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riversedge

(69,708 posts)
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 09:59 AM Jan 2015

Single payer supporters protest on floor of House before Gov. Shumlin's inaugural address

Source: Burlington Free Press






Single payer supporters protest on floor of House before Gov. Shumlin's inaugural address

It started with a smal group of protesters about 15 minutes before Gov. Peter Shumlin gave his inaugural address Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, at the Statehouse in Montpelier. Part 1 of a Free Press livestream that would last more than eight hours. RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS

Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/videos/news/local/vermont/2015/01/08/21482173/



It is good Video.
20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Single payer supporters protest on floor of House before Gov. Shumlin's inaugural address (Original Post) riversedge Jan 2015 OP
Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham: angrily told her the protesters' performance was "rude, it was disre riversedge Jan 2015 #1
I wonder what kind of health coverage the Senator has. deutsey Jan 2015 #6
NRA A-rated #Vermont state Sen. Jeanette White backs gun control, accepts Gun Sense money riversedge Jan 2015 #7
Remember former Governor Dean circa 2003 - taking a pro gun position karynnj Jan 2015 #14
What does that have to do with health care? former9thward Jan 2015 #16
Democracy Now in this morning's broadcast swilton Jan 2015 #18
Vermont activists occupy the statehouse to demand the legislature recognize that #HealthCareIsAHuma riversedge Jan 2015 #2
Vermonters occupy the statehouse demanding #HealthCareIsAHumanRight for everyone! riversedge Jan 2015 #3
Gov. Shumlin: "Now is not the time to a publicly-financed health care system in Vermont" BlueCaliDem Jan 2015 #4
Shumlin still strongly supports single-payor healthcare, in Vermont and nationally, branford Jan 2015 #5
I think the peaceful protest was just a visible reminder to him and the Democrats riversedge Jan 2015 #8
This has been the conundrum that President Obama and Democrats were faced when mulling single-payer BlueCaliDem Jan 2015 #9
Are you critical of Gov. Shumlim? branford Jan 2015 #10
No. I'm critical of his decision. ObamaCare provides the lion's share of funding for single-payer BlueCaliDem Jan 2015 #13
What you say is true, but it ignores that Shumlin for reasons unrelated to healthcare karynnj Jan 2015 #15
You are correct. We could have had a single payer system, being the richest nation in the world, but Cal33 Jan 2015 #11
Thanks for the link, I have been saying this for so long but am never answered when I do. freshwest Jan 2015 #12
You're welcome, freshwest. I guess for some, painting Pres. Obama negatively or giving him credit BlueCaliDem Jan 2015 #17
And for some, painting heritage care as healthcare is more important than actually Doctor_J Jan 2015 #20
since the caus is dead in the water, I don't see how protests can "set it back" Doctor_J Jan 2015 #19

riversedge

(69,708 posts)
1. Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham: angrily told her the protesters' performance was "rude, it was disre
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 10:10 AM
Jan 2015

Well, protests got their attention! coming from WI--I am in solidarity with the protesters.


..After much of Potter's talk was drowned out by the protesters, several lawmakers said afterward that the universal health care advocates had set their cause back.

Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, approached Ellen Schwartz, of Brattleboro, president of the Vermont Workers' Center, and angrily told her the protesters' performance was "rude, it was disrespectful, inappropriate."

Schwartz responded in an interview that single-payer advocates were frustrated.

"The governor has been saying this is not the right time," Schwartz said. "For people who don't have health care, this is the right time. People are feeling like we have to move forward now. We've collected petitions. We've done a lot of following those processes. Where has it gotten us?"

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2015/01/08/3505158/single-payer-health-backers-disrupt.html#storylink=cpy

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
6. I wonder what kind of health coverage the Senator has.
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 11:10 AM
Jan 2015


Although, to be fair, she does seem to have pretty progressive stances on health care, according to Votesmart.org.

Even so, I also applaud the protesters.

riversedge

(69,708 posts)
7. NRA A-rated #Vermont state Sen. Jeanette White backs gun control, accepts Gun Sense money
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 12:09 PM
Jan 2015

A bit of history on this state senator:


NRA A-rated #Vermont state Sen. Jeanette White backs gun control, accepts Gun Sense money http://truenorthreports.com/nra-a-rated-state-senator-backs-gun-control-accepts-gun-sense-money

karynnj

(59,474 posts)
14. Remember former Governor Dean circa 2003 - taking a pro gun position
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 01:40 PM
Jan 2015

pointing out that it worked in VT, which has huge rural areas?

 

swilton

(5,069 posts)
18. Democracy Now in this morning's broadcast
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 03:51 PM
Jan 2015

let the protesters have a voice.

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/9/29_arrested_as_single_payer_advocates


imho it was rude for Gov. Shumlin to campaign on this and then to back down.

I also back the protesters - weather in NH is bad enough but the protesters in Vermont showed up in even colder weather. Let's hope this continues.

riversedge

(69,708 posts)
2. Vermont activists occupy the statehouse to demand the legislature recognize that #HealthCareIsAHuma
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 10:13 AM
Jan 2015


John Nichols ?@NicholsUprising 17h17 hours ago

Vermont activists occupy the statehouse to demand the legislature recognize that #HealthCareIsAHumanRight


riversedge

(69,708 posts)
3. Vermonters occupy the statehouse demanding #HealthCareIsAHumanRight for everyone!
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 10:15 AM
Jan 2015


Popular Resistance ?@PopResistance 13h13 hours ago Baltimore, MD

Vermonters occupy the statehouse demanding #HealthCareIsAHumanRight for everyone! https://www.popularresistance.org/vermont-healthcare-advocates-disrupt-legislature/ … #vtpoli

BlueCaliDem

(15,438 posts)
4. Gov. Shumlin: "Now is not the time to a publicly-financed health care system in Vermont"
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 10:27 AM
Jan 2015
Earlier this week, I made one of the most difficult decisions of my public life when I announced that I cannot support a move to a publicly-financed health care system in Vermont at this time. I have advocated for such a system for much of my public life, but over the past two weeks it has become clear to me that the risks and economic shocks of moving forward at this time are too great. http://governor.vermont.gov/


At least now we know why there are protesters during his inaugural address. In his own words he's saying that he was for single-payer before he was against it.
 

branford

(4,462 posts)
5. Shumlin still strongly supports single-payor healthcare, in Vermont and nationally,
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 10:54 AM
Jan 2015

he just doesn't have any idea how Vermont can possibly pay for it.

If single-payor advocates try to cast Shumlin as an adversary, it would be both tactically and strategically foolish for the movement.

riversedge

(69,708 posts)
8. I think the peaceful protest was just a visible reminder to him and the Democrats
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 12:11 PM
Jan 2015

to find a way--and to keep his campaign promise.

BlueCaliDem

(15,438 posts)
9. This has been the conundrum that President Obama and Democrats were faced when mulling single-payer
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 01:07 PM
Jan 2015

vs a system that Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and other European countries have chosen: half gov't (subsidies), half private (premiums). This is ObamaCare at its core today and it's less expensive and quicker to implement.

Lest some forget, it took Canada no less than thirty years to implement their single-payer system. Considering the presidents and Congresses we've had in the past thirty years, I don't see how we could've done it.

That said, a provision in ObamaCare does provide for each State to either implement the ACA or they can apply for a waiver under subsection 1332 the "State Innovation Waiver" which will help fund their own system if that system can show that they can cover more people for less and won't burden the Federal budget. NO STATE can afford to implement single-payer because it's just too expensive to set up - as Vermont is now finding out.

So to those who claim that President Obama and Democrats had abandoned single-payer...they need to read section 1332 in the ACA. Single-payer is there. It's up to them and their State to choose that route.

 

branford

(4,462 posts)
10. Are you critical of Gov. Shumlim?
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 01:27 PM
Jan 2015

When you wrote, "In his own words he's saying that he was for single-payer before he was against it," I interpreted that as sarcasm and implied hypocrisy or lack of commitment on the part of Shumlin.

My post was simply to note that the governor was and is one of the strongest advocates of single-payor, but as you appear to acknowledge, he cannot change the nature of politics and economics, even in true-blue Vermont. If people like Shumin are cast as villians, other less committed leaders or those with divided constituencies will not even bother to try.

BlueCaliDem

(15,438 posts)
13. No. I'm critical of his decision. ObamaCare provides the lion's share of funding for single-payer
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 01:36 PM
Jan 2015

for States that wish to implement it. I believe it's 85%. The State, then, would have to provide for the rest of the funding. Vermont applied for and has received the Waiver and everyone was happy as could be because they'd be used as example to the 49 States.

Now, coming out and saying this, it dashes our hopes for a single-payer system for America.

Gov. Shumlim should have taken the true cost for implementing that system into account when Vermont petitioned the U.S. Gov't under section 1332 of the PPACA. I guess in their zeal to implement single-payer, they didn't go over the numbers as carefully as they should have. For that, I am critical of him. Now we see how expensive that is for any State, and why it was impossible to make ObamaCare single-payer from the get-go.

Vermont, that could've stood as a shining single-payer example for the rest of the 49 States, now stands as example why single-payer is something that's next to impossible to implement on a national level in short notice, but what we should never stop working toward.

karynnj

(59,474 posts)
15. What you say is true, but it ignores that Shumlin for reasons unrelated to healthcare
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 02:00 PM
Jan 2015

lacked the political capital to pull this off. He is personally pretty unpopular. Connected to financing, there were concerns with how it would deal with everything from Medicare to employer provided insurance for employees or retirees. That meant a lot of people with vested interests - on both sides of the political spectrum. (Seriously, I was caught off guard by a very activist woman who was making an issue of whether Green Mountain care would disadvantage those on Medicare vs the population as a whole! I never understood her arguments which were complex and extensive. )

I am a newbie to Vermont - and many others are far more savvy - both I suspect it make take the Democrats running someone, committed to single payer, who is charismatic, personable and persuasive two years from now for Governor. ( Assuming a Democrat wins in 2016 -- VT may still be the first to get that waiver - especially as Massachusetts seems less likely with Baker as Governor.)

 

Cal33

(7,018 posts)
11. You are correct. We could have had a single payer system, being the richest nation in the world, but
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 01:29 PM
Jan 2015

every year our greedy Business Corporations and our Military take the lion's share of what we pay
in taxes. So, we have at least the ACA -- and half a loaf is better than no bread.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
12. Thanks for the link, I have been saying this for so long but am never answered when I do.
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 01:33 PM
Jan 2015
You brought the real facts to the discussion.

BlueCaliDem

(15,438 posts)
17. You're welcome, freshwest. I guess for some, painting Pres. Obama negatively or giving him credit
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 02:04 PM
Jan 2015

for understanding our country better than they is more important than considering the facts. I am certain that President Obama would love NOTHING MORE than to implement a single-payer system, but that would overburden State budgets. Every State must balance their budgets and have no deficit, unlike the Federal gov't that actually has to run deficits. People don't appear to understand that.

Anyway, ObamaCare does offer single-payer, and even offers to fund about 85% of it (it's incredibly expensive to implement), but he leaves it to the States and their budgets to make that decision.

 

Doctor_J

(36,392 posts)
20. And for some, painting heritage care as healthcare is more important than actually
Sat Jan 10, 2015, 10:32 AM
Jan 2015

getting a healthcare system in the US. The Canada analogy is ridiculous. First, Canada didn't have the infrastructure and logistics in place, whereas thanks to LBJ we have Medicare. Second, Canada never made private for profit insurance mandatory, as Obama has done. As shown in Vermont, one of the most liberal states in the US, the provision that states can implement sp on their own is entirely for show - it has no practical value whatsoever.

We are not going to get the country away from the corporations if you insist on cheering for horrible solutions just because the messiah proposed them.

 

Doctor_J

(36,392 posts)
19. since the caus is dead in the water, I don't see how protests can "set it back"
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 05:20 PM
Jan 2015

It's a waste of time, but won't hurt anything.

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