U.S. Rep. McGovern urges D.C. bipartisanship

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern joined Boston Herald Radio’s “The Rundown” program yesterday to discuss health care and the future of the Democratic Party.

Q: We’ve obviously been very much obsessed with the news about health care and the GOP’s effort to repeal and replace turning into a full repeal. Is there any hint that this could be taken up again by the House and is there any work to be done with Republicans to put something forward on a bipartisan basis?

A: The Affordable Care Act, which is something I supported, is not perfect, and nobody claims it’s perfect and there needs to be tweaks and there needs to be adjustments and I like to think that we could come together and fix what’s not working the way we had hoped it would work.

But at the same time I don’t want to throw away the things that are beneficial. We’ve got 24 million additional Americans that now have health care, that’s a good thing. ... I think there can be bipartisan support on other matters ... but there was no attempt to reach out to Democrats.

Q: There seems to be a political response here and a policy response, and you’re obviously hinting at there needs to be sort of a policy-driven response here, but it seems that there is a very political one that’s occurring, which is that Republicans need to keep their promise. Do we see that message sort of going away and what happens in its place? What do Democrats do to respond to that going forward?

A: Here’s the deal: Everything has political implications here in Washington, but at the end of the day what we need to do is be concerned with, first and foremost, what’s in the best interest of the people of this country.

Q: Let me ask you this: Do you think single-payer is the way?

A: I personally do, but I don’t think the votes are there for that. But I’ve been for a single-payer system since I first came to Congress.

Q: As Democrats are continuing to sort of find their way post the 2016 election, how do you think the party’s message should be honed in order to combat President Trump?

A: Well let’s be honest, the Republicans’ message was they’re against Obama and that’s it. I mean they never provided a positive vision for this country. But having said that, I agree that the Democrats need to do more than just be against things.

We need to be for things — I think we need to come to the realization that while we have lots of policy ideas out there, sometimes we may have too many policy ideas and nothing’s cutting through the clutter.