The Progressive Wing

Fire away..

Biden Would Rather Build an Entirely New Welfare State Than Touch the Hospitals
Health care improvements are minor and largely neglected in Biden’s new plan because he doesn’t want to arouse the ire of health care lobbyists.

If some version of Biden’s American Family Plan becomes law, it would be a truly transformative moment. By providing child care assistance, universal pre-K, paid family leave, and much more, combined with the elder care supports in the previous American Jobs Plan, Democrats would effectively be creating the bones of an entirely new welfare state, one that is common in most of the industrialized world, paid for by taxes on the rich. It would provide a broad range of help to millions to families, particularly around the care and support they need to survive and thrive.
But one thing is notably absent, and that is health care.
In the White House fact sheet, the Biden team talks about health care campaign promises —like reducing prescription drug prices, creating a public health insurance option, and lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60—but none of them are actually in the plan. While Biden talked at length about the need to lower prescription drug prices in his address before Congress, he made clear that this would be some future goal “in addition” to the Families Plan, not part of it.
The single major health care provision included in the Families Plan is a permanent increase in Affordable Care Act insurance exchange subsidies, at a cost of $200 billion over 10 years. While this provision will make health insurance more affordable for 13 million Americans, it does so in the least cost-effective way possible, and does little to address health care issues for the other 315 million Americans.
The relative absence of health care provisions from the plan is not due to a lack of public desire. For the past few years, health care costs constantly rank among the top issues for voters. Democrats led with health care and won back the House in 2018. And inter-party debates over health care policy dominated the 2020 primary. Importantly, Gallup also found that building on the ACA was one of the least popular reforms under discussion. Reducing drug prices and lowering the Medicare age both garner more popular support.
One can only conclude that Biden doesn’t want to take on the power of the hospitals, drug companies, and doctors right now.
The lack of health care improvements is also not due to an absence of interest from within the Democratic caucus. A broad cross-section of both progressive and moderate House members are pushing for lowering the age of Medicare and improving its coverage. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been pushing hard to include her own provision, negotiated last year among all factions of the House Democratic caucus, to lower drug prices for most Americans.
Neglecting health care also isn’t about deficit concerns. Many of Biden’s campaign promises on health care are huge cost savers for the federal government, which could help pay for the overall plan. Adding a public option only to the insurance exchanges would likely save enough money to more than pay for Biden’s $200 billion improvement to exchange subsidies, and would generate hundreds of billions more in new revenue if employers were allowed to buy in. The Congressional Budget Office found the Democrats’ drug price negotiation bill from last session, HR 3, would save $456 billion, more than enough to cover a broad range of improvements to Medicare.
One can only conclude that Biden doesn’t want to take on the power of the hospitals, drug companies, and doctors right now. The one major health care provision in Biden’s proposal is among the least popular, with the narrowest set of beneficiaries. The sole thing that makes it stand out is that the health care industry loves it. The subsidies go directly to private health insurance companies, so that more people can afford care at hospitals and other providers, and prescription drugs. To the industry, it is purely more money and customers for them with no downside.
By contrast, reducing drug prices, establishing a public option, or allowing people over 60 to join Medicare would all force different health care companies to stop overcharging patents. Employer-based insurance pays an incredible 1.6 to 2.5 times more than Medicare for the same care; no provider wants to see their patients shift from more expensive coverage to less expensive. Insurance companies don’t want to lose the patients. And drug companies don’t want to lose the ability to charge whatever they want for their products.
It is worth noting that Biden didn’t even include federalizing Medicaid expansion in hold out Republicans states. Such a move would be a net winner for most health care providers. While it would significantly increase coverage and reduce the amount of uncompensated care hospitals face, it would move a small number of subsidized private insurance customers making just above the poverty line to Medicaid, which pays lower rates.
With his decades of political experience, Biden seems to have concluded that building multiple new transformative social programs while taxing rich people and corporations is a significantly easier political lift than telling hospitals and drug makers they should make slightly less money so regular people aren’t crushed by the cost of care. Given the history of health care reform efforts in this country, it is tough to argue that Biden’s assessment of hospitals and pharmaceutical companies’ political power is off. (The cynic would add that one of the tight inner circle of Biden aides, Steve Ricchetti, is a former health care lobbyist, and his brother is a lobbyist who has been engaging the White House on behalf of health care companies.)
By excluding every health care provision which could possibly upset anyone in the health care industry, Biden has likely improved the chances of some version of his plan passing by 30 percent but also decreased the chances of any other major health care reform passing in the next two years by 90 percent. It protects the power of health care lobbyists from infecting the significant investments in infrastructure, broadband, climate, education, and child development in the overall package, but it lessens the possibility of making any broad improvements on health care. Democrats are only likely to pass one or two major bills on partisan lines before the 2022 midterms, and if a health care provision isn’t included in this coming bill it is hard to see how it makes it into another.
The only silver lining for health care activists is that making the enhanced ACA subsidies permanent will make some state-based reforms less challenging. And state-based reforms might be the only option left.

pb4, out of curiosity, what does “d” signify?

deleted for the lazy. or the brief. :O)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/04/29/democrats-congress-biden-medicare/

Good interview with Colbert.

Biden can propose legislation, but it’s Congress that actually writes and passes it.

Congressional Democrats are planning to pursue a massive expansion of Medicare as part of President Biden’s new $1.8 trillion economic relief package, defying the White House after it opted against including a major health overhaul as part of its plan.
The early pledges from some party lawmakers, led by prominent members of its liberal wing, threaten to create even more political tension around a package that is already facing no shortage of it. The expansion push comes as Biden on Wednesday stressed in his first address to Congress that he is still committed to making health care more affordable.
Democrats specifically aim to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to either 55 or 60, expand the range of health services the entitlement covers and grant the government new powers to negotiate prescription drug prices. Party lawmakers say their approach could offer new, improved or cheaper coverage to millions of older Americans nationwide.
Roughly 100 House and Senate Democrats led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) publicly had encouraged Biden in recent days to include the overhaul as part of his latest package, known as the “American Families Plan,” which proposes major investments in the country’s safety net programs. Yet Biden opted only to propose additional subsidies for Americans who purchase their health insurance, disappointing many lawmakers who still otherwise support the White House’s blueprint.
Sanders said Wednesday he would “absolutely” pursue a Medicare expansion as lawmakers begin to translate Biden’s economic vision into legislation. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chairman of the tax-focused Finance Committee, similarly pledged that he would “look at every possible vehicle, and that’s starting today,” to lower drug costs.
And Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), the Democrats’ vote-counter in the chamber, said he planned to push for Medicare reforms he saw as a “game changer.” Durbin said he didn’t know why the White House ultimately chose to exclude the policies, but he predicted tough work ahead for Democratic leaders in crafting a legislative package that has sufficient support.
“I don’t presume that we have a majority going in,” Durbin said. “I think we have to listen carefully to all the members and particularly those who have some problems, trying to resolve [them].”
The early efforts reflect a broader belief among congressional Democrats that they must more aggressively seize on their narrow but powerful majorities to push policies that long have been stalled in Washington — no matter their cost. Many party lawmakers have pushed Biden at times to spend sky-high sums, sometimes even more than the president himself says he supports, arguing that they have a political mandate to pursue vast economic change.
But health-care revisions are likely to present a significant challenge, threatening to open rifts not just between the two parties but within the Democratic caucus itself. In an early sign of trouble, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) told The Washington Post on Wednesday that he opposes expanding Medicare eligibility even as he supports broader adjustments to the Affordable Care Act.
“No, I’m not for it, period,” Manchin said when asked about efforts to expand the health-care entitlement.

In the meantime, some Democrats pledged to address both priorities in tandem. Sanders, who had lobbied Biden before the release of his plan, said lawmakers are working “very hard” to ensure the inclusion of a Medicare expansion. His comment came just hours after he unveiled a government study that showed Americans pay between two and four times more for prescription drugs than citizens of other countries.
Citing the new data, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, also pledged to use his powerful gavel to turn to the issue in the coming weeks — stressing that tackling drug costs remains “one of my top priorities as we work to pass the American Families Plan.”
Jayapal, the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Democrats across the Capitol are likely to intensify their political push in the coming weeks out of a belief that the president’s families plan is the most efficient route to improve Medicare — given the shrinking congressional calendar and the growing need for an overhaul.
“If we have to spend all the way through August working on the jobs and families plan[s], I don’t think we have the time,” Jayapal said about calls to tackle Medicare independently. “Everything gets harder heading into the midterms.”

Durbin: ““I don’t presume that we have a majority going in,” Durbin said. “I think we have to listen carefully to all the members and particularly those who have some problems, trying to resolve [them].”

Read: we are not going in with a high ask. we’re going in already saying how meek we are and how we really really know we need the support of everyone’s donors.

As Biden Tells Congress to Pass Pro-Democracy Bills ‘Right Away,’ Progressives Say: The Filibuster Must Go

In his first nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night, President Joe Biden called on lawmakers to urgently pass voting rights legislation, labor reform, a $15 federal minimum wage, and other popular bills that have been stymied by a Senate rule not mentioned in the president’s speech: the legislative filibuster.
“If we are to truly restore the soul of America—we need to protect the sacred right to vote,” Biden said, condemning Republican attacks on the franchise at the state level across the country, from Georgia to Florida to Arizona.
“If we have any hope of getting it done, we need to first end the filibuster. We cannot let a minority of senators representing an even smaller minority of the population stand in the way of protecting our democracy.”
—Sean Eldridge, Stand Up America
“Congress should pass H.R. 1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and send them to my desk right away,” the president continued. “The country supports it. Congress should act.”
H.R. 1, also known as the For the People Act, passed the House of Representatives in early March but has since seen no movement in the Senate due to the opposition of a single Democratic senator—Joe Manchin of West Virginia—and the legislative filibuster. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which looks to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has yet to receive a House vote in the current session.
In its current form, the filibuster effectively requires that most Senate bills receive 60 votes to pass, giving the minority party significant power to thwart legislation with virtually no effort—aside from sending an email.
Both Biden and Manchin—an ardent filibuster apologist—have suggested they would support reviving the talking filibuster, but the Senate has yet to take any concrete steps toward that or any other reform of the rule.
“President Biden laid out a bold, ambitious agenda during his speech tonight—including committing to sign into law legislation that would protect our freedom to vote and root out corruption in our politics,” Sean Eldridge, president of progressive advocacy group Stand Up America, said in a statement. “And he’s right—Congress needs to pass both the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.”
“But if we have any hope of getting it done, we need to first end the filibuster,” Eldridge added. “We cannot let a minority of senators representing an even smaller minority of the population stand in the way of protecting our democracy.”
Progressive activist Kai Newkirk echoed Eldridge, writing on Twitter that if the president is “committed to his agenda, he must lead the party to end minority rule.”
“Biden called on Congress to pass a lot of great stuff tonight,” Newkirk noted, pointing to the $15 federal minimum wage, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and immigration reform. “But there’s no way almost any of it gets to his desk unless we end the filibuster.”
Abolishing or weakening the filibuster requires a simple-majority vote, meaning Senate Democrats would need the support of their entire caucus plus a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. At least two Democratic senators, Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), have thus far said they are unwilling to eliminate the 60-vote rule.
With the filibuster intact, congressional Democrats used a procedural workaround called budget reconciliation—which is not subject to the filibuster—to pass coronavirus relief last month, and they will likely have to push Biden’s infrastructure proposal and newly unveiled American Families Plan through the same process.
“We have to prove democracy still works,” Biden said during his address. “That our government still works—and can deliver for the people.”
But restrictive Senate rules would bar Democrats from passing H.R. 1, immigration reform, gun safety legislation, and other top priorities through reconciliation, which requires all provisions to have a direct budgetary impact. That leaves Democrats with a choice: either convince a sufficient number of Republican senators to support those priorities—a virtual impossibility, given the GOP’s public positions—or abolish the filibuster.
In an interview on MSNBC just ahead of Biden’s address, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he’s willing to give Manchin and other conservatives in the Democratic caucus a chance to gain some Republican backing for H.R. 1, which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has bashed as a “socialist” proposal and a “partisan power grab.”
If Republicans refuse to support the voting rights expansion, Schumer said, “we will have to put our heads together and figure out a way to get it done.”
“I’ve said before, and I’ve said this to all of my colleagues, failure is not an option,” Schumer continued. “Voting is too sacred, and everything will be on the table to get it done.”
Jana Morgan, director of the Declaration for American Democracy, said in a statement following Biden’s speech that “during this unprecedented time, as hundreds of bills have been introduced at the state level to erect blatant barriers to block the votes of Black and brown Americans, passing this sweeping package of reforms simply can’t wait.”
“Now it is time for the Senate to double down on its efforts to realize the true promise of democracy—a government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” Morgan added.

Biden called on Congress to pass a lot of great stuff tonight. $15, PRO Act, universal pre-K, citizenship, etc etc. But there’s no way almost any of it gets to his desk unless we end the filibuster. If he's committed to his agenda, he must lead the Party to end minority rule.
— Kai Newkirk (@kai_newkirk) April 29, 2021

Want a higher minimum wage?
Abolish the filibuster.
Want to protect voting rights?
Abolish the filibuster.
Want to address the climate crisis?
Abolish the filibuster.
Want to make D.C. a state?
Abolish the filibuster.
Want better gun laws?
Abolish the filibuster.
— Stand Up America (@StandUpAmerica) April 29, 2021

you know me. i wish people would also push for amending it, as a compromise. from where i sit, Manchin and Sinema ain’t budging.

ICYMI

LIVE NOW: Rep. @JamaalBowmanNY delivers a video op-ed on behalf of the @WorkingFamilies Party in response to Pres. Biden's address. He lays out a progressive vision to address racial injustice, police violence, workers rights, and more https://t.co/D8BsDIAcXd
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 29, 2021

Great response by Bowman. Outshined the POTUS, actually.

https://13wham.com/news/connect-to-congress/bowman-to-give-progressive-response-to-bidens-joint-address

Some highlights from the speech

Bowman ripped into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic by former President Donald Trump and his administration and praised the changes Biden has brought since moving into office.
“We now have a president and a White House capable of leading our nation out of the pandemic,” Bowman said. “Shots are going into arms, COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths are all down nationwide, and we are investing historic levels of stimulus to ensure people have more money in their pockets.”
The New York congressman praised Biden’s economic and education proposals but said the federal government must continue to do more.
“We need to rebuild our nation with a new foundation,” Bowman said. “A foundation rooted in love and care and equality. Where justice is truly real for all of us, regardless of race, class, gender, orientation or religion. I fully believe we can. And the moment is now, because this moment is historic.”
Noting the lack of Republican support any Democratic initiative has received in Congress during Biden’s first 100 days in office, Bowman stressed the urgency the Democratic Party should act with now that it holds slim majorities in the House and Senate.
“Last month, not a single elected Republican voted to send relief checks to struggling Americans in the middle of a pandemic, so it’s on us as Democrats and progressives, to meet the gravity of the moment, and history will judge our actions to a single mom in the Bronx, working two jobs to make ends meet,” he said.
Bowman directly endorsed the progressive climate policy of the Green New Deal and said it can be used to create jobs.
“It is entirely possible to meet the climate crisis with a big visionary investment in jobs, jobs that begin in our most neglected and redlined communities,” he said. “We must build a civilian climate corpse that employs millions of Americans to do good work of transforming our energy system and our society, we can create jobs and solve the climate crisis at the same time.”

Progressives have continued the push for higher wages and even urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to overrule the parliamentarian at the time of her decision.
“We also badly need a $15 minimum wage, not phased in in 10 years from now, but today, and if we need to get rid of the filibuster to do that, that’s absolutely what we must do if this pandemic has shown us anything, is that the American worker is the backbone of our country,” Bowman said.
Bowman finished his remarks pushing for racial equality, a topic that has become more prevalent since former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd last year.
While he did call for an end to qualified immunity for police, Bowman said it’s about more than that.
“It’s not just police, it’s housing discrimination, and wage death, and black maternal mortality, its environmental injustice, and all of the ways racism is built into the very fabric of America,” he said. “More than anything, America needs a process of truth and collective healing. We have to be honest with ourselves about the ugliness of our history, and the discrimination that persists. Only then will we meet the ideals of our democracy and get one step closer to realizing the American experiment.”

https://www.newsweek.com/kevin-mccarthy-told-bernie-sanders-that-senator-more-conservative-joe-biden-1587317

🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said that after Democratic President Joe Biden’s congressional address, McCarthy remarked to Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders that Sanders is “more conservative” than Biden.
Sanders is known as one of the most progressive Senators on the Democratic caucus’ left wing.
“There was Bernie Sanders,” McCarthy told Sean Hannity on the Wednesday night installment of the Fox News host program. “And I asked the senator, ‘Did you ever think you would be more conservative than the president?'”
When Hannity asked McCarthy about Sanders’ reaction, McCarthy responded, “He looked at me and laughed. But he understood what I was saying to him.”
McCarthy then said that Biden’s speech showed “just how far” the Democrats have come. “They demonize work so Americans will become dependent on government,” McCarthy said.
Despite McCarthy’s comparison, Sanders differed substantially from Biden in the policy proposals that each one presented when they ran as Democratic presidential candidates.
Sanders favored a “Medicare for All” healthcare plan that would cover citizens through the federal government rather than private insurers. However, Biden promoted a more modest expansion of the 2009 Affordable Care Act.
Sanders wanted to cancel all $1.4 trillion of U.S. student loan debts. Biden has only suggested canceling $10,000 of individual student loan debt.
Sanders has also remained a full-throated supporter of the Green New Deal (GND). The GND is a proposed package of laws focused on creating new jobs to meet all the nation’s energy needs and virtually eliminate U.S. greenhouse gas pollution by 2030.

Obama also substantially increased taxes in 2013, after which we … gained 10 million more jobs 2/ pic.twitter.com/vkdh2Vwf10
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 29, 2021

But it just adds to the sense that Rs have no idea about or interest in policy. It's all mumbles about "big government job-killing socialist", then on to woke cancel culture coming for your hamburger 4/
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 29, 2021

Some other notes from that rebuttal

Huh. https://t.co/5jx0QwsLkU
— Helen Kennedy 🌻 (@HelenKennedy) April 29, 2021

Not sure I'd be using the words "fleeing" and "Texas" in the same sentence, Senator Cancun https://t.co/hgRsrN11vQ
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) April 28, 2021

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/u-s-economy-grew-6-4-percent-annual-rate-first-n1265835

Great Depression indeed

The reopening economy surged in President Joe Biden’s first 100 days, with U.S. gross domestic product hitting 6.4 percent, the best quarterly reading since 2003.
U.S gross domestic product, or GDP, a measure of the total amount of goods and services produced, hit 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to advance estimates released Thursday from the Commerce Department.
Widespread vaccinations, warmer temperatures and stimulus checks powered the economy to grow by 1.6 percent in the first three months of 2021.
Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of economic growth, increased by 10.7 percent in the first quarter. Spending on services saw a small recovery, expanding by 4.6 percent. In April, consumer confidence hit a 14-month high.

“We don’t ask companies that produce weapons to start teaching us about world peace.”
Youth climate activists have written an open letter to the Science Museum demanding it drop Shell sponsorship of its new ‘Our Future Planet’ exhibition. #EmergencyOnPlanetEarth pic.twitter.com/QSeXNHd2bc
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) April 26, 2021

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/senator-who-benefited-from-secret-money-suggests-fec-failure-to-enforce-the-law-is-good/

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), one of the senior Republicans on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee that will mark up legislation next month that aims to overhaul America’s campaign finance, voting, and government ethics systems, has made it clear he is not a fan of the effort. It’s probably no coincidence that Shelby himself, whose last re-election campaign was boosted by hundreds of thousands in undisclosed money, has benefited from loopholes in the law that the legislation seeks to close.
In comments to the New York Times, Shelby took aim at the bill’s proposed changes to the regularly gridlocked Federal Election Commission, calling it a “mistake” that would trigger further partisan warfare. But Shelby didn’t just attack what he believes the consequences would be of the For The People Act’s reforms to the FEC, which includes lowering the number of commissioners from six to five in order to prevent tie votes. He defended the status quo, suggesting it might actually be a good thing that the commission frequently is unable to agree on the enforcement of campaign finance rules. “Maybe they don’t need to,” Shelby said. “Most things are disclosed, and you all are sure watching,” referring to news outlets like the New York Times
Except, of course, there’s a whole lot that isn’t disclosed. As OpenSecrets reported last month, more than $1 billion in dark money — spending aimed at influencing political outcomes where the true source of the funds is kept secret — was spent on the federal level during the 2020 election. As CREW, which has regularly sued the FEC in order to spur action against dark money groups, knows all too well, questions about whether to investigate anonymous political spending represent one of the primary areas where the FEC regularly deadlocks.
Shelby should know full well that large sums of campaign funds go undisclosed. When he was last re-elected in 2016 he benefited from hundreds of thousands spent by nonprofit organizations that are not required to disclose who is funding them. The lack of disclosure was noted at the time, with the headline on HuffPo’s story about the pro-Shelby dark money declaring, “No One Knows Who’s Behind This Senator’s Re-Election Campaign.”

Union's evidence in Amazon vote 'could be grounds for overturning election', U.S. Labor Board says https://t.co/SF4xxXYP2S
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) April 29, 2021

https://www.axios.com/busines-leaders-ceos-health-care-cost-regulations-28760f01-7edd-4aac-ad5d-7284f1c126f2.html

This is important. It’s becoming the health care and insurance industries against everybody else.

Corporate leaders are warming up to the idea of government-led efforts to control health care costs — a major shift for the historically conservative, anti-regulation business world.
Why it matters: Businesses’ health care costs continue to climb, year after year. If they’re actually ready to turn to the government for help, the health care industry will have a much harder time fending off new regulations.
Details: KFF, along with the Purchaser Business Group on Health and supported by the West Health Institute, surveyed corporate leaders from 300 private employees, all with at least 5,000 workers. The survey included 40 CEOs.
87% of the corporate officers we surveyed said they believe the cost of health benefits will become unsustainable over the next 5-10 years, and
85% said the government needs to take on a bigger role in controlling costs and providing coverage.
78% expressed some level of support for government action on hospital prices, in areas where there is limited competition. And perhaps more significantly, coming from what has always been an anti-regulatory crowd, less than 5% opposed such regulations.
The numbers were similar for government limits on drug prices.
65% expressed some level of support for a public insurance option for their workers, and a large majority also supported lowering the age for Medicare eligibility.

The Hawaii Legislature has passed automatic voter registration. If signed into law, it goes into effect July 1.https://t.co/7Ck9uv6g4s
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 29, 2021

Dive In Van Gogh's Magic At Atelier Des Lumières – Paris – pic.twitter.com/E6WaoJsvXX
— Gabriele Corno (@Gabriele_Corno) April 29, 2021

my son and dil went to this for her birthday. 🤩

We are going to see that in August

Six or so years ago we saw a similar show in France in an abandoned limestone underground mine in Les Baux de Provence near Arles (Les Carrieres des Lumieres). We actually saw Gustav Klimt and Vienna but here’s their Van Gogh show. Amazing venue