Single-Payer to Get Actual House Vote

I will be damned.

No, it won't pass, but no, it's not just symbolic. This is historic. This is fucking amazing. This is proof that single-payer advocates are not just tin-foil-hat crazies. This is proof that single-payer health care is a legitimate policy alternative supported by mainstream members of a mainstream political party.

Remember Gandhi: First they laugh at you, then they ignore you, then they fight you, then you win.

This vote puts us at the "fight you" stage. goddamn.

Watch closely, everyone. Take names. Send thank-you letters and cash money.

Steven Benen:

It's not going to pass, and it's largely a symbolic gesture, but for the first time, a single-payer health proposal will get a floor vote after the August recess.

Seeking to dampen liberal anger about deals cut with centrists, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said House leaders have agreed to allow a floor vote on a government-run, single-payer system.

"A lot of members on our committee want a vote on that," said Waxman said in an interview. "I believe their wishes will be accommodated."

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) offered a single-payer amendment in the Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday, but withdrew it after Waxman said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had promised a floor vote.

For single-payer proponents, the vote will offer a chance to not only register their support, but bring some attention to their proposal. It might also put some Democrats, who support reform but not a single-payer system, in awkward position, knowing that the idea is popular among many in the Democratic base.

It should be an interesting vote.