This is a very sensible position, per the Washington Post:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that single-payer health insurance is not a litmus test for Democrats and that she is focused on protecting health-care coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) declined to endorse “Medicare for All” legislation backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and instead called on Democrats to release a wide range of proposals to fix and improve President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law. Her position on health care is the latest evidence that Democrats in the House are willing to ignore pressure from liberal factions aiming to drive the party further to the left.
“I don’t think it’s a litmus test,” Pelosi said in an interview. “What we want is to have as many people as possible, everybody, covered, and I think that’s something that we all embrace.”
Pelosi said that she would like a variety of health-care ideas to be vetted and analyzed by budget scorekeepers but that she thinks none of them will succeed while the ACA is under attack from Republicans.
“Right now I’m protecting the Affordable Care Act,” Pelosi said. “None of these things, whether it’s Bernie’s or others, can really prevail unless we protect the Affordable Care Act.”…
“Fortunately, I’m a progressive from San Francisco. I’m a liberal, and I have my own credibility on these subjects,” Pelosi said. “While we all share our values and priorities and the rest, I think Chuck [Schumer] and I are both strong Democrats.”
Both Democratic leaders have said they think it is their job to work with Trump where possible to pass legislation that meets the values of the party. Pelosi said it is her job to get bills passed.
“You can never satisfy everybody,” Pelosi said. “We don’t have a responsibility to get nothing done.”…
I suspect there’s more than a few Democrats going to tell their angrier leftist voters (all 27% of them) that they would totally vote Single Payer for All Starting Yesterday, were it not for their mean legislative mommy who does not understand what The People Want. And that’s part of Pelosi’s job — being the mean mommy who won’t allow anyone to jump off bridges or go to the bitchin’ rave just because it’s a school night.
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Apart from being grateful for legislators who see the wisdom in fighting for what’s possible instead of losing for what’s “best”, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
<del>Monday</del>Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Goddess Bless Nancy PelosiPost + Comments (261)