Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Democratic Primary Debate: Do Democrats Want an Impossible Revolution or More of the Same?

The debate within the Democratic primary can be boiled down to this: Bernie Sanders is calling for a revolution. Hillary Clinton is defending the current regime.

That debate, long lurking below the surface in the Democratic contest, was displayed more clearly than ever in tonight’s primary debate, which feature Clinton and Sanders repeatedly clashing over whether to build on President Obama’s legacy or to cast it aside in favor of more radical change.

This divide was particularly apparent in the back-and-forths over health care and financial reform. The Sanders and Clinton camps have been arguing all week over the merits of single-payer health care, with Sanders making the case that only a single payer system can truly provide the sort of guaranteed universal coverage that Democrats have long promised, and Clinton arguing that even attempting a single-payer system would jeopardize all of the gains that Democrats have made with Obamacare.

Asked about the squabble, Clinton said that with Obamacare, “we finally have a path to universal health care...I do not to want see the Republicans repeal it, and I don't to want see us start over again with a contentious debate. I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act and improve it.”

http://reason.com/blog/2016/01/17/democratic-primary-debate-do-democrats-w

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