General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders supported the ACA. His support was crucial. [View all]ehrnst
(32,640 posts)"Bernie has long supported single payer. When the ACA was being debated in Congress, many single-payer supporters urged that it be voted down. Their argument (which has some merit to it) was that enactment of the ACA would further entrench the role of the big for-profit private insurance companies, and make getting to single payer that much harder.
If Bernie had agreed with them, he could easily have said, "I want single payer, I won't settle for anything less, and on that basis I'm voting Nay on invoking cloture to end the GOP filibuster of President Obama's bill."
Actually, he did indeed do very similar to that...which him not doing is the basis for the claim in the OP headline.
He tried to make changes to the ACA that would transform it into single payer, and threatened to withold his vote if he didn't get his way.
From the Politifact analysis:
Sanders backed down after Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., used a procedural move to force a full reading of Sanders bill, a move that would have taken hours of floor time and imperiled passage of a more moderate bill backed by Obama and his allies.
However, as negotiations were in their final stage, Sanders successfully pushed for the inclusion of $11 billion in funding for community health centers, especially in rural areas. The insertion of this funding helped bring together both Democratic lawmakers on the left and Democrats representing more conservative, rural areas.
However, he once again threatened to pull support over the the lack of public option, which was being fought for very hard by Democrats (and which Pelosi had secured in the Congressional bill):
Politico went on to quote Sanders saying, "I have made it clear to the administration and Democratic leadership that my vote for the final bill is by no means guaranteed."
A few weeks later, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank reported that Sanders was still undecided on supporting the primary Democratic bill. "I am talking to the Democratic leadership, trying my best to salvage some positive things in this bill, so I am not on board yet."
So, no. That part of the OP is not supported by the fact checking that Politifact did on Sanders' role in the ACA.