Behind the scenes at the KalraCare flop
State progressives indulged in another round of "eat-your-own" theatrics after local rep Ash Kalra pulled his proposal for a state-run, socialized healthcare regime. Prompted by their union paymasters, progressive reps and advocates threatened all sorts of retribution on the moderate Democrats who opposed the radical plan. California Policy Center has the inside story.
Assemblyman Ash Kalra's (D-San Jose) bill would have created “CalCare,” a single-payer healthcare system that would be run by the kinds of people who can’t manage the state’s employment department or DMV.
Sane people everywhere celebrated the reprieve. Imagine handing over one of the most complicated industries in modern civilization to men and women like Ash Kalra, a besuited legislator with whom you would not entrust an electric toothbrush. Imagine handing over life-and-death decisions to the people whose recklessness around systems technology sent more than $20 billion in unemployment benefits to organized criminals.
Kalra’s last-minute move was a savvy act of political self-preservation for Assembly members facing re-election in November. But the union activists behind the bill, the California Nurses Association (CNA) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), went ballistic. Even knowing the bill had more enemies than friends, they insisted on a kind of last stand. They wanted a vote so that, as one member of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party put it, they could get “names” to create their own enemies list.
In a press statement, the Progressive Caucus, which threatened to block the endorsements of any Democrat who voted against “CalCare,” declared it would hunt down defectors despite the lack of a vote: “Our delegates and volunteers have identified dozens of candidates who either indicated they opposed the measure or failed to support it. Our Caucus will continue with its plans to pull their endorsements.”
And so, the unions and progressives will continue their political theatrics, punishing any legislator who has the audacity to suggest putting the brakes on a government-run healthcare system that would increase the top marginal tax rate on wage income to 18.05% and impose a 2.3% gross receipts tax on already beleaguered businesses, and only accelerate the massive California Exodus of people and businesses fleeing the state.
Kalra’s bill is dead for this year but keep your wooden stakes ready: It’s likely to come back to life after the election.
Read the whole thing here.
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