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Bernie Sanders claim that he helped write Obamacare (Original Post) BlueStateLib Feb 2016 OP
Oh darn. ucrdem Feb 2016 #1
Many more to go ... but people are PAYING ATTENTION NOW!! NurseJackie Feb 2016 #3
+1000 n/t livetohike Feb 2016 #11
+1,000,000 asuhornets Feb 2016 #20
As long as we're doing this again, I'll repeat myself. HassleCat Feb 2016 #2
Yeah, I don't know... TCJ70 Feb 2016 #4
If he put pen to paper and wrote a single paragraph, he helped. cherokeeprogressive Feb 2016 #6
It really began as "Hillary-care" left-of-center2012 Feb 2016 #5
I still see inconsistency that he is not thrown under the bus treestar Feb 2016 #7
Definitely inconsistent. But were you expecting anything different? NurseJackie Feb 2016 #13
truth versus impression = falsehood? interesting conclusion but not one I would make. Kip Humphrey Feb 2016 #8
A slightly different view from the very pro Hillary TPM cali Feb 2016 #9
Hillary supporters hate facts. JRLeft Feb 2016 #18
Sanders supporters hate Obamacare. Pick a lane. KittyWampus Feb 2016 #21
I don't like it, it's better than what we had. We need single payer or price caps. JRLeft Feb 2016 #22
Some things don't change. dogman Feb 2016 #10
"Mostly True" at the very least demwing Feb 2016 #12
Recycling day again? beam me up scottie Feb 2016 #14
The absolute truth is even better... Ino Feb 2016 #15
Welcome to my Forever Ignored club. nt valerief Feb 2016 #16
Here is the record from another senator on the committee....Politifact should be mostly true. ViseGrip Feb 2016 #17
Political is the one lying cali Feb 2016 #19
OH NO!! Bernie tried to get it closer to Single Payer - Medicare for all!! The HORROR! jillan Feb 2016 #23

NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
3. Many more to go ... but people are PAYING ATTENTION NOW!!
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:03 PM
Feb 2016

Things start to become a little more difficult for him when his words and plans are scrutinized. No more "coasting along" for him!

Go, Hillary! We love you!

 

HassleCat

(6,409 posts)
2. As long as we're doing this again, I'll repeat myself.
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:02 PM
Feb 2016

Sanders' claim is somewhere between true and somewhat exaggerated, not "mostly false" as Politifact has it. He said "help." He didn't claim to be a major author, a driving force, an inside player, an important architect, etc. He was pointing out that he was involved, so he had some authority to comment, and that's correct. Politifact's analysis is mostly wrong.

TCJ70

(4,387 posts)
4. Yeah, I don't know...
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:03 PM
Feb 2016

...how they can say mostly false on that. It's not like he said "I wrote the whole thing!"

 

cherokeeprogressive

(24,853 posts)
6. If he put pen to paper and wrote a single paragraph, he helped.
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:05 PM
Feb 2016

They're now regurgitating all the shit they've been asked to eat since Hillary announced.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
7. I still see inconsistency that he is not thrown under the bus
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:07 PM
Feb 2016

by the supporters, for voting for the ACA alone, let alone actually having something to do with writing it. The same people claim it is a gift to insurance companies and provides no real care.

NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
13. Definitely inconsistent. But were you expecting anything different?
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:19 PM
Feb 2016



Note to Jury: It is not against the rules to point out inconsistency. No candidate or candidate's fans were smeared, attacked or insulted.

Kip Humphrey

(4,753 posts)
8. truth versus impression = falsehood? interesting conclusion but not one I would make.
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:08 PM
Feb 2016

I mean, I get how very important impressions are to the establishment elite, but I still come down on the side with elements of truth over impression. Sorry PolitiFact but this gets a "no pass" from me.

 

JRLeft

(7,010 posts)
22. I don't like it, it's better than what we had. We need single payer or price caps.
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 04:51 PM
Feb 2016

Hillary isn't for that.

 

demwing

(16,916 posts)
12. "Mostly True" at the very least
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:19 PM
Feb 2016

From Politifact:

There was no one who played a more important role than Sen. Sanders" in securing that funding, Daniel Hawkins, vice president of the National Association of Community Health Centers, told the Intercept last year. (Sanders’ camp forwarded PolitiFact the Intercept article as evidence for his statement.)

So there’s a good case to be made that Sanders made an important contribution to the final legislation.


Even if we accept that Politifact has a bias, it's got to be a strenuous excercise for them to ignore their own article.

Based on PF's research, this Sanders claim should be "Mostly True."

Ino

(3,366 posts)
15. The absolute truth is even better...
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:24 PM
Feb 2016
Sanders pushed hard for a more liberal version of health care reform -- the American Health Security Act of 2009, which would have implemented a national single-payer system. ... Until his effort was blocked by a GOP procedural move, Sanders supported a more aggressive single-payer system,

 

ViseGrip

(3,133 posts)
17. Here is the record from another senator on the committee....Politifact should be mostly true.
Sun Feb 7, 2016, 04:27 PM
Feb 2016

Yes, Bernie was very involved with the drafting of the ACA
Without Bernie there wouldn't have been 11 billion in the ACA CHCs. He made his vote for it contingent on that. And yes, he fought for single payer and the public option. The following is from the pro Hillary TPM.

ut interviews with various congressional staff involved with the reform effort as well as outside experts reveal that Sanders' role in the creation of 2010's Affordable Care Act is a complicated one.

On one hand, he sat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (or HELP) Committee -- one of the two committees charged with pulling together the legislation. And he championed not-insignificant provisions like expanded funding for community health centers and providing an option for states to experiment with their own systems.

On the other hand, his relentless push for the single-payer model made passing the bill more complicated, some staffers working on the legislation at the time told TPM, and to say he was behind the core elements -- the exchanges, mandates, and the Medicaid expansion --- would be an exaggeration.

At the end of the day, vetting his claim depends on your definition of “write.”

“Was he involved in the creation? He was deeply involved in a variety of ways. He got some important things in there,” said John McDonough, a Harvard public health professor who wrote the 2011 book "Inside National Health Reform."

<snip>

Former Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM) was the one Democrat who sat on both committees working on the ACA at the time. He was also a member of Baucus' Gang of Six.

“As a regular member of the committee on the Democratic side -- we were the ones who were writing the bill because Republicans were opposing everything,” Bingaman told TPM last week. “So was very much involved like the rest of us.”

Bingaman remembered specifically Sanders’ community health center provision, but said that “he was a strong advocate for other parts of it, too."

Legislative staffers on the HELP Committee from that time contend that Sanders’ various contributions were meaningful ones.

“I think it is an absolutely fair claim for him to make,” said one former Democratic aide. “I would say, unequivocally, he was very involved in putting his mark on the bill.”

<snip>
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sanders-role-in-the-affordable-care-act

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