Democrat Randy Bryce, an ironworker, is hoping to boot Speaker Paul Ryan from his Wisconsin seat. He’s raised nearly $500,000 in less than two weeks. From his ad, he paints himself as a working class hero. He wants to expand the table because not everyone is seated there. It’s time to make it bigger. It’s a decent ad until you see this CNN interview with John Berman and Poppy Harlow. Bryce is left wing progressive who is supportive of Bernie Sanders universal health care plan, a point that Berman notes. Yet, Berman asked him about the cost of the program, with the Urban Institute saying that single-payer could cost us $32 trillion over the next decade. The CNN host makes a note that even if the estimate is half of that—it’s still astronomical. The Washington Post’s editorial board also made this point.
Bryce engaged in the art of the dodge, saying that some Americans (i.e. the job creating and investing class) have not paid their fair share, along with a multitude of corporations. It’s the same old, tired Democratic talking point. He also said we can make things more cost effective within the health care system, which is what congressional Republicans are trying to do on the Hill.
“You want to raise $32 trillion in taxes?” asked Berman.
“Well, I’m not saying that we have to look at ways to just increase compete costs; there’s a lot of things that we can look at as far as making things cost-effective,” Bryce responded.
“That would be quite a tax hike. I mean that’s an astonishing number $32 trillion over a decade,” added Harlow.
You don’t need to be an economist to know that soaking the rich won’t pay for single payer, nor would increase corporate taxation. Everyone, including the middle class, is going to get railroaded with increased taxes to ensure universal coverage. It’s the only way this works, which would come along with less access to care and certain treatments to keep costs down.
Bryce also seemed to stumble on this question, not being able to give a straightforward answer to a rather easy question: do you favor tax hikes to fund your left wing goodie bag that will bring about the economic death of America or not? Maybe because everyone who isn’t a Trotskyite knows that higher taxes for reduced access to care and doctors isn’t going to be popular, which is fitting because left wing economics are not popular.
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