 By popular demand I have decided to bring back the voice message segment So a couple of years ago we used to do this on a weekly basis where I would listen to some of your voice messages and Respond accordingly although this time I am choosing to limit it to Patreon patrons because first of all that is going to make it so I'm not as overwhelmed and I don't receive dozens of messages every Single week so that filter is necessary and on top of that I genuinely want to hear from people who support the show the most Because I think that you are the most engaged with politics if you can't support the show But nonetheless we could open this up in the future to more people But for now this is just going to be an extra patreon perk where if you are a patreon patron of the humanist report You could submit a voicemail and I may listen to it on the show and Respond so this week we have a message from Brian aka PyDysliker who's going to ask us about a potential running mate for Bernie Sanders Hey, Mike. I just wanted to get an idea of your thoughts of Pramila Jayapal potentially being Bernie's VP Canada I know that she's been a huge advocate for Medicare for all someone argued that her plan is much more progressive as She's offering a two-year plan as opposed to Bernie Sanders four-year plan But beyond that she advocated for the minimum wage being raised at $15 an hour in Seattle and She endorsed him in 2016 so What are your thoughts on Pramila Jayapal because I know that she doesn't get a lot of attention With comparison to some of the other progressive Activists and government officials out there. Thanks Thank you so much for the message Brian Yeah, that's really a great question and Pramila Jayapal who was someone who I've had at the top of my list for quite some time But unfortunately, there's one issue that would limit her from being the VP or president She was born in India So you cannot assume the office of the presidency if you were not born in the United States So that's an issue and I really don't like this I think that that law or that part of the Constitution is antiquated I think that we should update it because being American doesn't just mean that you're born in the US It means that you are an American. You're here. You're living here. You're part of society You contribute to the economy and you can't argue that someone like Pramila Jayapal doesn't contribute to American society So I think that that's something that should be updated Although I will say that that provision to the US Constitution did prevent Arnold Schwarzenegger from becoming president because he did want to run but he couldn't because he's not a natural born citizen and The sad thing is that he probably would win because in America. We just worship anyone who's a celebrity I mean Donald Trump is president So we do need to change that especially You know if we want to elect more progressives because a lot of people who are progressive who are in power currently are Immigrants and I think that's something that should be celebrated. So, you know, if it weren't for that I would definitely opt for someone like Pramila Jayapal, but In terms of who I would want to be Bernie's VP My number one choice will always be Nina Turner because what I'm looking at is someone who can carry the torch After Bernie's gone Nina Turner is not only passionate not only this does she align with Bernie Sanders? politically, but she's someone who Is young right? There's longevity there. She could have a long career in politics So Nina Turner really is my best bet and I never really thought that that was realistic because she was only a state senator So Bernie Sanders may want to not pick her because he doesn't want to be criticized That he's choosing someone who doesn't have that much political experience But we're at a state in American politics where we have a reality television show star as our president who has zero political experience whatsoever We have the mayor of a small city in Indiana people to judge what the media declares a top-tier candidate even though on average He's pulling at 7% so I say pick Nina Turner like she is great She'd fire up the base and she absolutely is someone who unquestionably would carry on the torch So it's gonna be Nina Turner for me overall But to Brian's point about Pramila Jayapal being very progressive He's right So her bill even though it is intended to be a companion piece to Bernie's Medicare for all bill Her bill is better than Bernie Sanders bill I will admit that as a member of the brotherhood of the Bernard her bills better She also wrote the damn bill and it's better now the reason why there's a couple of reasons But the main reason why I like her bill better is because it has a two-year rollout as opposed to Bernie's four-year rollout Now this is something that I would hope Bernie would change upon, you know Passing the bill. Hopefully he'd make his bill aligned with the Jayapals But the reason why his bill has the four-year as opposed to a two-year transition It's because for whatever reason he allowed Kirsten Gillibrand to write that portion of the bill And I'm assuming he did this so that way she would support it But I mean if she's not gonna support it then she's going to be criticized So we shouldn't be allowing them to write bills for us if they don't actually have our interests in Mine right so I don't like that and I really hope that Bernie Sanders would change that and the reason why I think that We need to opt for two years as opposed to four years and you can even make the case that one year is Sufficient but the reason why is because first of all this is a crisis, right? We need to get health care to people as quickly as possible But there's also you know a reason as to why we need to roll it out faster We saw how public support for the Affordable Care Act was undermined so during that four-year period one Republicans could rally against it fear monger about it and Make it more difficult to protect Because we already know that once it's passed and people get Medicare for all they'd love it But we just need them to get that like we need to put it in their hands So they want to keep it So that's one argument on top of that during that four-year transition period If you pass Medicare for all as it is and we have that duplicative ban We're essentially getting rid of private insurance So if these private insurance companies know that they've got four years left to live What's gonna happen? Well, their investors are probably going to bail and move on to the next money-making venture They may close down earlier than expected and not stay in business for the remaining four years or three years and What's gonna happen if that is the case? Well, people would temporarily lose their health insurance now Of course, it's good because they're getting Medicare. So this is a short-term issue But nonetheless, it's an issue that would create a more rocky rollout for Medicare for all than is necessary so that's why if I See Bernie Sanders as president I'm going to push him to fight for a two-year rollout as opposed to a four-year rollout. Now look, I'll take either one I'll take the four-year rollout. Hell, I'll take Elizabeth Warren's version of Medicare for all where she funds it with a regressive tax Like that's not ideal, right? We'd push her if she actually fought for it Which I don't think she would but if she did we'd push her to change it But it's just a matter of getting politicians to align with what we want and what is the best policy So at the end of the day Brian's question is great. Pramila Jayapal would otherwise be a fantastic VP choice because she wrote the damn bill too And it's a phenomenal comprehensive Medicare for all bill that I absolutely adore But unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to be the president which is super disappointing because she is Fantastic, but I think Nina Turner would be a solid choice to carry on the torch And you know what not even a solid choice like the best option to be VP