5/20/17,"Tom Perez Bombs Speech, California Dem Chair Tells Protesters ‘Shut the F**k Up’," Observer.com, Michael Sainato (This could be Observer in NYC, maybe not. Also couldn't locate story's dateline. Website would be fully legible only if I canceled Ad Blocker. I copied the following text from Free Republic)
"The rift within the Democratic Party was on full display at the
California Democratic Party Convention on May 19 in Sacramento,
California. Progressives joined members of National Nurses United,
protesting the Democratic Party establishment’s refusal to support
single payer healthcare system. Rather than follow through with
Democratic rhetoric that healthcare is a human right, establishment
Democrats have responded to voters by scolding and attacking them. [Exactly like Establishment Republicans].
During
the first day of the convention, California Democratic Party chair John
Burton yelled at protesting nurses to “shut the f*ck up and go
outside.” Burton condescendingly told the protesters, “There’s [sic]
some people who have been fighting for that issue before you guys were
born.”
The California Democratic establishment, like the national
party leadership, has favored corporate and wealthy donors, undermining
pushes for a single payer healthcare system that would provide
Americans with healthcare—not just health insurance. Eric Bauman, the
California Democratic Party vice chair and candidate to succeed Burton
as the Party’s chair, received $12,500 a month from the pharmaceutical
industry to fight proposition 61, which would “cap the price that any
state agency or care program could spend on prescription drugs at what
the federal Department of Veterans Affairs pays.” Bauman received these
payments while earning a six-figure salary as an adviser to California
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. Proposition 61 failed to pass in
November 2016 after the pharmaceutical industry spent millions of
dollars opposing it.
During a rally at the state capitol,
National Nurses United Director RoseAnn Demoro told supporters not to
wait for establishment Democrats to take the lead on healthcare and
making medicare for all a reality. “They cannot be in denial anymore
that this is a movement that can primary them.”
DNC Chair Tom
Perez spoke at the California Democratic Party Convention, offering the
same meaningless rhetoric and platitudes that have incited boos,
protests, and criticisms of his ability to lead.
“We make sure that
healthcare is a right for everyone,” Perez claimed. “And not a privilege
for a few.”
Despite his claim, Perez and the Democratic Party
leadership refuse to support Medicare for All, insisting Obamacare just
needs a few improvements. Obamacare does not ensure healthcare as a
right, but rather serves to maximize benefits to the pharmaceutical and
health industries. Perez claims the Democratic Party supports providing
healthcare to all Americans, but is unwilling to support the policies
that will actually do so.
After pandering to protesters on the issue and
jokingly comparing their presence to infighting at Thanksgiving
dinner—a stark change from his constant affirmations that the party is
united—Perez reverted to the Democratic go-to in lieu of championing
stances on actual issues.
“We have a president….I don’t know
who it is, Putin, or Trump,” Perez said to an uninspired crowd. “They’re
in a bromance. This is really weird.” On May 20, House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi, who also doesn’t support single payer healthcare, focused
her speech at the California Democratic Party Convention on Russia as
well.
In contrast, at a rally for Bernie Sanders supporters at
the State Convention hosted by the National Nurses United on May 19,
former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner explained the need for the
Democratic Party to address the issues impacting working, middle class,
and low income Americans. “We need to deal with income inequality,
racial justice, but Dems only want to talk about Russia!” she said. “We
need a party that stands up for people and doesn’t fake it. In the
words of Janet Jackson ‘What have you done for me lately?'”"
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