John Nichols explains why he is excited about the possibilities for progressive reform to the healthcare bill.
John NicholsNation columnist John Nichols and National Organization for Women President Terry O’Neill discuss reform of the healthcare bill on Bill Moyers Journal. O’Neill is frustrated by the sacrifices forced upon the women’s movement for the bill and wants to see leadership from Obama. Nichols is excited about the prospects for reform and says that the only mistake progressives could make is to "defend this bill as is."
Nichols briefly discusses a proposal set forth by Democratic Representative Alan Grayson from Florida, which would allow citizens to buy in to Medicare at cost. The proposal is promising, Nichols says, because Grayson’s bill has eighty cosponsors and his online petition has received new signatures at the rate of one every six seconds.
"Obama is a cautious president," Nichols says. "It is time to go out and make him do the things that need to be done, and that’s an on organizing task."
John NicholsTwitterJohn Nichols is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation. He has written, cowritten, or edited over a dozen books on topics ranging from histories of American socialism and the Democratic Party to analyses of US and global media systems. His latest, cowritten with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.