With ‘shame on you’ chants and harsh tweets, nurses union pushes single-payer bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — To some, the California Nurses Association’s political tactics in pushing for a single-payer health system seemed a bit, well, New Jersey-ish.

Never mind the raucous demonstrations it brought to the state Capitol in recent weeks, the “shame on you” chants in the hallways, the repeated unfurling of banners in the rotunda despite admonitions from law enforcement.

To further the nurses’ cause, the union’s executive director, RoseAnn DeMoro, tweeted out a picture of the iconic California grizzly bear being stabbed in the back with a knife emblazoned with the name of a powerful state lawmaker who stalled the single-payer bill sponsored by the union.

Before and after that tweet, the legislator — a Democrat — said he was besieged.