Bernie: We Must End This International Embarrassment

[mucifer]

Link to tweet

?s=20

"Developed nations with the best healthcare, family leave, vacation & retirement benefits:

1. Denmark
2. The Netherlands
3. Finland
4. Sweden
5. Switzerland
6. Norway
7. Germany
8. UK
9. Canada
10. Japan

30. United States - Dead last

We must end this international embarrassment"

[FakeNoose]

1. Of all the shithole countries, we're Number 1

That's gotta count for something!

[Grokenstein]

23. trumpkins: "We're Nubber, uh...(counts on remaining fingers)...Wun!"

"We're Nubber, buhhhh...(returns to counting on fingers)...Wun!!"

[Irish_Dem]

2. This make the US one of the "shit hole" countries?

Looks like it to me.

[central scrutinizer]

3. Investment (taxes)

You can invest in the health of your people or the wealth of your corporations.

[comradebillyboy]

4. Maybe Bernie could write up some legislation and

get some cosponsors and drum up some support to try to get it passed. That would probably do more to move the ball down field than tweeting.

[Dream Girl]

6. This!

[mucifer]

7. One month as chair of the finance committee and fighting like hell for the 1.9 trillion

isn't enough for you?

So throw the bum out because he hasn't gotten Healthcare reform in one month?

[mucifer]

10. Read the next post. Senator Kamala Harris co sponsored the bill. Gonna throw her under the bus, too?

[George II]

12. Introduced April 10, 2019. This is February 20, 2021, almost two years later.

[Hortensis]

38. One month? Try nearly 30 years during national decline,

outstandingly including the push of the whole nation off the cliff of 2016. But that's in the past.

[rgbecker]

8. Already done. Way ahead of you, apparently.

[link:https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1129/cosponsors?searchResultViewType=expanded|

Maybe he actually is drumming up support with this.

[George II]

24. Representative John Dingell Jr. introduced it in the 102nd Congress, 1991...

National Health Insurance Act Guess who didn't co-sponsor it?

And again in the 103rd Congress, 1993:

National Health Insurance Act Guess who didn't co-sponsor it?

And twice in the 104th Congress, 1995 and 1996:

National Health Insurance Act, Health Insurance Reform Act of 1996 Guess who didn't co-sponsor either?

And a number of additional introductions, too.

Links:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/house-bill/16?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22dingell%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=17

https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/16?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22dingell%22%5D%7D&s=4&r=15

https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/3185?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22dingell%22%5D%7D&s=8&r=3

https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/16?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22dingell%22%5D%7D&s=8&r=15

[LiberalLovinLug]

25. Thanks for the link, and who else did? ...........

https://www.healthcare-now.org/legislation/national-health-insurance-act-dingell/

Read the full bill from the 111th Congress (2009-2010).
Read the summary of H.R. 15 from the 111th Congress (2009-2010).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 111th Congress (2009-2010).

Read the full bill from the 110th Congress (2007-2008).
Read the summary of H.R. 15 from the 110th Congress (2007-2008).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 110th Congress (2007-2008).

Read the full bill from the 109th Congress (2005-2006).
Read the summary of H.R. 15 from the 109th Congress (2005-2006).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 109th Congress (2005-2006).

Read the full bill from the 108th Congress (2003-2004).
Read the summary of H.R. 15 from the 108th Congress (2003-2004).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 108th Congress (2003-2004).

Read the full bill from the 107th Congress (2001-2002).
Read the summary of H.R. 16 from the 107th Congress (2001-2002).
See the list of 1 Congressional cosponsor for the 107th Congress (2001-2002).
Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7]

Read the full bill from the 106th Congress (1999-2000).
Read the summary of H.R. 16 from the 106th Congress (1999-2000).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 106th Congress (1999-2000).

Read the full bill from the 105th Congress (1997-1998).
Read the summary of H.R. 16 from the 105th Congress (1997-1998).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 105th Congress (1997-1998).

Read the full bill from the 104th Congress (1995-1996).
Read the summary of H.R. 16 from the 104th Congress (1995-1996).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 104th Congress (1995-1996).

Read the full bill from the 103rd Congress (1993-1994).
Read the summary of H.R. 16 from the 103rd Congress (1993-1994).
See the list of 0 Congressional cosponsors for the 103rd Congress (1993-1994).

Read the full bill from the 102nd Congress (1991-1992).
Read the summary of H.R. 16 from the 102nd Congress (1991-1992).
See the list of 5 Congressional cosponsors for the 102nd Congress (1991-1992).


Originally introduced in 1991, and had these co-sponsors

Rep. Abercrombie, Neil [D-HI-1]
Rep. Bonior, David E. [D-MI-12]
Rep. Pelosi, Nancy [D-CA-5]
Rep. Serrano, Jose E. [D-NY-18]
Rep. Annunzio, Frank [D-IL-11]


But why then did they NOT ever sponsor it ever again? Hmmmmmm. At least with Sanders, if he felt it didn't go far enough, he didn't put his name on it. But why would those other reps flip flop on it like that? Maybe you should ask them.

but anyways........nice attempt at a classic Red Herring. ie..What-aboutism should be beneath Democrats. What's important is the here and now. And who is fighting. Sanders introduced his Medicare for All bill in 2019 which even had Booker and Harris co-sponsor it, until they got cold feet. But he had 14 co-sponsors of his health bill.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1129/cosponsors?searchResultViewType=expanded

The Dingells only had 6 through 10 different annual attempts.

[George II]

27. Not a red herring, but just pointing out to some who think he's come up with this revolutionary....

....idea that it wasn't initially his.

If his ultimate goal was improving on the overall healthcare system in the US he could/would have co-sponsored those. If something 30 years ago "didn't go far enough", it has to start somewhere. No bill of that magnitude would be perfect when it was first passed. Even the ACA was amended after it was first passed.

The Dingells didn't have 6-10 different attempts, I started with the first Congress after he was elected, the 102nd. The family's first attempt actually came in 1943 from John Dingell Sr., and it was attempted during just about every Congress since then.

[lapucelle]

34. Rep. Conyers introduced HR 636 Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act every session from 2003-2017

John Conyers' HR 676 Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act

108th Congress - 38 Congressional co-sponsors
109th Congress - 78 Congressional co-sponsors
110th Congress - 93 Congressional co-sponsors
111th Congress - 87 Congressional co-sponsors
112th Congress - 77 Congressional co-sponsors
113th Congress - 63 Congressional co-sponsors
114th Congress - 62 Congressional co-sponsors
115th Congress - 124 Congressional co-sponsors

https://bit.ly/2Zxb0Ky

No Senate version of this bill was ever introduced because no senator ever wrote one.

[JI7]

16. He doesn't do much of that. Elizabeth Warren actually had detailed plans

He should have supported her if this issue was so imporant for him.

[betsuni]

21. +1

[George II]

28. He also might have co-sponsored the roughly 10 bills that were introduced since he was first elected

[CrispyQ]

5. I've worked at companies where it was a badge of honor to spend your entire weekend working

for the company, even without extra pay. Or to have to spend some of your family time to paying attention to company email. Technology has allowed companies to invade our private lives with work demands & we are often expected to do so. Often times without extra pay, since most of those positions are salaried. And too many people don't even question this. That's what you do in America if you want to get ahead, you sacrifice your private life, but even that is no guarantee.

I'm so fucking glad I'm retired.

[Demobrat]

13. I don't think I've ever worked at one

that wasn’t like that. It used to be a badge of honor to always be at the office late. Now it’s a badge of honor to be always online. If you log off at five you’re considered a slacker. So people send emails in the middle of the night to look good.

[CTyankee]

22. I've worked for a couple of nonprofits where you were expected to put in work hours on the

weekend because you were "management." No pay for that extra work.

[meadowlander]

30. People question it but they're too scared to be fired

or to lose any chance of ever being promoted if they make a stink about it.

It's way past time that regulations are beefed up to protect unions and force employers to pay for the actual number of hours that employees are working.

[George II]

11. There are only 30 developed nations in the world? I guess I'd better go back to school, that's not..

...what I was taught.

Anyone know where these ratings come from?

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. It's about the right number

The list appears to come from here: https://www.zenefits.com/workest/data-reveals-united-states-ranks-last-in-worker-benefits/

Looking at the 30, it looks like the 37 OECD members plus Bulgaria, but without a few - Belgium, Greece, Iceland, and some later joiners (Poland, Slovak Republic, Chile, Slovenia and Colombia). Belgium is mentioned by zenefits.com as having some of the best unemployment benefits, but isn't in their overall list for some reason.

It's also similar to the UN list of developed economies - which has 36. Again, that includes Belgium, Greece, Iceland, though it doesn't include some you might expect, like South Korea.

Here's the full zenefits list:

1 Denmark
2 Netherlands
3 Finland
4 Sweden
5 Switzerland
6 Norway
7 Germany
8 United Kingdom
9 Canada
10 Japan
11 Lithuania
12 Ireland
13 Luxembourg
14 Portugal
15 Spain
16 France
17 Italy
18 Austria
19 Australia
20 New Zealand
21 Bulgaria
22 Israel
23 Turkey
24 Estonia
25 Hungary
26 Czech Republic
27 Latvia
28 South Korea
29 Mexico
30 United States

[Oldem]

14. This isn't new, of course. When I was just starting out,

I couldn't get a job doing what I'd been educated to do. So I took a job in a department store, as a "junior executive." Ha! I spent three months in the stock room working 50+ hour weeks with no overtime. (Overtime had been "guaranteed.&quot I complained. I got fired. The haves have always taken advantage of the have nots. They fought unionization tooth and nail; they still do.

[DanieRains]

15. We Are Supposed To Be Making Billionaires Richer Aren't We?

What kind of Ayn Rand country is this?

De-Regulate Everything!!!

Bring on winter!

[Turbineguy]

17. But that's why we elect republicans!

We like living in a shithole country.

[paleotn]

18. Depends on which US you're talking about.

The upper echelon is the richest on the planet. Best educations. Best healthcare. The other 75% or so? Not so much. But, hey. Land of equality and all.

[speak easy]

19. No way the UK is top ten.

Ask any Brit.

[betsuni]

26. Nor Japan.

Maybe in theory, but not in practice. And gender equality is awful, obviously.

[Celerity]

29. I loved The NHS, and it is a list of 30 countries, not every nation. Sweden is better though. nt

[meadowlander]

31. That stood out for me as well.

I wish Bernie had linked the original study in the Tweet. All of the previous "best places to live in the world' studies I've ever seen put Australia and New Zealand well ahead of the UK, usually just under the Scandies.

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. There's a difference between "best place to live" and "worker benefits"

Australia and New Zealand almost certainly have more affordable housing, for instance, and they may have better overall health. The UK scores highly in worker benefits for the NHS, and has reasonable statutory annual leave (28 days, including public holidays). While it's not great for parental leave, Australia and New Zealand are worse still (and Japan does well there: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/16/u-s-lacks-mandated-paid-parental-leave/ ) .

[meadowlander]

39. Yes, but worker benefits are always a big part of the scoring.

New Zealand has a national health system, the same as the UK, and has mandatory 4 week annual leave plus stat holidays (10 days a year) and a $19 an hour minimum wage. New Zealand also has extremely unaffordable housing compared with the rest of the OECD (the median house price in Auckland is well over $1 million) so that's certainly not what's pushing them up on the other list. If anything, poor housing affordability relative to wages cancels out the benefits of having all the other worker benefits so maybe that's what pushed them down.

Anyway, I was just noting that on these types of lists Australia and New Zealand usually do a lot better compared with the UK. I've seen ones where Australia was in the top three.

[Ferrets are Cool]

20. The ONLY reason we AREN'T in the shithole country category

is because of debt. If everyone had to play off their debts tomorrow, there would be 1000 times as many in the "poverty" category as there are now. We have a shadow economy built on monumental debt.

[bdamomma]

32. That's

the 1% who say let's keep our citizens last, and previous Republican administrations.

[BannonsLiver]

36. I'm glad Bernie brought up vacation benefits

Americans have the least amount of pto of any of these countries — typically two weeks a year if anything — and I think that’s one of the many reasons we are such an angry, high strung people in a virtual constant state of agitation.

[Goodheart]

37. But, but, but.... we are so much more FREE than those places because we have guns!

And we can pick our own health insurance thieves... er, providers.