'I Wrote The Damn Bill,' Sanders Rebukes Ryan On Medicare For All

Rebuking Rep. Tim Ryan’s (D-Ohio.) questioning Tuesday night about how comprehensive Sen. Bernie Sander’s (I-Vt.) proposed ‘Medicare for All’ for platform was, the progressive Democratic candidate replied emphatically saying, “I do know that. I wrote the damn bill”

His response garnered great applause from the audience in Detroit. He quipped, “Many of our union brothers and sisters, nobody more pro-union than me up here, are now paying high deductibles and co-payments when we do Medicare for all, instead of having the company putting money into healthcare, they can get decent wage increases, which they're not getting today.”

Sanders' campaign has started selling ‘I wrote the damn bill’ stickers, after the exchange seemed to have struck a chord with the voters and went viral.

During the second Democratic primary debate, Sanders had maintained that his Medicare for all plan would offer better comprehensive health coverage for the people who would lose their private plans.

According to him, Medicare for all, would include more Americans than just those over 65 years of age. The program would enrol the Americans in a national health-insurance program, with the federal government and taxpayers paying the bill. There would be no need to pay premiums or deductibles.

This exchange was only a part of an even lengthy debate between the two. Ryan and Sanders also clashed on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the role of cars and fossil fuels in it.

Sanders put forth a proposal that would eliminate gas-powered auto sales by 2040, to which Ryan responded with his own plan to boost electric vehicle and battery production in the U.S, a segment, which he noted, was being dominated by China.

Sanders responded by saying that he was tired of Democrats afraid of big ideas.

“Please don’t tell me that we cannot take on the fossil fuel industry. Nothing happens unless we do that.”

Sanders’ response prompted Ryan to ask him not to yell.

“I didn’t say we couldn't get there till 2040, Bernie. You don’t have to yell,” Ryan replied. “All I’m saying is we have to invent our way out of this thing. And if we’re waiting for 2040 for a ban to come in on gasoline vehicles we’re screwed.”