The stakes of the Georgia run off are so weird because they are both so huge and so small. In the short term since the current Senate Dems refuse to be senators (pass laws with simple majority) the impact of the win on passing laws (main job of senators) is small but... 1/ On the short term control of the Senate will determine if Biden can staff the government. It is literally about whether we have functional government or death cult level of obstructionism insanity.
Long term the implications are massive though. It decides our entire future 2/

Lets be clear because a lot of idiots don't understand the consitution. The rules say a Senate majority can refuse to vote on a president's nominee.
The rules say a Senate can approve a nominee
The rules say a Senate majority can vote to increase the size of the Supreme Court 1/

https://twitter.com/baseballcrank/status/1307329520014364680

Increasing the size of the Supreme Court has been done repeatedly. It is the rules. It is consitutional.
McConnell's is threaten to follow the rules but ignore all norms.
So Dem should also ingore the norms and just follow the rules. 2/

In some ways 2020 was better for the left than 2016. While they refused to admit it much of Sanders support in 2016 had little to do with Sanders and more people hating Clinton. This time Biden is actually well liked. Sanders vote was his actual support 1/ The fact a very old white guy who just had a heart attack and refused to become a Dem can get 35% of the primary vote based on his policies means a movement with actual strategy could pick up numerous open Congressional/state leg seats. 2/

I think much of this wrong on a practical level but it does provide a insight on why the Medicare for All fight on the left often seems so weird to outsiders. Some supporters don't view it as a solution to a problem but something way different 1/ jacobinmag.com/2019/11/medica…

https://twitter.com/jacobinmag/status/1192173557679345672

Like if you treated Medicare for All as normal bill you won't care if Sanders or Warren won or if the compromise changed 15% of it but since it is meant to be the rallying point, the breaker of the Dem party, and redesigner of capitalism. It can only be Sanders M4A 2/

Thread: So Buttigieg is finally out with his health care plan which is basically the Biden health care plan plus a few very good but minor additions, like a Japanese style retroactive enrollment to get de facto universal coverage and better OON solution 1/ peteforamerica.com/policies/healt… My first thought is "why isnt this the Biden plan?" The changes Pete made are important but minor. They deal with the making sure every American is covered/not medical bankrupt problem. It makes the Biden team seem lazy and like they don't care 2/

A thread about state single payer efforts, single payer groups, @PNHP, (lead by @awgaffney) @CalNurses, the failure of the left to advance any real reform at the state level and the big important priority/goal divide among people who actually support single payer 1/ There are several things SP could do:
reduce admin spending.
assure economic protection for people.
assure a more equitable provision of health care
dramatically reduce total health spending by forcing providers drugmakers to stop charging so much with a single clear price. 2/

This new house Dem health care bill is deeply disappointing and pathetic. Would it be an improvement on the status quo if it become law? Yes for a segment of people but it isnt passing so it is a message and as a message bill it is bad. 1/ It does nothing for most people struggling with health care cost (no broad drug reform, no suprise billing fix, no monopoly break up, no public option, etc...) and it only real solution for the small exchange population is throw more money not fix price issues 2/

Big problem with much of health care analysis is we count redistribution wrong. The government giving a poor person $10,000 for a surgery that they let hospitals overcharge $5,000 for is not a $10,000 transfer to poor people. It is $5,000 to poor person, $5,000 to rich people. The redistribution impact of say the ACA looks much worse when using a more realistic metric. Letting someone overcharge a person, when the government is subsidizing coverage, should be correctly seen as transfer to well off doctors and hospitals.