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What can we do to get a progressive in the White House? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 weeks ago by abbotsbury to c/progressivepolitics

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Like what are the practical steps to take? Stuff like universal healthcare isn't even a controversial policy. How do we form a voting bloc around that?

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[–] FlowVoid -5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Stuff like universal healthcare isn't even a controversial policy.

Don't be so certain.

The poll found that Americans initially support “Medicare-for-all,” 56 percent to 42 percent.... But if they were told that a government-run system could lead to delays in getting care or higher taxes, support plunged to 26 percent and 37 percent, respectively.

“The issue that will really be fundamental would be the tax issue,” said Robert Blendon, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who reviewed the poll. He pointed out that state single-payer efforts in Vermont and Colorado failed because of concerns about the tax increases needed to put them in place.

There doesn’t seem to be much disagreement that a single-payer system would require tax increases, since the government would take over premiums now paid by employers and individuals as it replaces the private health insurance industry.

[–] AA5B 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

We need to stop calling them tax increases, but find a better way to talk about moving who you pay medical premiums to. For a sufficiently progressive plan, perhaps most people can pay less

[–] FlowVoid 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I think most people would pay less. But opponents of universal health care would frame the payment as a tax (especially if it depends on income), and this could definitely erode support.

This is not a trivial problem, and I think it's why Democrats are hesitating to jump on board a supposedly "uncontroversial" policy.