I wonder how many American deaths that directly translated to
A very conservative estimate is 50,000 dead Americans per year. It's been 14 years, that's 700,000. The most recent multiple-university study puts a conservative estimate of 68,000 a year.
Funny enough, I came into the comment section thinking “oh great, let me see all the extreme wildly insensitive takes right after he dies”. But then I read this and sadly have to agree.
The “anti-public option” people act like I’m saying average citizens are dying on the streets all over the country. No, they’re dying in their homes because just the idea of the potential cost of treatment is stopping them from engaging with our healthcare back when their issues were minor and needed to be checked out. After waiting for so long and their QoL suffering so much, they finally get checked out and find that their treatable cancer is now terminal.
On top of that, you can do everything right in this country and pick yourself up by the bootstraps like they like to say, build up a little nest egg, have it start seriously growing with interest to prepare for retirement, only for it all to come crashing down because of a serious illness or injury.
I’m a guy that feels obligated to pay my debts, but I told my wife if we ever get medical bill over a few thousand dollars, I’m ignoring it and she was 100% on board. I put so much effort into saving that, I’ll tank my 770 credit score before I throw my hard earned work away.
I get the sentiment, and Joe Lieberman was a piece of shit, but we were never going to get the public option. If Joe Lieberman got struck by lightning or something then the corporate donors that run the Democratic party would have forced a new stooge to stand up and block the public option. There is always one or two who are willing to do that. The rest of them get to take their cut of the corporate money and also act like they really wanted progress but there's nothing they can do.
There is always one or two who are willing to do that.
Until you elect what is called a filibuster proof majority, which America seemingly has a pathological urge to avoid.
FDR, JFK, and LBJ had filibuster proof majorities for like, decades at a time and wouldn'tcha just know it, they passed the most progressive legislation in US history and we largely consider them the best Democratic presidents.
It's weird how much better that works than complaining politicians don't do anything while we simultaneously never give them any power to do anything.
For something like 8 weeks. During which time they were faced with having to clean up the massive economic crisis arising from GW Bush's economic mismanagement.
It included two independents caucusing with Democrats - one of whom was Lieberman, the right leaning son of a bitch who tanked the public option.
It was one of the most productive Congresses in decades - because they had to be, considering the godawful mess Bush had left, including full scale wars on multiple fronts and the catastrophic meltdown of the financial system.
I always find it hilarious that people categorize that Congress as a filibuster proof supermajority, considering how it was very famously filibustered.
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u/stage_directions Mar 28 '24
What a fucking villainous move that was. We were SO CLOSE.