Commie-fornia Democrats Hit a Wall on Single-Payer

There is so much winning for taxpayers, concerned citizens, and conservatives in general in the state of California. The slow but steady victories in this blue bastion of progressive insanity should raise hope for all of us. After all, the Left loves to gloat that what happens in California is most likely to pop up all over the United States.

They might want to change their minds.

First, an assemblyman in Commie East Bay Alameda County attempted to allow Communists to serve openly in our government. The South Vietnamese Community in Orange County and veterans throughout the state hammered this liberal nut. His bill to “update archaic language in the state code” died after getting a bare majority in the Assembly. Besides, the legislature is full of communists anyway. They just need to be voted out.

Then the infamous state senator who removed an exemption from forced school vaccinations tried to push a state-based resolution of children’s rights. This bill was really a subversive attack on parental rights. His proposal would invite more government intervention into the home. The proposal crashed and burned.

And now for the latest good news, and everyone needs to know about it. Single payer is dead in California—for now.

In spite of their strongest attempts, the two openly-gay, openly abusive and liberal state senators Ricardo Lara and Toni Atkins will not enact a single-payer system in California. Keep in mind that previous California legislatures had advanced single-payer to the Governor’s desk in years past.

The projected program would have expanded Medicare to every Californian (and the illegal aliens, too.) The projected cost reached $400 billion, but the cost of anything has never deterred the Bernie-crat progressives who have taken over the California Democratic Party, even if their new chairman is a corrupt crony who pays lip-service to progressive goals. All over the state, especially in the town halls I have attended—not crashed!—incessantly aggressive progressives were demanding single-payer health care—at all costs. Senator Dianne Feinstein says no, but the ultra-liberal Congressional representatives like Brad Sherman and Ted Lieu said “Yes!” The grassroots want socialized medicine. The progressive special interests and community activists want it, too. But guess what? The grand scheme to socialize health care in the state of California has been put into a coma.

I was genuinely surprised. Liberal, regressive proposals have been dying off in other otherwise Democratic strongholds. Hawaii and Maryland rejected assisted suicide bills, but California passed one, with Republican support. California tends to go all-in for these liberal schemes, but even they had to face facts. And their failure is not a singular one. Other states had flirted with socialized medicine, only to back away because of the exorbitant cost. Vermont had a Democratic trifecta three years ago, and former Governor “Putney” Pete Shumlin determined that his state would switch from Green Mountain Obamacare to Universal Healthcare. The tax burden proved too great, even for Democrats. They couldn’t afford it. Same was true for Rhode Island.

And then there’s California, where the state steals money from current and future generations to pay off over-generous pensions for the previous generations. They also spend money they don’t have protecting illegal aliens while leaving American citizens unsafe and uncared for. Sacramento lawmakers can’t even fix the roads. How could they ever manage healthcare, too? Even in California, regressive leftists are learning the limits, and even they must heed the stern advice of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to her collectivist, redistributionist opponents: “The problem with socialism is that the government ends up running out of other people’s money.”

Besides, Californians already voted to prevent government encroachment into medicine. Proposition 63 would have imposed price controls on pharmaceuticals, making a bad situation worse. Despite Bernie Sanders’ backing and lots of union money, Big Pharma and other business interests pushed back, and voters said “No!” They also oppose single-payer—even if it passed the state Senate. The state Assembly had no appetite to take the bill. Interestingly enough, Governor Jerry Brown was prepared to veto the medical monstrosity, too.

So, Speaker Anthony Rendon finagled to protect his peers from the wrath of the nurses’ union and keep the Democratic base happy. How? After all, he can’t say “I do whatever Big Business tells me to.” Instead, he blamed Donald Trump and the Republicans. “They’re going to repeal Obamacare. We need the federal funding through that program to fund our single-payer system.” Great politics, and it works for all of us who earn money and know how to count, too. He also placed blame on the state Senate. “They passed a bill that is incomplete.” WHAT? Yes, this insouciant incompetence is commonplace in Sacramento—and with the Democratic Party as a whole. Then Rendon bolsters the base once again: “We will reconsider the proposal at the next legislative session.”

Sure you will, Tony.

Actually, the Democratic legislature won’t try again. The $400 billion price-tag nearly rivals the looming pension liabilities. No matter how profligate they are, the Democrats have to budget for it. Certain issues matter, like “Who will pay for this? How?” Whether they like Trump or not, the California Democrats’ healthcare proposal depends on federal assistance for money and legal waivers. So much for The Resistance, right? Not only that but major tax increases and policy shifts would require an up and down vote from the voters. California voters are taxed too much already. They already rejected Prop 63. Did they think that a $400 billion tax increase (which nearly rivals the pension liabilities eating the state budget).

Why should the country rejoice about this latest Democratic defeat? Single-payer fantasies are the hill that Democratic trifectas die on. Obama and the Democratic Congress wanted a public option in 2009. They gave us Obamacare, then Republicans retook the House. Vermont has a Republican governor now, and the Democrats do not have a supermajority.

This one-year breather gives me pause, peace, and hope. Even in deeply self-destructive Democratic California, conservatives can celebrate a victory.