Why I left the Democratic Party

I get edgar's take. I get his pov.

Yes, I know edgar isn't edgar, and I am not an northern italian recipe.

I should have specified that his paraphrase of the discussion we were all having (without name calling or personal insults, mind you), is one of the most dishonest things I’ve read.

I'll reread in the morning.

Honestly? :-)

Ed simply has a POV that differs from yours. And from mine, for that matter.

I thought you centrists were good at reaching compromises, so what gives?.. Does your ideoligical flexibility only apply when you reach out to Republicans?

Do you really find it bizarre that this would be a real calculation for elected officials?

Cycloptichorn

I find it bizarre that they would be helpless to find a solution, when they don't mind other situations that end people's jobs.

They've been pushing for a solution since the 90's edgar, maybe earlier. How many times in the last 30 years have they had the power to implement the solution you want?

If you want guns off the street, anything approaching a universal healthcare law, or the myriad of other things that the democratic party platform has supported for the last 15+ years.....vote democrat and vote often.

Hey, or DON'T. At least that way your won't need to change your current MO.

True, take the coal mines for instance. I know in my county back in my younger years, everybody's dad and their uncle worked for the coal mines. Not so now. As a result, our county has suffered huge job loses and there really hasn't been any real solutions offered. But then once a food manufactory laid people off and in a solution, they offered laid off employees to go college and other such solutions for it's laid off employees. So I agree with you, if a miracle happens and we do have a chance at universal health care, if people put their minds to it, I think solutions can be found for job and insurance companies loses. It would just take a lot of work. In our present political environment I see both as pipe dreams but it doesn't mean we have to stop supporting the idea of universal health care. In the meantime though, it would be more practical to at least fix our present health care problems. I think that is doable if folks in congress would just ignore die hards from both sides and work on a bill.

The whole scenario proposed by Cyclo (ie that a single payer system would be opposed by many lawmakers due to possible job losses) is hypothetical in the extreme. In REALITY, many lawmakers would not support it but not because of jobs: because it would piss off insurance and pharma companies to no end. That's why health care reforms are next to impossible in the US: because it goes against powerful corporate interests. The job argument is a fig leaf.

Not really, the reality is if ever a day comes when we have universal health care, the Insurance companies and their employees are going to be without a job regardless any motives people in congress may have had to vote against it. Hopefully if that day comes, we would have some kind of plan in place to deal with the loss of an entire industry and their employees.

the number of claims/claimants overall will not change

that means the claims still need to be processed

as much as there will be any jobs for claims processors, there will be jobs for claims processors if/when universal health care comes in

the biggest change will be at the managerial and above levels.

when companies/systems merge, managers, vps etc disappear. front line workers are, for the most part, absorbed as the work still needs to be done

__

I've been through this several times. When insurance companies merged and when government took over a segment of the insurance industry.

I'm beginning to consider that cyclo and the other person are corporate shills, rather than concerned Democrats.

I think that would be unfair. I read them as 'regular' democrats, who were once very committed to the cause but have evolved in life. You know, the classic trajectory of reform-minded people who begin to make serious money in their 40's or thereabout, and then begin to reassess their youthful idealism. When you earn a 6 digit income, pro-poor policies start to lose their appeal, somehow, and successful social climbers often find that discussing with people a little less successful than themselves becomes quite exasperating... :-)

Reasons why people may return to or join the Democrat party.
By Bernie Sanders

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/10/bernie-sanders-how-to-fix-democratic-party-215813

Excerpt:

Last year, Secretary Hillary Clinton and I agreed upon the need for a Unity Reform Commission to move the party in a new and more democratic direction. In a few weeks, this group will have its final meeting in Washington, D.C., and will decide if we are going to move forward in an inclusive way or continue with the current failed approach.

This is not some abstract, insular debate. The future of Democratic Party institutions has everything to do with whether or not Democrats have the grass-roots energy to effectively take on Trump, the Republican Party and their reactionary agenda—or whether we remain in the minority.

What are some of the reforms that are desperately needed?

First, it is absurd that the Democratic Party now gives over 700 superdelegates—almost one-third the number a presidential candidate needs to win the nomination—the power to control the nominating process and ignore the will of voters.

Second, in contrast to Republicans, Democrats believe in making voting easier, not harder. We believe in universal and same-day voter registration and ending antiquated, arbitrary and discriminatory voter registration laws. These same principles must apply to our primaries. Our job must be to reach out to independents and to young people and bring them into the Democratic Party process. Independent voters are critical to general election victories. Locking them out of primaries is a pathway to failure.

In that regard, it is absurd that New Yorkers must change their party registration six months before the Democratic primary in order to participate. Other states have similar, if not as onerous provisions.

Third, in states that use caucuses, we must make it easier for working people and students to participate. While there is much to be said for bringing people together, face to face to discuss why they support the candidate of their choice, not everybody is able to participate because of work, child care or other obligations. A process must be developed that gives everyone the right to cast a vote even if they are not physically able to attend a caucus.

Three of many steps to purge the D process of anti-democratic corruption.

I was only half serious. But they would not know Robert Kennedy.

We didn't do too badly Tuesday night.

Yes. Several candidates were inspired and supported by Bernie Progressives.

And I guess you can make a distinction between local politics and national.

The Democrat party needs to rebuild itself from the bottom up, and it started Tuesday.

Yes. Some “party regular types” reached out to Bernie-inspired candidates, and that’s mandatory for success. I hope we see many more moves in this direction.

If Clinton had won, you can believe this would not be happening.

A great article about it:

https://theintercept.com/2017/11/08/a-year-after-trump-democrats-socialists-and-populists-sweep-elections/

My favorite part:

A year ago, Bernie Sanders ran an insurgent campaign that helped popularize democratic socialism and resurgent populism among American progressives. On Tuesday, populist candidates won in places you may not expect — from Manassas, Virginia to Knoxville, Tennessee.

In Virginia, Democratic Socialists of America-backed Lee Carter defeated the GOP whip Jackson Miller in the House of Delegates. Richmond-Times Dispatch reporter Patrick Wilson noted that the state Democratic Party offered little support to Carter. He won anyway. Numerous wings of the broader party united behind Carter, including factions, such as Planned Parenthood, who had backed Hillary Clinton last year:


Across the country, DSA candidates took offices, winning both as Democrats and independents. Socialist Seema Singh Perez won a seat on the Knoxville City Council. In Pittsburgh, a pair of DSA-backed candidates won, including Mik Pappas, an independent candidate who defeated a 24-year incumbent Democrat to become the 31st Magisterial District judge. Pappas ran strong on criminal justice reform, focusing on restorative justice rather than punitive measures.

In Somerville, Massachusetts, DSA members JT Scott and Ben Ewen-Campen unseated long-time incumbents to join the Board of Aldermen. DSA member Charles Decker will represent Ward 9 in New Haven, Connecticut.

And in Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner — also backed by DSA — will soon take office promising to radically overhaul the city’s criminal justice system.

There were a few low points for populists. In Ohio, a drug price control referendum went down by a huge margin after the industry spent $60 million opposing it. In the Atlanta mayoral election, populist Vincent Fort was edged out by conservative Mary Norwood and business-friendly Democrat Keisha Lance-Bottoms, the incumbent mayor’s hand-picked successor, who will make the runoff. While Fort did not succeed in the race, his campaign successfully pressured the Atlanta City Council to raise the wages of city workers to $15 an hour and decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.