2020 Democratic Primary

[Cristalle]

 

[Shiloh Lyric]

Is it too late for Warren already?

Of course not. 3 states have held Primaries. 3. And Nevada already had a lot of votes in before the last debate, from my understanding

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Is it too late for Warren already?

She is in single digits in the polls and her campaign is in debt. If she can pull of a surprise win in one of the medium sized states on Super Tuesday she may come back, but it really doesn't look good. She was my first choice but I don't know if she will be in they race when Ohio votes.

 

[Cristalle]

Elizabeth Warren In Danger Of Losing Home State Of Massachusetts To Bernie Sanders, Says Poll

 

[Beebo Brink]

I've donated more to the Warren campaign than to any other political campaign in my life. If she goes down, at least I tried.

 

[Pamela]

For Michelle Goldberg fans:

Opinion | Putin Would Hate President Bernie Sanders (Published 2020)

The Russian autocrat may support Sanders, but Sanders doesn’t support him.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Ishina]

Which makes it so puzzling that he struggled with so badly with questions that were so obviously going to be asked.

I dunno. I'm not convinced it's a good question given that the format doesn't really permit complex longform answers.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask though. I think a good answer would be to look directly into the camera and tell the billionaires that we are coming for their money.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I dunno. I'm not convinced it's a good question given that the format doesn't really permit complex longform answers.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask though. I think a good answer would be to look directly into the camera and tell the billionaires that we are coming for their money.

Maybe we're not comparing like with like but, last November, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (an independent, non-partisan, research institute) was easily able to produce this, for example

Labour’s NHS spending plans

www.ifs.org.uk

If anyone has produced anything similar for Bernie Sanders' plans, I'd be interested to see it.

I know from his website that Bernie Sanders intends

• Establish an annual tax on the extreme wealth of the top 0.1 percent of U.S. households.
• Only apply to net worth of over $32 million and anyone who has a net worth of less than $32 million, would not see their taxes go up at all under this plan.
• Will raise an estimated $4.35 trillion over the next decade and cut the wealth of billionaires in half over 15 years, which would substantially break up the concentration of wealth and power of this small privileged class.
• Ensure that the wealthy are not able to evade the tax by implementing strong enforcement policies.

(Imagine the party's reaction if a potential Labour leader were to reassure voters that Labour would not increase taxes for anyone with a net worth of less than $32 million !)

But nowhere I can I find any detailed statements of how much of that $4.35 trillion will be spent on health or anything else.

Can anyone assist me?

ETA: I came across this,

Bernie Sanders' plans may be expensive but inaction would cost much more | Robert Reich

Facing existential challenges, we must spend heavily on a Green New Deal, Medicare for All and similar plans

www.theguardian.com

Which maybe suggests something of the different assumptions at work here.

Robert Reich suggests, quite correctly in my view, that people who cavil at the costs of Sanders' and Warren's different plans for healthcare and the "green new deal" fail to take into account the costs of doing nothing.

That's not my complaint -- I don't need persuading that the US would be better off with something like the NHS or fighting global heating and the climate crisis, but I expect do candidates who want to be taken seriously on these matters to be able to say, "this is what we plan on doing, this is how much we think it will cost, and this is how we plan to pay for it."

Otherwise they might just as well be telling people "Mexico will pay for it".

 

[Ishina]

Is this what you're looking for?


Financing Medicare for All

“How are you going to pay for it?”

That is the question that bookends nearly every media conversation that takes place on Medicare for All. The straightforward answer is, we already are.

Unlike other government outlays–for example,a ship for the Navy–Medicare for All does not represent any new spending at all. Instead,it represents a rebalance of how our current dollars are spent.

If Congress were to authorize the Navy to procure anaircraft carrier, and appropriate the necessary funding, the federal government wouldspend approximately $13billionbuilding that ship. If Congress does not authorize and appropriate the funding, then the ship will not get built. People will not individually purchase an aircraft carrier, nor will any private corporation.

Healthcare is fundamentally different. If the status quo stays in place, between 2022 and 2031 the federal government will spend $59.65 trillion.1According toestimatesfrom the conservative Mercatus Center, under the Senate’s Medicare for All legislation, those expenditureswill drop by approximately $2 trillion.2

OPTIONS TO FINANCE MEDICARE FOR ALL

Introduction

Today, the United States spends more than $3.2 trillion a year on health care. About sixty-five percent of this funding, over $2 trillion, is spent on publicly financed health care programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs. At $10,000 per person, the United States spends far more on health care per capita and as a percentage of GDP than any other country on earth in both the public and private sectors while still leaving 28 million Americans uninsured and millions more under-insured.

Today, health care spending in the U.S. accounts for nearly 18 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is on track to total over 20 percent of GDP over the next decade. It is projected that if wedo nothing and maintain our current dysfunctional system that we will spend $49 trillion over the next decade on health care. That would be an incredible burden on businesses, working families, and the entire economy.

The most cost-effective and popular solution to this health care crisis is to guarantee health care as a right through a Medicare-for-all single-payer health care system.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Is this what you're looking for?


Financing Medicare for All

In my view, there needs to be vigorous debate as to the best way to finance our Medicare for All legislation

OPTIONS TO FINANCE MEDICARE FOR ALL

Thank you.

As I imagined it would do, the paper explains that it will be primarily a matter of replacing the premiums individuals and companies currently pay to private insurance providers with (probably lower) National Insurance taxes, and explores a range of options to raise more by closing tax loopholes and taxing large business more effectively (though presumably the monies thus raised might be spent on other things, too, like the Green New Deal).

That's great -- so why on earth didn't he say that to Anderson Cooper, why doesn't it say it on his website, and when does this vigorous debate start?

 

[Ishina]

Michael Brooks: Breaking down Bernie's comments on Castro

 

[Ishina]

That's great -- so why on earth didn't he say that to Anderson Cooper, why doesn't it say it on his website, and when does this vigorous debate start?

When he's president I guess, and when he appoints his administration.

 

[Cristalle]

Thank you.

As I imagined it would do, the paper explains that it will be primarily a matter of replacing the premiums individuals and companies currently pay to private insurance providers with (probably lower) National Insurance taxes, and explores a range of options to raise more by closing tax loopholes and taxing large business more effectively (though presumably the monies thus raised might be spent on other things, too, like the Green New Deal).

That's great -- so why on earth didn't he say that to Anderson Cooper, why doesn't it say it on his website, and when does this vigorous debate start?

Because it's in the bill, it's been there for months, he's explained this ad nauseum how many times. But hey, we need fresh outrage.

 

[Beebo Brink]

There's a potential wild card in this campaign season. If covid-19 begins to spread in the U.S. over the next few months, the public's attitudes toward funding healthcare may intensify significantly. The drawbacks of our large pools of uninsured citizens will become blazingly obvious and strike very close to home as deaths mount. (And it won't really matter that we always have thousands of flu deaths in this country. Emotionally speaking, a new pandemic always scares people more than the deaths they've become accustomed to.)

 

[Lexxi]

A neat cat video somewhat related to this thread. In that Pete Buttigieg is mentioned.


(I've seen cats frightened out of their minds looking like that, but most often when I see a cat like that, they are high on catnip and really overly excited (course it is easier if you can hear if the cat is chittering or not))

 

[Noodles]

I don't think it's even possible to estimate the cost of M4A. A lot of your numbers will have to be based on the current, broken and inflated, system. You also have no idea how many people currently are avoiding treatment due to costs, that would pile into the system.

The transition will absolutely be chaotic for a while and there will initially be longer waits as things rebalance. The biggest issue will be to keep the misinformation "SEE THIS ONE OFF PERSON HERE WAITED 4 YEARS FOR LIFE SAVING SURGERY" nonsense at bay.

 

[Pamela]

.

There's a potential wild card in this campaign season. If covid-19 begins to spread in the U.S. over the next few months, the public's attitudes toward funding healthcare may intensify significantly. The drawbacks of our large pools of uninsured citizens will become blazingly obvious and strike very close to home as deaths mount. (And it won't really matter that we always have thousands of flu deaths in this country. Emotionally speaking, a new pandemic always scares people more than the deaths they've become accustomed to.)

Also, I have been hoping for some kind of economic downturn, since Trumpers cling To the belief thatTrump is responsible for a good economy. Due to covid fear, we got a stock market crash — if it keeps up, it could hurt Trumps ratings like nothing else. Also, word is getting out that Trump fired the pandemic team a while back. And thinks the cure for covid is: April.

 

[Ishina]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Thread for this breathtakingly white forum:

 

[Lexxi]

Same voice? No. Similar phrases used? Yes.