Warren Admits 'Medicare for All' Could Cost America 2 Million Jobs, Insists 'No One Gets Left Behind'
Elizabeth Warren is quickly discovering that being a front-runner isn’t quite as easy as trying to be a front-runner.
While still second in the national polls, the Massachusetts senator is ahead in the first two states in the primary season. Given that former Vice President Joe Biden’s nominal lead appears to be based solely on an electability factor that’s rapidly revealing itself to be illusory, the general consensus has Warren as the actual front-runner.
(According to Heavy.com, Warren is the current favorite among gamblers for the nomination. And if there’s anyone who knows what the score is, it’s degenerate gamblers.)
With front-runner status comes increased attention, however — and in Warren’s case, that attention has focused on her “Medicare for all” plan, which would replace private insurance by giving every American coverage through the Medicare system.
The plan was released on Friday, clearly not a sign that she was dumping it right before the weekend or anything.
Warren has insisted that this can all be paid for through a tax on corporations and what she’s fond of calling “ultra-millionaires.”
You, dear non-filthy rich American, won’t pay a single cent more than you did before she became president. Corporate taxes and a wealth tax would create almost $20 trillion in new tax revenue toward the $52 trillion she says the program will cost over the next decade. In fact, you’ll be able to save money, according to The Wall Street Journal, since Warren says that you’ll be off the hook for $11 trillion in private health care costs.
Sure, ultra-millionaires and corporations have incredible wealth mobility and can shift their money outside of the United States in a hurry, but I doubt that’ll be an issue (sarcasm). Also, government programs never have cost overruns or anything like that, so that $52 trillion number is going to stay stagnant (more sarcasm).
Oh, and about the 2 million people in the health insurance industry The Wall Street Journal estimates will lose their jobs over this? Don’t worry, they can always get jobs in the life or auto insurance industries.
That last line wasn’t sarcasm. It’s really part of the answer Warren gave during an appearance in Iowa when she was asked about how she planned to deal with those who worked in private insurance.
“So if you’ve had a chance to read the plan, you’ll see no one gets left behind,” she began.
Q: Where do those who work in health insurance go when private insurance is eliminated?
Sen. Warren: “No one gets left behind. Some of the people currently working in health insurance will work in other parts of insurance. In life insurance, in auto insurance, in car insurance.” pic.twitter.com/5jztvYbqnb
— The Hill (@thehill) November 1, 2019
No insurance worker left behind! And how would this work, pray tell?
“Some of the people currently working in health insurance will work in other parts of insurance — in life insurance, in auto insurance, in car insurance, some will work for Medicaid,” Warren said, according to Fox News, adding her plan had five years of “transition support” for those displaced.
“Because what this is about is how we strengthen America’s middle class, and how we make sure that in transitions no one gets left behind,” she continued. “It’s right there in the plan, and it’s fully paid for.”
In an interview with New Hampshire Public Radio before the “Medicare for all” plan was released, Warren also acknowledged the 2 million jobs figure was likely accurate.
“Regardless of what kind of money is involved, ‘Medicare for all’ would likely result in a pretty significant kind of shift in how our health care system is structured, and even supporters of that approach within the health policy world have said that would likely mean lost jobs in some form,” reporter Casey McDermott said during the Wednesday interview, according to the Washington Examiner.
“An economist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, told Kaiser Health News earlier this year that that could result in about two million jobs lost.”
“So I agree,” Warren responded. “I think this is part of the cost issue and should be part of a cost plan.”
Elizabeth Warren admits 2 MILLION Americans could lose their jobs under her “Medicare for All” plan.
“I agree.”pic.twitter.com/oc0emPH9Oh
— BlazeTV (@BlazeTV) October 30, 2019
But again, Warren has insisted that this won’t end up increasing taxes on average Americans one bit. It’ll be all the robber barons and their evil corporations that will fit the bill. Those costs won’t trickle down, to borrow a Democrat term, to you or your family.
She’ll be able to pay for this without middle-class tax increases, something even Bernie Sanders acknowledges would have to be done for his “Medicare for all” plan to be enacted. And 2 million people will be able to either get hired in the life or auto insurance sector or get jobs as government workers in the Medicare system.
Republicans and Democrats (or at least one very particular Democrat) slammed the economics of the plan.
“It’s really cute how Warren and her eager beaver ‘progressive’ campaign staff, none of whom have ever run a business, think they’re smart enough to remake the entire economy without causing any problems,” former Arkansas governor and two-time presidential contender Mike Huckabee wrote in a commentary published Saturday.
“Warren concedes another study that estimates her plan would kill 2 million jobs, but calls that ‘part of the cost issue.’ If you’re one of those 2 million newly unemployed, the elimination of your job isn’t a cost issue, it’s a catastrophe.”
GOP Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has a somewhat shorter statement.
“Hahaha. This make-believe math is bonkers,” Sasse wrote.
Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign said Warren’s “unrealistic plan” means she would “even further increase taxes on the middle class or break her commitment to these promised benefits.”
“The mathematical gymnastics in this plan are all geared toward hiding a simple truth from voters: It’s impossible to pay for Medicare for All without middle-class tax increases,” Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said, according to Fox News.
And by the way, this is operating under the assumption that Warren’s wealth tax — a proposal where wealthy individuals families would pay marginal tax rates of 2 percent on net wealth over $50 million and 6 percent on wealth over $1 billion — is constitutional.
It probably isn’t, which means under a President Warren (even writing these words makes me want to gag), the “Medicare for all” plan would either have to be scrapped or you would have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for it.
Rest assured, this is going to be picked apart during the next debate. Such is the life of being a front-runner — particularly a front-runner with radical plans that would dismantle private insurance and put everyone’s coverage in the hands of the government.
Have fun defending this one, Sen. Warren, especially to the people you swear you’re not leaving behind.
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