Vox Admits That America Cannot Afford ‘Democratic Socialism’

Last week, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University released the results of its in-depth analysis on Bernie Sanders’ glorious “Medicare for All” plan, and it’s a doozy. It would cost an estimated $32.6 trillion over 10 years.

That’s trillion with a “T.”

Bernie Sanders rejected the study, because of the Koch brothers or something.

“If every major country on earth can guarantee health care to all, and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, it is absurd for anyone to suggest that the United States cannot do the same,” he said in a statement. “This grossly misleading and biased report is the Koch brothers response to the growing support in our country for a ‘Medicare for all’ program.”

Please keep in mind that the Sanders campaign didn’t even bother to do its own analysis. It has NO idea. It just knows everyone else is WRONG! They can feel it in their bones.

I wonder how Crazy Bernie feels about this analysis from Vox?

Vox proceeds to state the obvious. “Free” college,” “free” housing, “free” healthcare, “guaranteed” jobs– those things come at a cost. As they note, “Once the costs become clear, most mainstream politicians and voters will surely balk. Making big promises is one thing; paying for them is another.”

We already addressed the “Medicare for All” problem, but that’s only one small piece of Bernie’s plan.

…Sanders has proposed a Social Security expansion, including higher cost-of-living adjustments and higher minimum benefit levels, that the liberal Tax Policy Centerestimates will cost $188 billion over the next decade.

The Tax Policy Center also scores the Sanders “free college” proposal at $807 billion over the next decade. (Note that free college benefits students from wealthy families and those whose tuition is currently affordable.)

Next, the center estimates that Sanders’s proposal of up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for new parents and for people with serious health conditions would cost another $270 billion.

And let’s not forget how socialists want to provide guaranteed jobs with benefits and a “living wage” to basically anyone who wants one. According to a study conducted by scholars Darrick Hamilton, William Darity, and Mark Paul, that would cost $6.8 trillion over the next 10 years alone.

Wait. There’s more.

Finally, Senate Democrats have promised $1 trillion for new infrastructure, and House Democrats are rallying around legislation to pay off all $1.4 trillion in student loan debt — both of which the far left generally supports. I will exclude vague promises such as universal pre-K and expanded special education funding.

Ready for the grand total?

Total cost: $42.5 trillion in new proposals over the next decade, on top of the $12.4 trillion baseline deficit.

YAY SOCIALISM. And keep in mind that socialist policies are basically lethal stab wounds to the US economy. In other words, people will lose the motivation to innovate, everyone will eventually make less money, and as a consequence, government revenue will drop.

Vox adds that the government is expected to take in $44 trillion in revenue over the next 10 years. That’s BARELY enough to cover the estimated cost of these new programs. Yet Democrats will whine about the “cost” of tax cuts, which PALES in comparison.

The 30-year projected tab for these programs is even more staggering: new proposals costing $218 trillion, on top of an $84 trillion baseline deficit driven by Social Security, Medicare, and the resulting interest costs.

I encourage you to read the entire analysis, because they go through how we would “pay” for this, and it’s obscene. Here’s a preview:

What about just taxing corporations and rich families? Raising the final $34 trillion would require seizing roughly 100 percent of all corporate profits as well as 100 percent of all family wage income and pass-through business income above the thresholds of $90,000 (single) or $150,000 (married), and absurdly assuming they all continue working. (This calculation refers to individual income, not investment income.)

#SorryNotSorry folks. We can’t afford to be socialists.

h/t Vox