Saint Paul, Minn. –U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) announced today that he is leading a progressive effort to shut down the federal government until a single payer health insurance system replaces the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed in 2010, further complicating the federal budget impasse.
“The private insurance exchanges used in the ACA were never what progressives wanted, so ‘we the people’ have decided to make a principled stand against them,” said Ellison, Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The Caucus has long advocated for a single payer system in which the government would fund and operate a single insurance pool for all Americans, similar to how Medicare has long been structured for older Americans.
Rep. Ellison’s rhetoric was eerily similar to that of his fellow House Republicans, who have pushed for replacing the Affordable Care Act with the status quo system. Under the current system, 48 million Americans are uninsured and health costs are among the highest in the industrialized world.
Rep. Ellison said his caucus is pushing legislation authored by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to essentially build on and expand the federal Medicare program. Under the bill, all Americans would be guaranteed access to health care regardless of an ability to pay or pre-existing health conditions.
Just as Tea Party-backed House conservatives advocated in 2009 for preserving the status quo private health insurance system, House progressives pushed for a single payer approach in 2009. But neither side was able to muster sufficient votes to enact their preferred policy.
Still Ellison points to an Associated Press poll finding that 65% of Americans agree that “the United States should adopt a universal health insurance program in which everyone is covered under a program like Medicare that is run by the government and financed by taxpayers.” Ellison also noted an NPR poll shows that 93 percent of Americans believe that the number of uninsured under the status quo system that the Republicans are fighting to preserve is a “serious problem.”
“When House Republicans finally agree to open up the government again, we’re going to shut it down if they don’t support our single payer approach,” Ellison said. “House Republicans shut down the government to maintain a status quo insurance system that almost all Americans believe is a serious problem, so progressives can damn sure shut it down over something that two-thirds of Americans support.”
Rep. Ellison said he has offered to compromise with Republicans by offering to delay the implementation of the single payer system by a year. Ellison has also offered to allow private insurers to sell Medigap-like supplemental health insurance plans. However, Ellison says Republicans are refusing to even discuss compromise.
In a related development, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced that he would move to re-shut down the federal government if House Republican lawmakers didn’t pass his legislation to require background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online. A Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that 86% of Americans support such background checks. Despite this overwhelming public support, Manchin’s bill was rejected by House Republicans in April 2013. Manchin also demanded a new credenza for his office.
NOTE: If it is not obvious to you, THIS IS SATIRE. IT IS NOT A TRUE STORY. Representatives Ellison, Conyers, and Manchin are much too responsible to shutdown the government when they don’t get their way in the democratic process.
This post was featured in Politics in Minnesota’s Best of the Blogs and in MinnPost’s Blog Cabin.
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– Loveland