Member-only story
Why Progressives need to force a vote on Medicare For All — NOW.
There has never been a better time for such a vote, and there won’t be another chance for many years to come.
There is a debate raging currently that has cleaved the progressive Left in twain. On one hand, there is well-known leftist comedian and political commentator Jimmy Dore who has called for the progressive Squad to demand a floor vote on Medicare For All in return for their supporting (voting for) Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
The disastrous performance of the House Democrats in this year’s election has left the Party’s majority so slim, Dore says, that just a few progressive members threatening to withhold their votes could put Pelosi’s speakership in jeopardy.
Indeed, the Democratic losses in the 2020 election mean that if just five House members withheld their vote, then Nancy Pelosi could not be Speaker.
On the other side of this debate is Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a member of the group which Dore believes should put the screws to Nancy Pelosi as described above. AOC has countered that such a vote on M4A now would be a meaningless gesture, a symbolic act of no consequence which would only serve to weaken the cause for M4A and risk fracturing the Democratic caucus still…
