The Bernie Bros and sisters are coming to Republicans' rescue

[SunSeeker]

46. HR 676 does not set a tax to fund it. That is how Vermont single payer died.

I am very familiar with HR 676. Ten years ago I went on Zazzle.com and made my own "Yes on HR 676" bumper sticker and proudly put it on my car. Then, after seeing single payer efforts fail in Vermont, and most recently in California, I realized we can't just enact single payer in one fell swoop.

Like the Vermont single payer law that Bernie pushed and that passed the Vermont legislature, HR 676 simply authorizes the legislature to come up with a tax figure to pay for it: "Instituting a modest and progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income." And therein lies the rub. No legislature has the guts to do that, not even the bluest of blue legislatures like the Vermont legislature. No politician, not even Bernie, had the guts to advocate for a 12% tax, a reasonable amount, to pay for Vermont's single payer.

It has become obvious to me that the best strategy to institute single payer is to institute it in steps, by beefing up Obamacare and putting in a public option.