Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader told Nevada PBS yesterday that Obamacare was "absolutely a first step toward single payer.
If anyone can get a link and put it up on You Tube, I'll embed it right here ASAP.
Here's what seems to be a non-functioning like to Nevada PBS.
From Forbes:
Well, yesterday on PBS’ Nevada Week In Review, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) was asked whether his goal was to move Obamacare to a single-payer system. His answer? “Yes, yes. Absolutely, yes.”
It seems Senator Reid was quite unequivocal, and he should be thanked for finally coming over from the dark side.
Reid said he thinks the country has to “work our way past” insurance-based health care during a Friday night appearance on Vegas PBS’ program “Nevada Week in Review.”
“What we’ve done with Obamacare is have a step in the right direction, but we’re far from having something that’s going to work forever,” Reid said.
When then asked by panelist Steve Sebelius whether he meant ultimately the country would have to have a health care system that abandoned insurance as the means of accessing it, Reid said: “Yes, yes. Absolutely, yes.”
I think a good response from progressives to Senator Reid, with whom many of us don't always see eye to eye, would be to Tweet him @HarryReid using hashtag #singlepayer and let him know we agree.
If you don't have a Twitter account, here's a link to his office, you can send him an email.
Who knows, if the response is big enough, we might even get it to trend on Twitter.
I've been told politicians and their staffs pay attention to this grassroots type of stuff.
So, I reiterate, we can and must support and work for the implementation of Obamacare. At the same time, our collective eyes should always be focused squarely on the ultimate goal which Harry Reid agrees is single payer.
One more thing, here'sa good chart from the Kaiser Family Foundation about where each state stands on the Medicaid expansion. It will give you a sense of where your state is--whether they will accept federal funds, etc. Shame and a place in Hell is assured for those states, governors and legislatures who deny their citizens the healthcare they have.