Unfortunately, Vice President Biden’s proposal for a new government insurance system through a ‘public option’ would undermine the progress our nation has made and ultimately lead our nation down the path of a one-size-fits-all health care system run by Washington. From driving up premiums in the private market, to threatening our nation’s already at-risk hospitals, to diminishing Americans’ access to the quality care they need, research warns that such an approach could be disastrous for patients and consumers.”

A recent study found that government insurance systems like the one Biden proposes could force hospitals to limit the care they provide, produce significant “layoffs” and “potentially force the closure of essential hospitals.” Other research reveals the significant risks to hospitals and patients posed by so-called “moderate” alternatives to Medicare for all, such as “public option” or “Medicare buy-in” proposals. One study found that “[f]or hospitals, the introduction of a public plan that reimburses providers using Medicare rates would compound financial stresses they are already facing, potentially impacting access to care and provider quality.”


snip

my thoughts

Even back then they were already going after Biden's public option plan, just as I predicted for ages, and this group Partnership for America's Healthcare Future is partially backed by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and AHIP, (America's Health Insurance Plans), who spent over 100 million USD in the last 14 months (prior to it's passage) trying to defeat the ACA and ever since then have vowed they will do the same to quash the public option.


Here is a direct quote from that statement again:

“Unfortunately, Vice President Biden’s proposal for a new government insurance system through a ‘public option’ would undermine the progress our nation has made and ultimately lead our nation down the path of a one-size-fits-all health care system run by Washington. From driving up premiums in the private market, to threatening our nation’s already at-risk hospitals, to diminishing Americans’ access to the quality care they need, research warns that such an approach could be disastrous for patients and consumers.”

The institutional power players are staunchly against even the slightest diminution of their extractive abilities within the for-profit health care matrix. The public option is a massive threat to them.

The co-chair of Biden's kick-off giant fundraiser in Philadelphia (at David Cohen's, the Comcast executive, home) was Daniel Hilferty, the Independence Blue Cross CEO and an executive director of AHIP. He was a key driver against the ACA, and now is helping lead the charge against the public option (not to mention he is obviously against MFA as well, which is not my preferred thing anyway).

Hilferty is bad news, and is just hedging his bets with Biden, as he almost always gives mostly to Rethugs like McTurtle. I am absolutely sure Hilferty will pop a 5000 USD bottle of some rare vintage of Dom Pérignon or other champagne if/when the SCOTUS invalidates all of the ACA, especially the pre-existing conditions clause. Biden should really disown him publicly, and anyone affiliated with Partnership for America's Healthcare Future and AHIP. It is a really bad look IMHO to have them involved to a point where he (I do not know about others) was a fundraising co-chair.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190503175136/https:/twitter.com/hollyotterbein/status/1121232294801547265



https://web.archive.org/web/20190503222233/https:/twitter.com/hollyotterbein/status/1121203315067490306




As Dems debate Medicare for All, a less radical idea stalls in blue states

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/08/health-care-blue-states-1308730

This was supposed to be the year blue states created government-run health insurance plans, after health care-fueled midterm election victories.

But legislation around the country to craft a so-called public option — a longtime progressive goal — has stalled over political and financial roadblocks, underscoring the challenge of creating coverage expansions even less comprehensive than the "Medicare for All" plan championed by Democratic presidential contenders and progressives in Congress.

Legislative proposals in New Mexico, Nevada and other states to set up a public option to give people more choices — and insurers more competition — have been watered down or shelved as lawmakers struggle to design affordable plans building on Obamacare. And multiple Democratic governors who backed the idea during their campaigns haven’t pushed it since taking office.

“When you’re dealing with a new issue — and this is a new idea — the biggest problem around the idea is one of cost," said former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat. "Where is the money going to come from? And obviously every politician is concerned about that, rightfully so."

The public option has appeal among some moderate Democratic officials hoping to harness the base’s energetic support for Medicare for All in the 2020 elections — while skirting the political risk of embracing the full single-payer overhaul that Republicans decry as socialism. Democrats who have embraced less radical overhauls hoped to leverage the party’s newfound advantage on health care to make progress toward universal coverage this year while contrasting it with Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare.

snip

There already are troubling signs that the 2009 tactics (where the public option was taken off the table due to immense pressure from the lobbyists) are being baked in the cake yet again.

At Biden's first major campaign fundraiser, in Philadelphia a few weeks back, one of the co-hosts was Daniel Hilferty.

Daniel Hilferty is the CEO of Independence Blue Cross. He is on the board of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the trade association working to defeat the progressive push for Medicare for All. In national politics, Hilftery has exclusively donated to Republicans this year, records show. The health insurance executive gave $5,000 to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with smaller donations to other congressional Republicans (see below).

https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?two_year_transaction_period=2020&contributor_name=Hilferty%2C+Daniel+&min_date=01%2F01%2F2019&max_date=12%2F31%2F2020





Hilferty's group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), pumped in $102 million in 14 months to try and block Obamacare, now they are doing the same with MFA and even the much milder buy-in option.


Health Care Insurers Spent $100 Million To Defeat Obamacare


https://www.democraticunderground.com/1002805314

As the Supreme Court readies to announce their decision on the individual mandate portion of the health reform, it has emerged that the largest health care lobbying group in the country spent a total of $102.4 million in just 15 months to prevent Obamacare from becoming law in the first place.

In 2009 alone, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) pumped $86.2 million into a conservative lobbying group, the US Chamber of Commerce, to combat President Obama’s health care reform plan. But with the added months of 2010 prior to the ACA’s March passage, AHIP piled on an additional $16 million to be used against the bill.

That staggering total, which the National Journal’s Influence Alley uncovered today, was not out in the open — rather, the funds were transferred through a secretive process and listed only by the organization as ‘advocacy’ spending:

The backchannel spending allowed insurers to publicly stake out a pro-reform position while privately funding the leading anti-reform lobbying group in Washington. The chamber spent tens of millions of dollars bankrolling efforts to kill health care reform.


more at this link

https://web.archive.org/web/20120717104832/http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/13/499093/health-care-insurers-spent-100-million-to-combat-the-affordable-care-act/




https://www.opensecrets.org/search?order=desc&q=daniel+hilferty&sort=D&type=donors







They are still at it (trying to destroy the public option)


AHIP mobilizes industry opposition to public option (2016 efforts)

https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/ahip-mobilizes-industry-opposition-to-public-option/426659/


Dive Brief:

The leading health insurance industry trade group, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), launched an effort last week to mobilize members against the growing push for a public option, which would create a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private plans on the ACA exchanges.

AHIP's action alert last week asked its members to contact Senate offices and provided a list of talking points to assist in arguments against the public option, The Huffington Post reported.

The move came within hours of the introduction of a resolution by 27 Senate Democrats, led by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, calling for the public option--an idea that President Barack Obama and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have also recently joined forces to support.

Dive Insight:

AHIP's swift action suggests the group sees the groundswell of support for a public option from legislators and advocates as a real threat. The concept has essentially come back from the dead after raising major debate during the crafting of the ACA, but subsequently being left out of the health law due to concerns among lawmakers, including some liberals, as well as opposition from industry groups.

snip


2019


Partnership Statement On Introduction Of Senate Medicare-X Legislation A Public Option Would Restrict Patient Choice of Plans and Access to Care

https://americashealthcarefuture.org/partnership-statement-on-introduction-of-senate-medicare-x-legislation/


ICYMI: “Medicare Buy-In, Public Option Proposals Would Harm Our Health Care System”

https://americashealthcarefuture.org/icymi-medicare-buy-in-public-option-proposals-would-harm-our-health-care-system/


they also will fight to stop the US government from having the ability to negotiate lower drug prices


A BITTER PILL: HOW BIG PHARMA LOBBIES TO KEEP PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES HIGH

https://www.citizensforethics.org/a-bitter-pill-how-big-pharma-lobbies-to-keep-prescription-drug-prices-high/



PARTNERSHIP FOR AMERICA’S HEALTH CARE FUTURE.

https://americashealthcarefuture.org/about-us/

[The Magistrate]

83. I Agree There Will Be Opposition, Ma'am

And it will include a lot of trumped up nonesense about 'ruination for hospitals and doctors'. There was a good deal of that in the fight over the whole Affordable Care Act. But it was chiefly one single Senator, Joe Lieberman, who got the public option deep-sixed. Our margin was so narrow lone critters of that ilk could wield great influence.

It used be the boast of old pols here that 'If you can't drink their whiskey and take their money and vote against them, you're in the wrong business." More of that spirit survives, I suspect, than some think.

"I am a man with principles, and chief among them is flexibility."









"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[Celerity]

84. We need 60 votes, and even if we need a simple majority, and even of we take it back by say a 52-48

I can so see 3 or of the most conservative Dems peeling off. But as it stands we need 60, and in my wildest projections, it will be many cycles before we cna (if we ever do) get near to that level. Jones in alabama was a complete fluke, due to Paedo Moore winning the Rethug primary, and 2018 being a Blue wave. Even in that Blue Wave we lost good, solid Dems to Rethugs in IN, MO, ND, and FL. Those 4 flips KILLED us (we would have a 51-49 majority if they had not occurred) and is now killing the nation.

I actually do think we can flip SIX (out of 13 remotely flippable) Red seats Blue, and then, even though we will 90% likely lose Jones, we will have a 52-48 majority. But, alas, we need 60 and even if we flipped ALL 13 (we will still lose Jones) that leaves us 1 short (we would have 59), and even then we will have defections I truly fear.


Here is my completely up to date, most detailed outline on the state of the 2020 Senate races.

We need a plus 4 net to flip the Senate to a 51-49 Dem advantage (so no power sharing agreements needed at all) as it stands, and a plus 5 net if we lose Doug Jones, which is, unfortunately likely as Paedo Moore was crushed in the Rethug Primary, and I fear either Tuberville (probably the favourite to win the Rethug run-off) or Sessions will win.

We should absolute hold all our other seats. Jeanne Shaheen in NH is the only one that is probably not a 90+% lock, with the Rethugs choosing between Kelly Ayotte (the one who worries me the most if she decides to run), previously a NH US Senator until she barely lost in 2016 to Maggie Hassan by 1017 votes, Don Bolduc, former U.S. Army brigadier general, Bill O'Brien, former Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Kelly Ayotte, former U.S. Senator and former Attorney General of New Hampshire, Scott 'Pickup' Brown, U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, former U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, and 2014 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate from New Hampshire.

These are all the remotely possible races where we can flip, all 13 of them. Some are very much a stretch, and also we are having a lot of big names refuse to run, in fact, all the arguably best candidates in 10 of the 13 seats have all refused, so far, to run.

These are the only 3 states ATM with our strongest possible (strongest from the beginning, but some still have really good candidates like NC, IA, and ME) candidates running:

Arizona Mark Kelly has a great chance at beating McSally. This was (until Hickenlooper got smart) the only state so far that we had the best potential candidate already running.

Colorado Hickenlooper now running makes it 90-95% that we flip this. Even if you do not think he is the best on policy, he still is the most electable. All I ask is that he knocks it off with the red-baiting (saying progressives are bringing back Stalin and Marx's policies), which is asinine and plays into the Rethug's hands. I would much prefer Joe Neguse or Andrew Romanoff to Hickenlooper strictly on policy.

Montana Bullock finally decided to run, and he gives us a great chance to flip this Blue.


Now the ones who do NOT have our strongest candidates running as of yet (an again ME, IA, and NC are in pretty good shape, I just include them for historical completeness):


Alaska (I hope Mark Begich, our ex US Senator there, runs versus Sullivan, he has said he was not, but now may change his mind.) If Begich ends up completely declining, then it will probably up to Independent Al Gross, as Ethan Berkowitz, mayor of Anchorage, and Forrest Dunbar, Anchorage assemblyman and nominee for Alaska's at-large congressional district in 2014 have both also declined. If no Begich, this is a hard one to win.

Maine (Susan Rice, who has said no quite emphatically, would have been the best to knock out the POS hypocrite Collins IMHO, but hopefully we can find another great one, it looks likely to be Sara Gideon atm, I think Gideon can take out Collins, just was more sure on Rice, but she is not going to run.).

Tennessee (open Rethug seat, due to Alexander retiring, I so hope Tim McGraw (yes the superstar singer, who said for years he would run when he was 50, and he is 52 now) reconsiders his turndown, he would have the best shot from all I have seen, most of the other candidates we have are already one time losers, some just last year, or pretty unknown. The two I see who are the best should McGraw not change his mind are Jeff Yarbro and especially James Mackler)

Georgia With Isakson retiring (there will be an interim Repug appointed for the last year) There are now TWO seats we can flip. Stacey Abrams and Sally Yates would have had the best chances by far to beat Perdue and Rethug X, but each one has said no over and over, so it is going to be much harder I fear, even though Perdue is weak, and a shit campaigner. Jon Ossoff has now declared for David Perdue's seat, as have Teresa Tomlinson, and Sarah Riggs Amico.

In the other race, the Special Election, we REALLY need Sally Yates to change her mind, as so far we have no really strong candidates there, and it deffo is winnable as the Rethugs have a NASTY fight on their hands, between White Power Barbie Kelly Loeffler (currently sitting) and then Trump arse-licker uber scum, Doug Collins. So far the Dems who have declared are Matt Lieberman, businessman and son of Joe Lieberman, former U.S. Senator from Connecticut, Ed Tarver, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia and former state senator, Raphael Warnock, reverend and pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Richard Dien Winfield, professor and candidate for Georgia's 10th congressional district in 2018.

Kansas Open Rethug seat due to Roberts retiring, the right candidate for us has a shot, and that is Kathleen Sebelius, but she also just said no, and a big local paper says that really hurts our chances This is a carbon copy of Montana, just swap in Sebelius for Bullock, its a Red state and all the insiders say she is only Dem who can win. Sebelius needs to follow Bullocks' lead and jump in!!!

Iowa (Cindy Axne and Vilsack, probably our 2 best chances to beat the detestable Joni Ernst, both have declined to run, but I have hope Theresa Greenfield will be the Dem winner and has a great shot at beating the POS Ernst) Chet Culver (not declared) also has a decent shot, but my money is on Greenfield.

North Carolina Our two best candidates, Foxx and Stein, both said no, and Cal Cunningham (not a bad candidate at all, I do NOT want to seem to be tossing shade) is now our nominee. I still think he can beat the really weak Tillis, who is very unpopular there.

now the two wishful thinking states:

Kentucky This is probably the 2nd toughest. Andy Beshear might have had a shot at dumping McTurtle, but he ran (and won!!!) the Governorship. Amy McGrath is who we are probably going to have to roll with, and it is not impossible, due to McConnell being truly hated even by some Rethugs, his overall approval numbers are worse than Rump by far, amongst the bottom in all the Senate. Overall a huge reach, but so hope Moscow Mitch goes DOWN. McGrath needs to make no more errors like the one she did right at kickoff (saying she would have voted yes for Kavanaugh for SCOTUS. The same thing crushed Bredesen in TN in 2018, it so depressed our base turnout.)

Texas Cornyn in Texas is the toughest reach, Cornyn is streets ahead of Cruz in terms of TX popularity. I like Amanda Edwards A LOT, but she lost in the Primary, so now it is a runoff between MJ Hegar and Royce West. I think Hegar wins the runoff, but this is truly a stretch, no matter who is our nominee.

We would need to win FIVE of those 13 to flip it to 51-49 IF Jones goes down in Alabama, and only CO is even close to one that I would say is a pretty good chance to label a lock, and some are just downright so so hard, even if the best candidates change their minds and run. My true target is 6 flips, so we are at 52-48, and thus negate Manchin and Sinema, who vote with the Rethugs 55% of the time, far more than any other Democratic Senators. I SO hope Hickenlooper does not become the 3rd member of that posse.

I am going to give up on pulling the people who I think are strongest in ME, IA, (those two I can be happy with who we have) NC, (already decided, it is Cal Cunningham, who is strong anyway) TX, GA, (the regular one, as zero chance Stacey Abrams will run now) and KY. We just have to roll with who we have there now. AZ, CO and MT (yay!) now have our best (from the very beginning) possible, so that leaves:


AK (Begich run!)
TN (McGraw run!)
KS (Sebelius run!)
GA (Special election) (Yates run!)


IF all those 4 above change their minds and run, I can say, with at least 60% or more confidence, we will hit at least 6 flips, and maybe, IF Rump just gets crushed, win as many as 9 or 10.

COVID-19 is a super wild card, so it makes prognostication so so tricky.

[The Magistrate]

85. I Do Not Disagree, Ma'am

There is some talk of ending the filibuster if we take the Senate. I think this dangerous, but understand the urge behind it. It could be done to good effect on the prospects of progressive measures, but we would need to never lose the Senate again. It is also questionable whether McConnell will retain it, if he remains in power for the next session. The Senate is, when all is said and done, an extremely problematic institution in present conditions.

[BidenBacker]

81. Love that cartoon!

Looks like a bad quad check valve to me.

Hate when them things give out...very dangerous.

[Celerity]

82. me too!

[BidenBacker]

86. I'm serious, Cel...LOL

We had some quad check valves on this subsystem...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Orbital_Maneuvering_System#/media/File:OMS_Pod_removal.png

They start leaking and the entire propulsion system can go BOOM! and the whole shebang self-destructs. Kinda like Bernie's campaign did!

[emmaverybo]

18. Better they than Trump. Mine called today to offer numbers to call for telemedicine visits, mental

health line, arrange for pharmacy delivery, what to do if symptoms etc. etc. Does not help the MAll
to demonize profit makers, but would help to regulate.

Fact is we DON’T have M4All, but right now Bernie could be fighting against Obamacare gutting which is happening right now. Agree we need a universal healthcare system, but it will not be implemented in time, possibly not for years.

[Thekaspervote]

26. And this!!

[marble falls]

7. A fair request made in a beautiful way.

[sheshe2]

11. Hey, mf.

Thank you. Like all of us I am at my wits end.

[ucrdem]

69. +1

Shouldn't need to be said.

[BidenBacker]

10. I don't listen much if at all to Bernie any more

If he's saying M4A would be good to have so that everybody had coverage and have access to treatment then that's hard to disagree with. But if he's saying that M4A woulda stopped this pandemic in the first place then either he doesn't get it or he's demagoguing his ass off.

This growing plague was caused or at least greatly exacerbated by a complete lack of competent leadership in addition to a total failure of the system to detect and combat it that we had in place. Given that, it wouldn't have mattered one lick if we had had M4A or single payer or anything else.

How the Pandemic Will End

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/

M4A would not have provided test kits or respirators or PPE for health care workers...it would have only in theory promised everybody coverage for things that are simply not available. When I listen to Biden it sure seems to me that he is much more realistic and has a firmer grasp of what the underlying problems are, and therefore would be a much better POTUS to have in the White House to deal with such matters.

Sanders can't armwave away a virus any more than Trump can bullshit it gone.

[emmaverybo]

20. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[William769]

14. Good luck with that.

[sheshe2]

15. I know, William.

I am at my wits end. Two years now, 24/7 homecare. Just two of us now. We had to let hospice care go last week. To many people coming in and out and that would be dangerous to her.

[William769]

16. My prayers are with you and your family.

[sheshe2]

17. Love you.

Now, you, take care of you.

[Indykatie]

24. Bernie is Just Being Selfish By Using CV-19 to Push M4All

Coverage is not the immediate issue with the CV-19 crisis but the lack of access to supplies, equipment, testing and adequate hospital resources including ICU beds. Many of the people losing their jobs and their insurance will get to experience the benefits of Obamacare via free Medicaid or other programs in the states. Also, Bernie would have more support if he would talk about expanding or getting to universal coverage and not always insisting on his branded M4All. There are other paths to get to the same goal but Bernie refuses to consider that.

[sheshe2]

27. +1

[BidenBacker]

30. Nutshell

POTUS Biden: "I can't promise that you will be immediately covered under my modified ACA plan, but I am doing everything I can to greatly reduce the chances that you'll need a respirator in the first place."

POTUS Sanders: "There are no respirators available, but if we had one you'd get it for free!"

Hmm, tough call which one to choose. May have to flip a coin on this one. Heads, it's Biden. Tails and it's Joe.

[sheshe2]

37. +1000

[BidenBacker]

39. Man

I'm really racking up the DU points tonight. I better quit while I'm ahead and go watch some TV or play some video games.

Just bought one off Steam called "Whack a Virus" that looks like a real hoot. Can't wait to play it in 3D and zap 'em when they come flying at me. I have two weapons to use against them...Trump bullshit and Bernie armwaving. Rumor has it nobody's ever lived long enough to get to the 2nd level.

[mjvpi]

34. I agree that M4A doesn't help our current situation and arguing about t doesn't solve immediate...

....problems. M4A is about the financial wreckage that is facing people in our country after this is under control. Medical expenses and job lose due to illness are the leading cause of bankruptcies in the US. That statistic is based on a thriving economy. We are going to get a very clear picture of how well our current system works over the next six months to a year. A for profit system is based on collecting every penny, with bad debt being spread out over the rest of us.

[questionseverything]

45. actually if we had m4a, we would have more docs, nurses and hospitals since we would be treating the

70 million that don't now get treated

[sheshe2]

57. Really?

So we would have all the equipment needed with M4A? The expansions needed in all our hospitals. The equipment to meet the next pandemic? The staffing would increase 100 fold?

Do you know anyone in the profession? The elders are retiring and hospitals are not training any one to take their place, you are telling me all that would change under M4A? Where is all that money going to come from. I grew up with a Doctor and four nurses in my family. Two are long gone (Grandparents). Two retired. One 94 the other almost 70 and may get called back. One active and treating COVID-19 patients.

[questionseverything]

87. stands to reason if we had a system that treated an additional 70 million peops

we would have a bigger system,wouldn't we?

so since it seems to be all about money, tell me where the 2.2 trillion is coming from to fight c-19?

we will borrow it just like we had to borrow over a trillion last year in the regular budget, why is that ok but paying for healthcare for those with out is not ok?

the govt definitely needs to support more doc,pa,nurses etc so we do not have to rely on only the rich whose parents can afford 12 years of school...we need the best and brightest not the best connected

[sheshe2]

88. I am not trying to cause issues here or fight with you.

However I have an inside view from nurses I know well. The elders are retiring and the newbies are not trained to take on the rigors. The hospital is not equipping or training the ones that are due to take over. The units have always been understaffed and overworked. 12-14 hour shifts, no breaks and that was well before this virus.

So how is M4A going to give us this bigger system, a union that actually sees that these units are staffed and the absolute right to take a sit down break on a 14 hour shift.

The Shocking Truth about the Nursing Shortage in the United States

It’s no secret that nurses work hard. The layperson would shudder at the long shifts most medical staff experience, but nurses take it on without blinking. They continually administer medications, check in with families, advocate for their patients, and work with a medical team for the best results possible within a convoluted medical system. In stories from across the country, nurses share days where they don’t get a lunch break, have patients on gurneys in hallways, and are jumping from department to department to make up for staffing shortages. Bottom line, there is (or will be) a nursing shortage. How do we solve the problem?

The United States has a massive nursing shortage, and the problem is only set to grow. Due to an influx of patients into our health system, the retirement of baby boomers, and educational bottlenecks, nursing positions aren’t being filled fast enough to keep up with demand. While on the surface it may seem like a simple supply-and-demand equation, the actual cause and projected effect is much more complicated. WIthout intervention on multiple levels, the problem will not go away.


https://getreferralmd.com/2017/12/on-the-verge-of-a-nursing-shortage/

[questionseverything]

89. hopefully if we have a system based on peops needs instead of profits

we can fix some of those problems

the 12-14 hour shifts are terrible and a big part of why staffing is so difficult

I am certainly not saying it will be easy but I still believe here in America anything is possible

[sheshe2]

92. I hope you are right.

My niece is working at that hospital. On the coronavirus ward. I am terrified for her.

Thank you for your kind measured response, questionseverything.

[questionseverything]

94. your neice is a hero, as are the other docs and nurses

let her know many of us are praying for her and her co workers and working hard to get the "nut" out of the Whitehouse so she has the proper back up a thinking democratic President will give her

ty for the good conversation!

[IluvPitties]

40. K&R! Bravo!

[betsuni]

41. He has said that as president he'll have rallies and the people will force Republicans to do

their jobs, and now he thinks it has happened, that Republicans have done the stimulus checks because "millions of people are now demanding that we have a government that works for all."

This will only encourage him. He thinks the revolution is happening.

[sheshe2]

54. He has been rallying/ campaigning for 5 years now.

So is he saying that if elected he will rally for another 4 years? Rally's do not a law make, hard work does.

[betsuni]

58. I always think of a reporter's description of her first interview with him.

Before he ran for president. She's jotting down his usual stump speech: 1 percent, millionaires and billionaires, corrupt system, political revolution. Asks him how he's going to break up the big banks, and the more she presses him for details the brusquer and more irritated he gets, always going back to how the richer are getting richer, etc. She decides what she had heard about him was true: he didn't know anything.

[sheshe2]

59. You nailed it.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

[NewEnglandAutumn]

43. the fact he is undermining

the efforts to fight covid in highly left leaning parts of the country and where there are leaders who he views as 'enemies' is proof this IS political

[littlemissmartypants]

48. We have a psychopath in the WH. He wants people to die.

Someone needs to get a clue and call it what it is. Better yet start to ignore him, which stops floating his boat, and get serious about a workaround for this madness.

[jorgevlorgan]

52. We already have more cases than Italy, and are likely to have exponentially more deaths.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/16/21173766/coronavirus-covid-19-us-cases-health-care-system

[Kali]

60. Isn't complaining about people talking about it doing exactly the same?

[sheshe2]

61. Welp, Kali.

Kali
60. Isn't complaining about people talking about it doing exactly the same?

Are you referring to me? Fact is I am not a politician holding office. I have not held any office for 30 years, though held my first job at 14 years of age. I am also not one of the two men vying for the highest office in the land. Voters have every right to question how they will handle a crisis and vote accordingly.

[Kali]

67. I guess I'm referring to you

if you wrote the subject line

I beg you to stop politicizing this, COVID-19 as all about M4A.

isn't that aimed at DUers?

not sure what the rest of your reply means.

[ucrdem]

68. No.

Now you know!

[sheshe2]

70. Lol

Thanks, urc. I was to tired to respond.

The Circle Game~

[ucrdem]

93. Always loved that song

thanks sheshe!

[kcr]

74. Sorry. It isn't "politicizing it" to point out how people without insurance

will suffer more in a time like this. Can't agree.

[sheshe2]

79. Did you see the OP the other day?

Thread title basically said that a 17 year old died from the Coronavirus because he didn't have insurance that he was turned away and if we had M4A he would have lived.

The title was misleading and false. M4A was not even mentioned in the article. If you followed all the links it shows he went to a walk in clinic that is woefully unable to perform critical care. The treat bumps and cuts not infectious diseases which his father had already tested positive for. He was told to go to the ER and it is a fact that the ER never turns anyone away.

You should read the whole Op, it was 100% politicizing M4A as a cure.

[kcr]

95. I didn't read that thread, but it doesn't matter.

This pandemic will change the US. We will not come out of this looking the same way we did. We will either come out of this a better country with stronger social safety nets the way we did after the Great Depression, or it will push us in the other direction and we'll get more rigid and authoritarian. You can decide which way you want to go and fight against the tide. It's up to you, of course.

[BidenBacker]

75. Pilot Putinpuppet

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your Captain Chaos speaking. I hope that you enjoyed our takeoff and just wanted to inform you that we just passed the Pearl Harbor level of 2403' as we climb toward our coronavirus cruising altitude, and we'll very shortly also be passing the 9/11 mark at 2996'.

Sit back and relax, folks...our friendly flight attendants will be around soon to serve up some delicious hot hoax hamburgers and refreshing cold bullshit beverages. On behalf of Copilot Pence and our entire flight crew, I'd like to welcome you all aboard and thank you for flying Trump Airlines!"

[sheshe2]

90. ...

And this is only the beginning.

[SheltieLover]

76. Kick

[sheshe2]

91. Thank you.

sigh~