E Barnaby
E Barnaby
Jul 28, 2017 · 1 min read

Thanks so much for this article, it really goes straight to the heart of the matter. When Speaker Rendon shelved SB562, he chose “protecting” his democratic colleagues over protecting the millions of uninsured Californians whose interests those legislators were supposed to represent. How did we get to the point where this kind of shameless politicking is considered a legitimate part of the democratic process? Thank you also for pointing out that the “organizers” Dayen has been decrying are in fact activists and community members whose concern for social justice extends beyond the internecine and — as we now clearly see — often rather ugly politics of state legislatures. In California, the CNA “organizers” vocally opposing Rendon’s suppression of the vote were not power-hungry bureaucrats: they were nurses. What do nurses have to gain from the fight for single-payer except improvement in the quality of life and care such a policy would bring to their patients? And that population is not a special interest group or even a specific demographic: it’s everyone.

    E Barnaby

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    E Barnaby