Becka BerhanuJan 9, 2023

Since #ForceTheVote is being re-litigated again, here’s an article by Ben Burgis in @thenation that I found helpful in understanding its strategic feasibility in the context of the slim dem majority in 2020 as leverage for a Medicare for all house vote. https://jacobin.com/2020/12/jimmy-dore-aoc-medicare-for-all-pelosi-house-floor-vote-speaker

#BenBurgis #JimmyDore #FTV #Politics #BriahnaJoyGray #Leftist #Socialist #Progressive #Congress #M4A #Medicare

Jimmy Dore Is Right About the Urgency of Medicare for All. But AOC Isn’t the Problem.

It’s good that we’re talking about the urgent need for Medicare for All. But democratic-socialist politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aren’t the ones standing in the way of an American welfare state. Let’s figure out how to actually build working-class power and win change.

Show threadBecka Berhanu

I would also like to add that a detail that I don’t think was mentioned in this article was that “force the vote” as a potential multi-day, mutinous negotiation strategy would have delayed the passage of the long promised and much awaited covid relief bill. Those stimulus checks were a large part of why Warnock won Georgia in 2020.

It was almost guaranteed that ruthless Nancy Pelosi with the help of the corporate media, would have thrown the kitchen sink at the squad for their disobedience.

Jan 9, 2023 at 4:55amWeb
Show threadBecka BerhanuJan 9, 2023

I only mention the covid relief bill in contrast to the vastly different political reality that the freedom caucus had to deal with when they chose to withhold their vote. The omnibus bill had already been passed.

So what was the stake of a prolonged politically charged negotiation? What were the truly anxiety inducing stakes? Nothing. Nothing but drama.

That’s why McCarthy struggled to generate any meaningful public outrage to push back. 2020, in contrast, would’ve been very different.