Sanders insists that health care is a 'right'
The left has found another right that I can't find in the U.S. Constitution. In fact, I just read my paperback version again and found no right to "health care".
Nevertheless, there are a lot of people claiming that health care is right. The latest "Facebook profile photo frame" calls for Medicare for all because it is a right. It's a cute frame but we don't create rights in the U.S. that way.
Senator Sanders is now driving the Democrats further left with his latest idea:
Their embrace of a single-payer position comes even as Clinton continues to tar the plan as unrealistic. But if that remains the majority position among Democrats, liberal activists don't think it will be for long.
"If you look at the list who are co-sponsoring this and those who are rumored to be interested in [the presidency], you see some alignment. I don't think that's a coincidence," says Kenneth Zinn, the political director of National Nurses United, a staunch supporter of the Sanders legislation.
"This is how change happens. Grassroots action, bottom-up pressure. I think anyone who wants to be considered a progressive has to sign on to this bill. This is indeed becoming a litmus test for the movement."
It will probably put Sanders' band together for another presidential run but divide Democrats even more, especially state Democrats who actually have to balance budgets and liberal U.S. Senators who just give speeches.
Senator Sanders' idea will fall apart for two reasons:
First, it is economically unsustainable, as the very lefty Democrats in California just learned. You know that an idea is in trouble when even California's legislature can't find the dollars to pay for it: A new study by the California State Senate shows that single payer health care would cost more than the entire current state budget.
Secondly, making health care a right will require a constitutional amendment, unless Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on a legacy trip decides to add this one to abortion and same-sex marriage.
Let Senator Sanders make the 2018 and 2020 elections a referendum on Medicare for All. Let Senator Sanders explain that he will pay for it by taxing the rich. Let's see how many of those red state Democrats want to join Bernie's band.
Let it rip, Bernie. We can't wait to start the debate!
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.