The weird thing about Warren’s refusal to just come out and say that her Medicare for All plan involves higher taxes on the middle class is that she has already implicitly admitted that it’s true. Whenever she is asked about it, she launches into the same spiel as she did last night, about how middle-class “costs” are going to go down. That answer makes sense only on the theory that middle-class people’s taxes will go up but their premiums, co-pays, and deductibles will go down by more, leaving them ahead.


Whether their costs would truly go down is debatable — I think there are very good reasons not to believe it — but whether her plan involves higher middle-class taxes is not. Reporters would be within their rights to say that Warren’s plan would raise taxes on the middle class, although she has been careful not to say so.