The negotiation inside the Dems was as bad or worse than the one with the Republicans. They didn’t have 60 votes for single payer or any other real change.
Democrats have never been able to vote as a unified bloc like the Republicans do. It’s easy to unite when your banner is something simple like “Democrats bad, Obama bad.” When it’s a complex issue like Healthcare and you’re dealing with people with different agendas it gets a lot harder. Especially when politicians are mostly bought and paid for as a feature of western democracy.
They passed the ACA by having to negotiate with DINOs like Joe Liberman:
https://www.npr.org/2009/12/15/121452544/democrats-trade-off-to-get-60-health-care-votes
The negotiation inside the Dems was as bad or worse than the one with the Republicans. They didn’t have 60 votes for single payer or any other real change.
Democrats have never been able to vote as a unified bloc like the Republicans do. It’s easy to unite when your banner is something simple like “Democrats bad, Obama bad.” When it’s a complex issue like Healthcare and you’re dealing with people with different agendas it gets a lot harder. Especially when politicians are mostly bought and paid for as a feature of western democracy.