(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Despite the Headlines, Black Voters Have it Figured Out. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-23 Every election cycle the mainstream media gets lots of clicks off of stories about how Democrats are at risk of losing the most Black voters ever. From the headlines just in the past week: Black Voters For Trump Will More Than Triple, Poll Indicates -Newsweek CNN data guru ‘speechless’ after polling finds Trump headed for ‘historic performance’ with Black voters -Fox News Biden losing support among Black voters in swing states: Survey -MSN And conservative media piles on with quotes from the worst grifters in politics about how “Black voters need to leave the Democrat plantation.” The implication is that a bunch of white Democrats slickly trick Black voters into voting for them and then ignore their concerns until the next election. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Black community is an critical part of the Democratic party at every level. Let’s start with the 5 most powerful people in the Democratic Party. Pictured below: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Barack Obama. Joe and Kamala Chuck Schumer Notice anything about 3 of them? And in “The People’s House,” of the 213 Democratic members of congress, 49 identify as Black. That is 23% of House Democrats. That compares to the 4 out of 218 House Republicans, or under 2%. Black Americans make up 12% of the US population. In the run up to the 2020 Biden vs. Trump presidential election, there were similar news headlines and inaccurate polls. Biden won Black voters 92-8. Black voters vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. The reason for this is simple, but rarely mentioned in the dramatic election year media stories. Black voices are literally at the table in every national Democratic leadership policy discussion. Every Black Democratic congressperson carries forward their representation of the Black community in balance with their other constituencies. In the House of Representatives, no Democratic bill gets passed without the support of most of those 49 Black Democrats. Therefore, Hakeem Jeffries the interests of the Black community are structurally ingrained in Democratic policy. There are endless examples, but let’s take the Democratic policy that has directly saved thousands of Black lives and that most Republicans fought tooth and nail against: the Affordable Care Act. A 2023 University of Chicago study estimated: We estimate that Medicaid expansions saved the lives of about 27,400 people between the ACA’s passage in 2010 and 2022, corresponding to an annual average of 3,200 avoided deaths in post-expansion states and years... Barack Obama Approximately 20% of Medicaid recipients are Black. 20% of 27,400 is 5480 Black lives saved just through the Medicaid expansion portion of The Affordable Care Act. Thousands more saved by the other parts of “Obamacare” that have greatly reduced the health inequities in our country. And, for every life saved, hundreds of other lives are improved with less disability and less suffering. Democrats care about, listen to, and respect their voters of all backgrounds. Republicans, not so much. Democrats believe ALL Americans deserve health care. Republicans, not so much. The same U of Chicago study estimates Republican obstructionism of Medicaid expansion in red states killed almost 13,000 of their constituents. Our estimates suggest that an additional 12,800 lives could have been saved in non-expansion states if they had expanded Medicaid in 2014 For all voters, the choice between Democrats and Republicans should be easy, Black voters just have it figured out. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/23/2248121/-Despite-the-Headlines-Black-Voters-Have-it-Figured-Out?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/