I&I Editorial

Elizabeth Warren has been taking heat lately for her refusal to state the obvious — that paying for her $34 trillion (and rising) Medicare for All plan would require a huge tax hike on the middle class. Americans for Tax Reform has helpfully gathered up 17 video clips of the Massachusetts senator dodging the question.

It’s obvious why Warren doesn’t want to utter the words “middle-class tax hike.” She’s smart enough to know Republicans would play that quote on an endless loop in every battleground state up until Election Day.

But by focusing on Medicare for All, Warren’s critics are letting her off too easy. That’s because Medicare for All isn’t the only massive new government program she would impose on the country.

Here’s a rundown of what she’s listed … so far … and the 10-year costs:

Green New Deal: $4 trillion “in green research, manufacturing, and exporting,” emission-free buildings, electricity, and so on.

Social Security expansion: Warren wants to dramatically expand benefits, which will cost taxpayers at least $1.8 trillion. She claims it’s all paid for by imposing a 14.8% tax on incomes above $250,000. But that income threshold isn’t indexed, so the hike will eventually bite the middle class.

Free college and debt forgiveness: $1.25 trillion.

Universal Child Care and Early Learning plan: $690 billion.

Housing: $500 billion to “build, preserve, and rehab units that will be affordable to lower-income families.”

Opioid crisis: $100 billion in additional spending.

Election “security”: $20 billion.

Broadband: $85 billion federal grant program “to massively expand broadband access across the country” and $2.5 billion “to help states develop digital equity plans and launch digital inclusion project.”

Job training: $20 billion on apprenticeships and training programs “for people across rural America.”

Then there are the various other billion-here-billion-there programs, such as the $7 billion fund “to close the gap in startup capital for entrepreneurs of color,” relief for Puerto Rico’s $120 billion in debt and pension obligations, and so on.

Add it all together and it comes out to roughly $42.5 trillion over a decade. In other words, Warren plans to nearly double the size of the federal government.

If Warren were to take every penny from everyone making more than $200,000, she wouldn’t have enough money to pay for all these programs, much less tackle annual deficits that will be topping $1 trillion. She could double everyone’s income taxes as well as corporate taxes and not have enough to cover just Medicare for All’s costs.

The wealth tax she’s depending on is an absolute abomination that would — if there’s any hope left for this country — be found wildly unconstitutional, and if not, would crash the economy.

And none of this includes the vast amount of new, hidden taxes her plans would impose on middle-class families. Most notably, her “clean energy” plan — which would ban fracking, phase out nuclear power, and force the country to 100% renewable energy in a matter of years — would cause utility bills to skyrocket. Her plan to force electric cars on the market would force sticker prices through the roof.

Warren would have to raise middle-class taxes. Massively. And not just to pay for Medicare for All. She won’t say it. Reporters won’t pressure her to, or hold her accountable for her attempt to deceive the public. But there is no escaping it.

— Written by John Merline

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