Michael Lighty, Policy Director for National Nurses United, makes the case for Medicare For All and points out the gap between the Democratic “base” and its “donors.” Plus Ralph tells us about his new book, “To The Ramparts: How Bush and Obama Paved the Way For the Trump Presidency and How It’s Not Too Late to Change Course.” Plus, listener questions!
Neo-Fascism/Flyers’ Bill of Rights
October 13, 2018
All About Elections
October 27, 2018
Michael Lighty is currently on sabbatical from National Nurses United (NNU), where he was most recently the NNU Director of Public Policy. He is stumping around the country for Medicare For All. For over 25 years, Mr. Lighty has organized, written and spoken for improved Medicare for All. He is currently the lead policy analyst for a single-payer bill, SB 562, the Healthy California Act. At the California Nurses Association since 1994, he has coordinated campaigns for an HMO patients’ bill of rights, clean money elections, and nationally for a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street.
“Imagine a political party anywhere else in the world that doesn’t pursue a program that 85% of its supporters want. It’s inconceivable. So here you see the gap between the base and the donors. Because the donor class of the Democrats are the ones who are invested in Wall Street, who would be affected by the speculation tax that could fund human need programs, that would be affected by the roll back of insurance company profits. And it’s that class that we’re up against, represented by the Democratic leadership.” Michael Lighty, Medicare For All advocate
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4 Comments
Biggest ripoff is health care in USA – unless you work in the Insurance and Health Care industry except for Doctors
Look, they are phasing out the expansion of the ACA [I never use their talking point of Obamacare] by requiring people to work 20 hours in 2019. Well what that translates into is as what our state has done with food assistance, most people won’t be able to fulfill this unattainable requirement and therefore most people won’t have their privatized medicaid anymore. And one has to recognize that his means they actually don’t care if people have ANY health coverage period. And if doctors cannot see this they are deluded for I would argue they should already have woken up to this. Hence all the nurses acting as doctors now and real lay nurses doing doctor’s work in care delivery! So frankly this is a system that is going to be fat and happy when no one has any coverage. (To interpret this otherwise would involve wishful thinking.)
I listen to Ralph Nadar Radio Hour shows sometimes 3-4 times, as there is so much great info! For a show like this, a fact page would be fantastic! The Canadian health care facts, Taxpayer subsidies, Democrat donor page showing Health Care industry dollars!
Sounds like a great idea, Jerry. Are you volunteering? Let me know. Steve