Excellent. See you took elements from Jimmy Carter, if I'm right, walking the parade route, some of the cabinet members, correct?
Blue Skies in Camelot: An Alternate 60's and Beyond
- Thread starter President_Lincoln
- Start date
Nice update! Surprised that it was so easy for Udall to get that passed, but I bet he's about to face a tough challenge, probably in the middle East.
In broad strokes...
Though Senator Kennedy originally wanted a national health care service which would have no cost sharing, he ended up compromising toward the Javits-inspired Medicare-for-All model when it became clear that through a slight increase in payroll tax, such a plan could be made revenue neutral (which would placate budget hawks in both parties) while still meeting the requirements placed by SecLabor Walter Reuther, the AMA, and other organizations. MoCare as it came to be known, has expanded Medicare into a single payer healthcare plan for all Americans, though it retains Medicare's cost sharing mechanisms (meaning patients will still pay a small co-pay for most specialist appointments, operations, etc.) The law will allow for negotiating the price of prescription drugs, as well as their importation from foreign countries, to keep costs down in that area as well. Obviously, the private insurance industry is furious about the reforms, but their lobby was not powerful enough to stop it, despite their best efforts. From my research, the medical lobby was still powerful in the 70's, but less so than it is today IOTL. Not to mention, ITTL's 1970's Labor Unions and their lobbies are still much more powerful than they are IOTL, meaning they will hold a great deal of sway in helping to get MoCare passed as well.
As for the (very) touchy subject of federal funds being used for abortions... As you have postulated, Mr. President, Representative McCormack (D - NY), Representative Bob Casey (D - PA), Representative Jesse Jackson (D - IL) and other pro-life Democrats would have seen the Hyde Amendment as a natural means of pushing their agenda into the healthcare debate. Unfortunately for them, pro-choice Democrats and Republicans countered that since MoCare effectively eliminates most private insurance (with some limited exceptions), to ban the use of federal funds for abortions here would, de facto make it next to impossible for a large number of women to have access to an abortion at all. While I agree that McCormack and Casey might not have gone for MoCare without Hyde, I could see Jackson prioritizing Universal Health Care over fighting abortion in this particular instance for the time being.
Thank you very much, Your Majesty!
I would be happy to give a SCOTUS update and will reference them and two of their decisions in a soon to come update. Do you have any specific questions about the Court that I can answer for you in the meantime?Thank you, historybuff!
You're spot on that I've taken some inspiration from OTL's Carter Administration. I can definitely see Mo, who's through and through a man of the people, walking the parade route as well. Thanks, @Worffan101! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
President Udall has one major leg up on OTL's President Carter - he's incredibly well-liked in Washington, works extremely well with Congress (and has plenty of legislative experience, deal-making and so forth), and is great at making the case for his policies directly to the people. He's passionate, but also charismatic. Cool, man. Thought those things were some of the things Carter did, and I was right. Also, thanks for the early birthday present, with my birthday being tomorrow. Reply to my PM's, and try to update the letter spin-off as soon as you can as well.
Sure thing. Happy birthday to you!
I hope you have a great day tomorrow, and today for that matter. My apologies for falling so far behind on Closer to Home. I do still really want to get back to that TL at some point, it's just a matter of finding the right narrative and how to put it together. But if you, or anyone else is interested in contributing to it, I would be more than happy to post it for you.
@President_Lincoln - that's some utterly fantastic work Glad to have you back!
Whatever else he does during his time in the White House, President Udall's going to be remembered for this one...that's one hell of an achievement.
Glad to have you back!Whatever else he does during his time in the White House, President Udall's going to be remembered for this one...that's one hell of an achievement.
That was a wonderful update @President_Lincoln! Also I wonder how Udall will handle the trouble in Iran’s next door neighbor?
This is the Walter Reuther you're thinking of.
The butterflies have, in fact, spared him. @President_Lincoln - that's some utterly fantastic work
Whatever else he does during his time in the White House, President Udall's going to be remembered for this one...that's one hell of an achievement.
You're both too kind! Thank you for your kind words and support. Udall's big win on healthcare has certainly won the President a ton of clout. Only time will tell, however, if his lofty vision for foreign policy can come to fruition, especially as the Middle East and other regions continue to be complicated by regional conflict.
Mo Udall makes me think of Jed Barlett in the West Wing especially the walk to the White House. If that show was made in this timeline I could see that maybe being the starting point of Barlett's political career something to do with Udall, either way, I really enjoyed this update.
Thank you very much, @HesitatedEye!
I'd be lying if I said that my being a huge Jed Bartlett/West Wing fan didn't have something to do with my writing TTL... I really like that idea!Mmm, I don't see it exactly. When Hyde was passed it was pretty much universally bi partisan, with even Pro Choice reps jumping on the band wagon. Not including it seems a pretty sure way to give opponents of the bill a very fine weapon to bludgeon it to death, plus making the Christian Democrats distinctly uncomfortable from the get go, does not seem to be the best for Udalls hopes here. A good alternative to Hyde could possibly be a provision letting local administrations decide wether to fund a Abortion or not,Won't make anyone particularly happy but it at least avoids the perception of the Federal Government jumping in to support Abortion with Your Money and allows Udall himself to obsucre his position.
That would set the precedent of local authorities being able to choose what gets funded with Medicare-for-all and effectively kill the law from the inside.
Not if they set a very pecific amendment saying that this part and this part only is chosen by local authorities.
The Precedent it would set during the Congressional meetings on it, I mean. If they gave way on that, then I could see opponents of the bill forcing everything to be allowed by local authorities, and the momentum would shift,
Well,throw them a big enough of a bone, pecificly on this issue and you may get the Christian Dems to unite behind actually getting the bill passed with no more exclusions...
Thank you very much, @HesitatedEye!
Glad to help it is a great great show I agree.