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Bernie's plans - short term great for families, long term...
Excerpts:
Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed paying for his policies that transform large sectors of the government and the economy mainly through increased taxes on wealthy Americans. A pair of new studies published Monday suggests Sanders would not come up with enough money using this approach, and that the poor and the middle class would have to pay more than Sanders has projected in order to fund his ideas.
The studies, published jointly by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute in Washington, concludes that Sanders's plans are short a total of more than $18 trillion over a decade. His programs would cost the federal government about $33 trillion over that period, almost all of which would go toward Sanders's proposed system of national health insurance. Yet the Democratic presidential candidate has put forward just $15 trillion in new taxes, the authors concluded.
In the short term, at least, almost every household would be better off, as Sanders's proposals for health care, secondary education and more would save ordinary Americans money and provide other valuable benefits. The typical middle-class household, for example, would receive benefits worth $13,000 a year, almost all of it for health care, while paying just $4,500 more in taxes.
Over time, though, the government would have to borrow money to fund the programs, potentially increasing interest rates with uncertain consequences for households and businesses.
The new estimate of the cost of Sanders's health-care plan is even more pessimistic than a previous estimate produced by Kenneth Thorpe, a former health official in the Clinton administration. Sanders's staff criticized Thorpe for predicting their plan would cost $25 trillion over a decade, about twice what they had projected. The Urban Institute puts the cost to the federal government at $32 trillion.
The studies, published jointly by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute in Washington, concludes that Sanders's plans are short a total of more than $18 trillion over a decade. His programs would cost the federal government about $33 trillion over that period, almost all of which would go toward Sanders's proposed system of national health insurance. Yet the Democratic presidential candidate has put forward just $15 trillion in new taxes, the authors concluded.
In the short term, at least, almost every household would be better off, as Sanders's proposals for health care, secondary education and more would save ordinary Americans money and provide other valuable benefits. The typical middle-class household, for example, would receive benefits worth $13,000 a year, almost all of it for health care, while paying just $4,500 more in taxes.
Over time, though, the government would have to borrow money to fund the programs, potentially increasing interest rates with uncertain consequences for households and businesses.
The new estimate of the cost of Sanders's health-care plan is even more pessimistic than a previous estimate produced by Kenneth Thorpe, a former health official in the Clinton administration. Sanders's staff criticized Thorpe for predicting their plan would cost $25 trillion over a decade, about twice what they had projected. The Urban Institute puts the cost to the federal government at $32 trillion.
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