For some time I have been pointing out that the mainstream media, all of them, are forced to be wards of the Plutocracy. They are all trying to force Senator Elizabeth Warren to say she will pay for Medicare for All with a tax increase. This economist agrees that she must not. And here is why.
Everyone knows that when discussing any family’s budget, taxes are just one item that must be balanced with all other expenditures. The thing is that the benefits from the taxes one pays have an impact on those other bills. As an example, a family with kids in a society where there are no subsidies for childcare but very low taxes will likely pay a very high out of pocket cost for childcare.
A small increase in the tax portion of the family’s bill may eliminate or dramatically lower the portion of the budget dedicated to childcare. In the aggregate that family will be way ahead economically as they have more disposable income as the reduction in childcare cost exceeds the tax increase dramatically. (e.g, a $50/month tax increase may eliminate a $1000/month childcare bill.)
The mainstream media, as mouthpieces of the Plutocracy, do not want any deep or logical thinking on explaining Medicare for All in the appropriate manner. In that light, I proferred a simplification in a recent blog post that Elizabeth Warren can use if she ever decided to answer whether taxes will be lowered or raised.
How can Private Insurance cost less than Medicare for All if they have to pay shareholders, duplicate cost for databases, duplicate cost for advertising, overpriced CEOs, CFOs, shareholders, and other executives? And how can it be better for doctors if they must hire more staff to handle a myriad of insurance companies?
The reason we pay more for healthcare is simple. We pay an enormous tax to Private Insurance companies to create a transfer of wealth mechanism from the masses to the few shareholders and executives. Again, the trust too many people have in the disingenuousness and misdirection of the Corporate Democrats, the GOP, the Corporate Media, and Plutocrats is a clear and present danger to our health and our financial well-being.
Elizabeth Warren must continue answering the question that should be asked and not provide the soundbite that is effectively a virtual lie. Health insurance premiums are taxes not to the government but to insurance companies.
In short, your health care premiums are taxes since the supreme court ruled that the mandate was a tax and since one is mandated to have insurance, it is a tax. Warren can say, taxes to all involved will be lowered.
Recently economist Dean Baker wrote the most prescient article titled “Senator Warren is Exactly Right” where he stated the following.
When I first saw Senator Warren refuse to acknowledge that Medicare for All will mean higher taxes, I admired her political skills, but as an economist, I was annoyed at her evasion of an obvious truth. However, on further thought, I realize that she is exactly right and is doing a public service with her simple insistence that costs for most people will go down.
It is true that many people hate taxes and find the idea that they would ever have to pay more for taxes for anything repugnant. But that group is far from a majority of the electorate. Most people approach their tax bill as any rational person would. They want to know what they are getting for their money.
This is why Warren is giving the right answer even though it is angering reporters and political pundits. She is talking about what actually matters to most voters; what will they get for their money?
The reporters are determined to make this a “she will raise your taxes story.” This is an absurd narrowing of the issue. There is no reason that Warren should cooperate with their silly game. She is determined to talk about the substance of the issue, whether or not the reporters want to hear it.
So do not buy into the narrative that Senator Elizabeth Warren is being evasive. It is the mainstream media that is evading the real questions that must be asked of each candidate. They continue to acquiesce to those who fund them, their advertisers. Any doubt why Independent Media needs your support?
I agree with the narrative given here. Warren is my choice for the primary nominee. She is forthright in her approach and demeanor. Her policies are geared for families, working people, children, students, the elderly, disabled and all of us, to have an opportunity to thrive in the future regardless of race. She respects diversity and she is a strong and forceful woman. She is easily able to put Trump in his place. OUT OF OFFICE. We need such leadership. Women were the last to be able to vote but hopefully we will be heard in the choices we make now. We need a women’s perspective in these times of such turmoil and to set a tone we have not seen before.