Monday, May 15, 2017

Senate IDC Should Force GOP to Support Single-Payer


A Daily Gazette Op-Ed


By Steve Keller

Even though they didn’t win a majority of seats in the 2016 election, Republicans control the state Senate.

They’ve managed this feat due to an alliance with the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference and the supremely independent Sen. Simcha Felder — all of whom caucus with the Republicans and assure us it’s not about opportunism.

Sen. Jeff Klein, leader of the IDC, has frequently claimed that his group’s defection has actually enabled the passage of progressive legislation. 

Now’s the time to put Klein’s claim to the test. A bill is currently going through the Senate which would establish a single-payer healthcare plan in New York State that would grant a baseline of coverage to all New Yorkers. Importantly, Jeff Klein and the IDC are in the strongest possible position to make a vote on this happen. They should prove their liberal bona fides instead of merely insisting they exist.

At this point, the eight members of the IDC will probably say I’m being unfair. After all, they are unanimously cosponsoring the very bill I’m talking about, which now has 30 of 62 senators as sponsors.

What else does the IDC need to do?

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Empire Report 

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