Daily Yopp! 6.11.17 Defend Universal Health Care

While we've been glued to our TVs watching Rachel Maddow connect the dots with regards to the Russia-Trump scandal, Senator Mitch McConnell has been quietly working in the shadows and pushing the Senate's version of the AHCA through.

According to the LA Times, "On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., invoked Senate Rule 14, which allows a bill to bypass committee consideration and be brought to the floor for a vote. That means no hearings and no debate, and improves the prospect of a vote before the Senate leaves Washington for its August recess."

No one really knows how the parties get to yes or the pieces that are sacrificed in every game of chess. But this is exactly what is going on while we are distracted by the Comey hearings. We cannot let this sneak by.

Here's your Yopp!

Back to the phones to call your MoCs:

• Call your Senators and demand that they block the AHCA.
• Call your Representative and demand that they vote NO on and revisions of the AHCA that come to the House for approval.

But that likely won't be enough. We also need to approach this from a state level. There are a few things brewing in this arena, notably bills going through the California and New York legislatures that would establish single-payer health care plans at the state level as well as a handful of interstate compacts designed to preserve aspects of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare):

The Atlantic: How Treaties Between States Could Keep Obamacare Alive

San Jose Mercury News: California Senate Passes Single-Payer Health Care Plan

Think Progress: New York lawmakers are voting to create a state-level single-payer system

There's a fair bit of push back and the usual claims that single-payer would be too costly. I can't claim to be an expert in this area, but at least I already know that health care is complicated. Here's a couple of articles discussing the issue:

Newsweek: Why Single-Payer Health Care Won't Work

World Net Daily: US Will Have Single-Payer Health Care Within Seven Years

So your second Yopp! is to call your state representatives and demand that they support some form of single-payer health care at the state level. Californians represent 12% of the US population and New Yorkers represent 6%. Given what is happening in DC, it's critical that the states begin to take the lead on critical issues like health care. Those of us who live in blue states that are larger should definitely push our state governments to do what the federal government refuses to do right now. Health care is a good start.