Want single-payer? End Citizen's United

In the aftermath of the recent Republican attempt to destroy the American healthcare system and take away health insurance from millions of people, many may be wondering what would possess the GOP to attempt to ram through the Obamacare repeal bill which was extremely unpopular among voters on both the left and the right. It is the same reason that centrist Democrats balk at supporting a single-payer healthcare system. That reason is money.

Koch Industries money controls GOP

One would think it would not be good politics for the GOP to attempt to enact legislation that a majority of the public on both sides of the political spectrum strongly reject. However, political campaigns are becoming increasingly more expensive to mount, which means politicians need large amounts of donations to compete. One of the largest donors to the Republican Party, Koch Industries, an international corporation owned by Charles and David Koch, had donated $1.8 million to 176 Republican congressional candidates in 2016. Leading up to the Obamacare repeal vote the Koch brothers had warned Republicans if they were not able to pass major legislation to move the conservative agenda forward, they, along with other GOP mega-donors would stop donating to GOP politicians, according to Salon.

This is why Republican Senator Mitch McConnell had brought the Obamacare repeal bill to a vote despite not knowing if he had enough votes to pass the legislation. He had to at least give the appearance that he was doing everything he could to pass the Republican “healthcare” bill which was also essential for GOP tax cuts for the wealthy to be implemented via the budget reconciliation process.

Democrats and 'Big Pharma'

On the other hand, corporate donors also exercise extensive influence over Democrats and their decisions regarding healthcare policy. This was apparent in Democratic Senator Cory Booker's refusal to back progressive Senator Bernie Sander's bill to allow Americans to purchase prescription drugs from Canada where medications are generally less expensive. He did this despite 72 percent of Americans supporting the idea of importing prescription drugs from Canada, according to The Intercept.

It is no accident that Booker is notorious for being heavily funded by the pharmaceutical industry, garnering more donations from Big Pharma than any other Democratic senator. Over the last six years Booker has received $267,338 from the drug industry.

Influence from the pharmaceutical industry even played a role in the forming of Obamacare. After receiving millions of dollars in donations from the drug industry Barack Obama decided to back off his push for a single-payer healthcare system, according to International Business Times.

End Citizen's United

The legal mechanism which allows for corporations to essentially pay off American politicians on both sides of the aisle is the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Citizen's United vs. Federal Election Commission. This decision by the highest court in the country empowered corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns in order to pressure politicians to enact policies friendly to corporate interests regardless of what is best for the American people. Therefore, it is imperative for progressives, Democrats and anybody else who wants to see an American healthcare system that works for everybody to back candidates who want to reform the corrupt U.S. campaign finance system. 

 

Some of the politicians out there right now advocating for campaign finance reform and for ending Citizen's United are Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders as well as Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard who has recently pledged to stop taking corporate donations. Even centrist Senator Booker had to decide to “pause” his accepting of Big Pharma donations due to political pressure from constituents, a testament to how much everyday people can change politics if they are informed and involved. There are also various organizations, such as Our Revolution, working to achieve campaign finance reform in the U.S.