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After Bad Gaza Poll, Biden Told to Choose 'Option That Upholds Human Rights'
A New York Times/Sienna College survey found that the U.S. president's handling of the Gaza crisis is unpopular with voters across the political spectrum.
Dec 19, 2023
The New York Timessuggested Tuesday that U.S. President Joe Biden has "few politically palatable options" after a survey the newspaper conducted with Siena College showed that his handling of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip is broadly unpopular with the American electorate.
Matt Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), responded that Biden's choice is clear.
"He should choose the option that upholds human rights and international law, which is what he promised during his campaign," wrote Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy. "Support a cease-fire."
The Times/Siena College poll of U.S. voters found that Biden's current approach—which has consisted of unconditional military support for Israel accompanied by mild calls for the protection of Gaza civilians and opposition to a lasting cease-fire—has just 33% support and 57% opposition.
Among young voters who were critical to Biden's 2020 victory over former President Donald Trump, the opposition is even more pronounced, with 73% of those between the ages of 18 and 29 saying they disapprove, according to the new survey. Forty-seven percent of young voters said they believe Biden is too supportive of Israel, while just 6% said he's too supportive of the Palestinians.
The survey's findings amplified concerns that, in addition to rendering himself complicit in genocide, Biden is alienating key elements of the Democratic base by arming the Israeli military as it carries out mass atrocities in the Gaza Strip.
"Yet another major poll finds that Biden is killing his own reelection bid with his inhumane and strategically nonsensical Gaza policy," Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote on social media.
The survey was released ahead of an expected United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution calling for a "suspension of hostilities." A previous version of the resolution called for a "cessation of hostilities," but the text was reportedly watered down in an effort to prevent the U.S. from once again wielding its veto power.
As the Biden administration's opposition to a sustained cease-fire leaves the U.S. increasingly isolated on the world stage, the Times/Siena College poll found that 44% of U.S. voters—including 59% of Democrats—believe Israel should "stop its military campaign in order to protect against civilian casualties, even if not all Israeli hostages have been released."
Sixty-five percent of Democratic voters believe Israel should stop its assault on Gaza to prevent additional civilian deaths "even if Hamas has not been fully eliminated" in line with the Israeli government's stated objective.
During a meeting last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly urged the far-right leader to transition to a "lower intensity" form of warfare in Gaza "in a matter of weeks, not months," the latest signal that the Biden administration is feeling domestic and international pressure as the humanitarian catastrophe worsens and the death toll climbs.
"I don't want to see any baby die. So, first of all, we've got to take that on. We've got to get a cease-fire. This has to stop."
Shira Lurie, assistant professor of American History at Saint Mary's University, warned in an op-ed for the Toronto Star on Monday that Biden's continued arming of Israel and opposition to a permanent cease-fire "could have severe ramifications in the electoral college" in 2024 "as several key states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, have significant Muslim populations."
A lawmaker from one of those states, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), said in an NBC News interview on Sunday that "there's a lot that has to be done" for Biden to win back the votes of those who are furious over his support for Israel's decimation of Gaza.
"All of us in this country need to understand what's happening in Gaza right now. You can fight about how many thousands of people have been killed, but 6,000 to 8,000 children have been killed," said Dingell. "Eighty-five percent of the people in Gaza have had to leave their homes. They're living in shelters. Disease is going up. There's one toilet for 220 people, one shower for 4,500 people. They don't have food. They don't have medicine. They don't have utilities."
"I can't tell you the number of families that I've spoken to who've lost entire families," she continued. "We've got to show some empathy and compassion. A Jewish baby and a Palestinian baby are babies. I don't want to see any baby die. So, first of all, we've got to take that on. We've got to get a cease-fire. This has to stop."
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Baltimore Becomes Latest US City to Officially Endorse Medicare for All
"Every Baltimore resident deserves healthcare whenever they need it," said one local pastor who backed the resolution. "It's time to join every other developed nation in making healthcare a guaranteed human right."
Nov 21, 2023
Baltimore on Monday became the latest of over 100 U.S. municipalities to officially endorse a national healthcare program, commonly called Medicare for All.
The passage of a Medicare for All resolution—introduced by Democratic Baltimore City Councilmembers Kristerfer Burnett and Odette Ramos—puts Maryland's largest city in a growing group of municipalities including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver, Austin, and Washington, D.C. that have endorsed federally funded universal healthcare programs.
"I want to thank the advocates who have been pushing these resolutions across the country to try and show that there are municipalities that understand that our constituents, in order to fully thrive, need access to healthcare," Burnett said Monday.
"No one should be forced to make the desperate choice between paying for insulin or groceries."
Local Rev. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr., pastor of the Union Baptist Church, told the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen that "every Baltimore resident deserves healthcare whenever they need it."
"No one should be forced to make the desperate choice between paying for insulin or groceries," Hathaway added. "It's time to join every other developed nation in making healthcare a guaranteed human right."
According to U.S. Census Bureau figures cited by Public Citizen, more than 1 in 5 Baltimore residents live in poverty, with 6.7% of residents under age 65 uninsured.
The Baltimore City Health Department published a report in 2020 that said, in part:
It is impossible to discuss the health and well-being of Baltimore City's residents without applying the lens of health equity and systemic disparities. While the overall mortality rate in Baltimore City has declined over the past decade, the city still has a mortality rate nearly 30% higher than the rest of the state, and ranks last on key health outcomes compared to other jurisdictions in Maryland.
This reality is compounded by a series of complicated systemic social, political, economic, and environmental obstacles. With more than 1 in 3 of Baltimore's children below the federal poverty line and more than 30% of Baltimore households earning less than $25,000 per year, income, poverty, and race have an enormous impact on health outcomes.
Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, said that "every day, we nurses see the human cost of our patients delaying care or going without care, simply because they can't afford it, and that's why we need Medicare for All."
"We're grateful to the city of Baltimore for joining more than 100 other cities around the country in passing a resolution in support of Medicare for All," Ross added. "The grassroots movement to guarantee healthcare to all in the United States is growing every day."
Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) in reintroducing Medicare for All legislation.
"The American people understand, as I do, that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege," Sanders said at the time. "As we speak, there are millions of people who would like to go to a doctor but cannot afford to do so. That is an outrage."
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Medicare for All Reintroduced to Save $650 Billion and 68,000 Lives Per Year
"We must act to end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on earth to not guarantee healthcare to all," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
May 17, 2023
Economic justice and human rights advocates applauded Wednesday as progressives in the U.S. House and Senate reintroduced legislation to expand the Medicare system to all Americans, with the bill garnering more support in Congress than ever before.
More than half of the Democratic caucus in the House has signed on as co-sponsors of the Medicare for All Act of 2023, including 13 powerful ranking members of congressional committees.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was joined by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) in leading more than 120 lawmakers in introducing the bill, with a number of supporters speaking about the worsening healthcare crisis at a press conference on Capitol Hill.
"We live in a country where millions of people ration lifesaving medication or skip necessary trips to the doctor because of cost," said Jayapal. "Sadly, the number of people struggling to afford care continues to skyrocket as millions of people lose their current health insurance as pandemic-era programs end. Breaking a bone or getting sick shouldn't be a reason that people in the richest country in the world go broke."
"There is a solution to this health crisis—a popular one that guarantees healthcare to every person as a human right and finally puts people over profits and care over corporations," the congresswoman added. "That solution is Medicare for All—everyone in, nobody out."
\u201cIntroducing the Medicare for All Act of 2023 https://t.co/n3aqsAOXho\u201d— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal) 1684346363
About 15 million people in the U.S. are set to lose their health coverage this year as pandemic-era assistance ends, adding to the 85 million people who are currently either uninsured or underinsured—with coverage that includes high deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, leaving them unable to afford the healthcare they need.
Sanders, who has advocated for a government-run health program for decades, noted in a press statement than 68,000 people per year in the U.S. die due to a lack of health coverage.
"The American people understand, as I do, that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege," said Sanders, who serves as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. "As we speak, there are millions of people who would like to go to a doctor but cannot afford to do so. That is an outrage... We must act to end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on earth to not guarantee healthcare to all."
Under the Medicare for All Act, the existing Medicare program—which is generally open only to people age 65 and older—would be expanded to everyone in the United States and would allow them to obtain primary, vision, dental, reproductive, and mental healthcare; prescription drugs; substance abuse treatment; long-term healthcare services; and other medical care without any cost at the point of service.
The program would run similarly to government-run health programs that have long existed in other wealthy countries.
While detractors—including lawmakers who take substantial donations from the for-profit health insurance industry—have frequently claimed that Medicare for All would be too expensive, a Congressional Budget Office analysis found in 2020 that the program would save between $300 billion and $650 billion annually.
"A study by RAND found that moving to a Medicare for All system would save a family with an income of less than $185,000 about $3,000 a year, on average," said Sanders' office in a statement.
The lawmakers introduced the legislation a day after Sanders and Jayapal hosted a town hall on Capitol Hill where they were joined by patients, doctors, and nurses whose experiences in the U.S. healthcare system illustrate the need for Medicare for All.
Dr. Natasha Driver, a first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., said she recently cared for a woman whose service industry job did not provide her with health insurance.
"When I first met her after delivery, she refused treatments which were part of routine postpartum care for the simple reason that she couldn't afford them," said Driver. "This is a regrettable and all too common occurrence in the practice of medicine, especially for those of us who work with the underserved. Medicare for All would reduce the problem of uninsurance and allow me to adequately care for my patients."
\u201cLIVE: Join me and @RepJayapal as we hold a town hall at the U.S. Capitol on the need for Medicare for All. https://t.co/Zawjrh77KX\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1684280198
Robert Weissman, president of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, noted that while millions of Americans lack health coverage that would allow them to receive adequate care, health insurers, hospital chains, and pharmaceutical companies "are generating staggering profits," with insurance companies making more than $69 billion last year.
"It's time for Americans to stop being treated like suckers. It's time to make healthcare a right. It's time for Medicare for All," said Weissman. "A system of expanded and improved Medicare for All would reduce our spending on healthcare while providing universal access, better outcomes, and more equity."
"With Medicare for All, healthcare decisions would be made by patients and doctors—not for-profit insurance companies thinking about their bottom lines," he added. "There would never be another medical bankruptcy. Having decent coverage would not depend on where a person works or whether they are employed or married. Patients could take their prescriptions on schedule, without worrying about price."
Social Security Works (SSW) pointed out that the legislation is being introduced as Republicans threaten the Medicare and Social Security systems with their proposal to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for social spending cuts.
"Medicare for All's supporters envision a future where Medicare is improved to include dental, hearing, vision and long-term care, and then expanded to cover everyone in America," said Alex Lawson, executive director of SSW. "A future without delays or denials, without copays or deductibles. A future where everyone gets the care they need. Meanwhile, Republicans want to make our current profit-driven healthcare system even worse."
"The best way for Democrats to stop that from happening," Lawson said, "is to go on offense with full-fledged support for Medicare for All."
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