Health Care: Why Progressives Should Support the Green Party

As a follow-up to my recent post asking if progressives will finally declare their independence from the Democratic Party in 2010, perhaps it is only proper to elaborate why the Green Party would be a better home for progressives than the Democratic wing of the corporatist two-party state. Let's look at but one issue: health care reform. Many progressives opposed Obamacare because it does not "guarantee affordable comprehensive health care," but rather requires everyone to purchase a health insurance industry product, or else. In the above-mentioned post, I quoted El Duderino at Firedoglake, who wrote:

The health insurance boondoggle that passed into law last month was a monumental failure in what passed for the push for reform. This is largely because the American left is wholly subservient to the Democrat Party.

The little dude suggested that FDL explicitly support Green Party candidates like those suggested by Dave Schwab in his article on five Green gubernatorial campaigns to watch in 2010: Rich Whitney (IL), Jill Stein (MA), Laura Wells (CA), David Curtis (NV) and Dennis Spisak (OH). Unlike so many if not all of their Democratic counterparts, every single one of these candidates actively and vocally supports universal single-payer health care, which is not surprising since universal health care is a primary plank in the Green Party's platform. Some excerpts from each of these candidates stances on health care:

Rich Whitney (IL): "the Illinois Green Party stands squarely, unequivocally and explicitly in favor of a single-payer universal health-care system, that will provide comprehensive, high quality physical, mental and dental health care, and eye care."

Jill Stein (MA): "It’s time to act to provide affordable, quality health coverage to all our citizens . . . There is a proven way to achieve all this while saving billions of dollars. It involves a Medicare-for-all system that pays for itself simply by cutting out the insurance company red tape."

Laura Wells (CA): "Polls have repeatedly shown that Californians (and the U.S. population as a whole) support Single Payer Universal Health Care. As Governor, Laura Wells will: Actively support establishing a Single Payer Universal Health Care system . . . That system must offer a comprehensive benefit package."

David Curtis (NV): "All Nevadans will have access to affordable, quality and comprehensive healthcare. “Nevada shall have a public option for all Nevada residents. Nevada can pioneer a single-payer health care system or a greatly simplified system."

Dennis Spisak (OH): "Key Features in an Ohio Single Payer Health Care Plan: Universal, Comprehensive Coverage. Only such coverage ensures access, avoids a two-class system, and minimizes expense No out-of-pocket payments; co-payments and deductibles are barriers to access, administratively unwieldy, and unnecessary for cost containment; a single insurance plan in the state, administered by a public or quasi-public agency."

Sadly, many progressives have allowed themselves to be convinced by professional propagandists that the Democratic Party stands for something other than the indefinite reproduction of the global warfare and corporate welfare state. In this, they are not so very different from their conservative and libertarian counterparts in the Republican Party. Coming up: why conservatives and libertarians should support the Libertarian Party, health care edition.