WASHINGTON — Vying to become House speaker in a few months, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries outlined four items on the agenda that he said would enjoy “uniform Democratic support” and advance the party’s goal of “making life more affordable.”
The first two were about healthcare, and all four set a direct contrast with President Donald Trump.
“We have to reverse the Medicaid cuts. We should extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Monday in response to a question from NBC News. “We should restore congressional authority as it relates to tariffs, because the Trump tariffs are making life more expensive for the American people. And we should end, decisively, if it’s still going on, Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East.”
While there’s agreement on restoring the Medicaid and ACA funds that were undone by Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress, there are divisions inside the Democratic Party about what its own healthcare agenda should be.
Ocasio-Cortez is part of a large and influential faction on the left that wants to pursue a “Medicare for All” system that would diminish — if not abolish — private insurance and give the government power to negotiate prices of medication and services downward. Many moderate Democrats have rejected that idea in favor of less disruptive changes, although the center-left hasn’t coalesced around a preferred vision. One outside center-left group floated “free primary care for all” as a way to break the stalemate between supporters of a single-payer Medicare for All system and of focusing on building on the current ACA.
So, the party establishment is behind proping up their donors? The entire developed world has universal health-insurance. Even Mexico has it. But not the people in the US? That is one thing that would drastically improve the lives of the American people. Universal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year.
Our government hates us. This is the s#it that lead up to DJT in the first place. Going back to half measures like this is a recipe for:
Especially since the AI job losses.
while a small democrat majority may exist in the next session, it won’t be any thing even remotely close to veto-proof. no meaningful legislation would level-up to law as long as dipshit is around.
if they did have the numbers to override a veto–they’d have the numbers to do a hell of a lot more.
Jeffries is a politician from a former age of politics. We need warriors today, not weasels.
Democrats are so awful at setting objectives. I feel like they’re only committing to this because it’s DOA. Priority 1 in the event of a 2026 victory is shutting down the president and reining in presidential power. When that is done, purge government institutions of magats. Investigate and prosecute right wingers, especially the billionaires who sabotaged the United States and the president’s enablers in Congress and the supreme court.
Get your house back in order.
WASHINGTON — Vying to become House speaker in a few months, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries outlined four items on the agenda that he said would enjoy “uniform Democratic support” and advance the party’s goal of “making life more affordable.”
This is why people are frustrated with politicians and Jeffries in particular. No, we don’t want the goal to be to make life “more affordable.” We’re well past “more affordable.” Saving $5 on a $15,000 hospital bill is “more affordable.” No, we want life to be “affordable.” That’s single-payer system. Maybe “more affordable” is the temporary compromise until we finish a clearly defined path to “affordable.” But it’s not a goal.
The mere fact that he’s out here talking about extending tax credits and using weasel words is utterly demoralizing also because it suggests this is the starting position which he’s going to negotiate down from later.
He can’t lead on policy, he’s certainly not following the voters’ stated wishes, so it would be great if he could kindly get out of the way.
Jeffries is such garbage, I wish someone would primary his ass already.
Adopting right wing framing on M4A is so typical of an empty suit like him. Yes, abolish private insurance, that’s the idea dipshit - and replace it with the objectively better Medicare insurance to make doctor’s lives easier and help patients get desperately needed care.
“this is our top priority”
“so what exactly are you going to do about it?”
“we don’t know”
They’re not going to genocide transgender people in camps, or deport them to hellhole countries. So thats already an improvement.
“We have concepts of a plan”
And those concepts are subject to spineless capitulation should the Republicans breath a slight whisper of dissent.
Who’da thunk that making fundraising the sole criteria for leader selection would result in out-of-touch leadership?
