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1854 Pres. Pierce vetoes a national health bill saying it would be unconstitutional to regard health as anything but a private matter.

1912 Teddy Roosevelt campaigns on a platform calling for a single national health service. He is defeated.

The Brits have had universal healthcare since the 1930s

1939 A proposal by Pres. Franklin Roosevelt for national health insurance fails as Southern Democrats align with Republicans.

1948 Pres. Truman’s plan for government-run healthcare fails after the AMA criticizes it and Republicans compare it to communism.

1954 Pres. Eisenhower proposes a $25M plan to provide healthcare to uninsured Americans. Congress rejects it.

1971 Sen. Edward Kennedy offers his national health insurance plan calling for a single payer.

1974 Pres. Nixon’s proposal for universal coverage dies in Congress.

1979 Pres. Carter proposes expansion of health insurance for the poor and a “public option.” It dies in Congress.

1993 Pres. Clinton proposes healthcare overhaul. It dies in Congress.

2009 President Obama proposes universal healthcare, setting off more than a year of debate, with Republicans universally resistant.

March 21, 2010 Yes we can!

I’ve always admired Kucinich for his stand on universal coverage, but now he realizes it’s “crunch time” for Obama’s healthcare reform plan and the perfect can’t be the enemy of the good. In other words, he’s become a pragmatist.  God, let’s get the votes and get ‘er done.

Yes, that's really his wife

From my hero Markos of the Daily Kos writing in The Hill:

Republicans are spitting mad. The Wall Street Journal editorial page called it a “brazen affront to the plain language of the Constitution.” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told a crowd, “They want us to pay for this? Because we don’t have to. We don’t have to. We don’t have to follow a bill that isn’t law.” Rush Limbaugh claimed Democrats were employing a “twisted scheme” to “bend the rules,” while prominent conservative blog Hot Air ridiculously claimed Democrats were using the procedure “for the first time in U.S. history.”

Republicans have made far more use of these procedures to “ram through” their agenda when in power, and the rules certainly gave them the luxury to do so. Yet they apparently believe that Democrats should use a different, far more restrictive rulebook. What’s good for the GOP becomes unacceptable, unprecedented and unconstitutional when it involves Democrats.