Bernie Sanders is wasting no time telling Democrats what to do with their new congressional majority.
At the top of his list: pass Medicare for All.
The Vermont socialist used a round of Sunday interviews to argue that Democrats cannot spend the next two years consumed by investigations of President Trump. He wants them to use their control of Congress to make a sweeping push for government-run health care—and he says he believes the votes will be there.
Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash whether Democrats would have enough support to pass Medicare for All, Sanders replied, “I think we will.” He pointed to more than 100 House Democrats who have supported the proposal and said the party’s victories created an obligation to be bold.
During the exchange on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sanders said he believes the support will materialize:
This is no longer just a campaign slogan from the Democratic fringe.
Sanders is presenting Medicare for All as a governing test for the new Congress.
In his telling, voters did not give Democrats the House and Senate merely to hold hearings. They gave the party power because families are struggling with medical bills, insurance premiums and a system he calls broken and wildly expensive.
CNN published video of Sanders saying the United States should guarantee health care to every man, woman and child as a human right. He described Medicare for All as something Democrats “must do.”
Sanders carried the same message to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he said Americans are demanding real change rather than minor adjustments.
That framing is politically important. Democrats won on public anger over costs, but they now have to decide whether that frustration justifies the most dramatic federal takeover of health insurance in modern American history.
Medicare for All would go far beyond expanding the existing program for seniors. Sanders’ long-standing plan would move nearly every American into a national system and sharply reduce the role of private insurance.
Supporters argue that eliminating premiums, deductibles and many out-of-pocket costs would give families predictable access to care. Critics warn that the proposal would require enormous federal spending, higher taxes, major disruption to employer coverage and government control over a system that represents nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy.
Those tradeoffs were not resolved by Tuesday’s election.
Sanders’ confidence also runs into hard arithmetic.
Democrats are set to hold both chambers when the new Congress begins, but a majority is not the same thing as a guaranteed path to enactment.
More than 100 House supporters would still be well short of the 218 votes normally required to pass legislation. In the Senate, Democrats are expected to hold at least 54 seats—enough to control the floor, but not enough to defeat a filibuster under the chamber’s current rules.
And even if Democratic leaders found a procedural route through Congress, President Trump would be waiting with the veto pen.
Sanders did not explain Sunday how he would overcome all three barriers. His statement was a declaration of political intent, not proof that a bill is ready for the president’s desk.
That distinction matters: “I think we will” is a prediction, not a whip count.
Still, Democrats should be taken seriously when they tell the country what they want to do with power. Sanders has spent years pulling his party toward a larger federal role in health care, and the party’s newest Senate members include candidates who ran openly on Medicare for All.
The pressure on Democratic leaders will be real, even if the votes are not yet locked down.
Sanders also warned his party against allowing opposition to President Trump to consume its agenda:
That message creates an unusual fault line inside the new majority. Some Democrats are promising aggressive investigations, subpoenas and possible impeachment fights.
Sanders is telling them that voters will judge the party on whether daily life becomes more affordable.
He is right about one thing: governing will expose choices that campaign rhetoric could avoid.
Democrats will have to decide whether Medicare for All receives a real vote, becomes a negotiating position, or quietly returns to the shelf once its price and political consequences come into view.
Sanders has now planted his flag. He says the policy is a must, the public mandate is clear and the votes are coming.
The new Democratic Congress will soon have to prove whether that was a plan—or just another promise.
The post Bernie Sanders Says Democrats Must Pass Medicare For All — And Claims The Votes Are Coming appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.
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[H/T 100PercentFedUp]
