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Monday, July 30, 2018

Formation, membership, and aims of a new House caucus, per the Stranger: Medicare for All Caucus Launches in the U.S. House With Over 60 Members - report by Rich Smith • Jul 19, 2018 at 3:02 pm .

The link. An excerpt (WaPo link in original):

On Thursday a group of over 60 Representatives launched the Medicare for All Caucus, which aims to raise awareness and understanding of the issue and to serve as a "clearinghouse of resources for members of Congress and their staff."

Seattle Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Minneapolis Rep. Keith Ellison, and Ann Arbor Rep. Debbie Dingell co-chair the organization, whose membership has climbed to 70 since the launch this morning. A spokesman for Rep. Jayapal called this number of initial members "unprecedented." Currently, 122 representatives cosponsor HR 676, the Medicare for All bill in the House, so the numbers may get even higher relatively soon.

"A big thing that this caucus does is it creates a platform to talk about these issues and to further advance the cause," Jayapal's spokesman said. [...] "It’s to get the Democrats in a good place so they can thoughtfully and logically bring about this issue, if we’re able to win the house back."

The caucus does seem relatively large for being so new. [...] The larger-than-average size might be due to the fact that Medicare for All is a pretty popular idea, even in places where Trump won in 2016. The Washington Post reports that "the concept 'Medicare for All' has majority support in 42 states," and a March poll from Lake Research Partners found that a majority of people (54%) in 30 swing districts "strongly support" 'Medicare for All.'"

That leaves only one question for the 123 Democrats who haven't yet joined the club: what's your excuse?

Republican Glen Taylor's Strib contains in-house content. With spin. Betty McCollum is mentioned. It is such a safe district, one allowing expansive views and actions. Bruce Vento served it well.

The WaPo item link given earlier via excerpting ends:

Since the apparent victory of Conor Lamb in a special election for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, some Democrats have speculated that his center-left policy agenda — falling short of endorsing universal Medicare and the $15 minimum wage — is easier to sell in swing seats than the full progressive agenda. In an interview, Sanders allowed that candidates like Lamb could tailor their campaigns to the district but suggested it would be hard to motivate the electorate without universal Medicare.

“Look, America is a very, very big country,” Sanders said. “People running in Northern California are not necessarily going to be the same as people running in Mississippi or western Pennsylvania. The way to increase the voter turnout, and the way for Democrats to win, is to run on the progressive agenda, because that’s what Americans support. Medicare for All, the $15 minimum wage, free college — that’s good policy and good politics."

Bruce Vento would agree. He would have understood Bernie. Without timidity. Without being anybody's waffle.

_____________UPDATE______________
Grain of salt disclosure, better late than never, per this AP feed item. Word search it for "Koch" and see mid-item disclosure of a kind leaving an ambiguity; future projections always being fraught with doubt as well as open to stacking the deck with dubious projections years into a future of doing things in the nation as never done here before. Detail devils can abound.