Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Congratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: So, Bernie, how are you going to pay for the free stuff? Details please [View all]Gothmog
(156,725 posts)42. CNN-Sanders' agenda: Its cost -- possibly $60 trillion -- would set a peacetime US record
Link to tweet
Sanders' plan, though all of its costs cannot be precisely quantified, would increase government spending as a share of the economy far more than the New Deal under President Franklin Roosevelt, the Great Society under Lyndon Johnson or the agenda proposed by any recent Democratic presidential nominee, including liberal George McGovern in 1972, according to a historical analysis shared with CNN by Larry Summers, the former chief White House economic adviser for Barack Obama and treasury secretary for Bill Clinton.
Sanders' plan would also increase the size of government far more than any modern Republican president, including Ronald Reagan, has sought to cut it, Summers' analysis concluded.
"On the spending side, ... this is far more radical than all previous presidencies, on either the right or the left," Summers said in an interview. "The Sanders spending increase is roughly 2.5 times the size of the New Deal and the estimated fiscal impact of George McGovern's campaign proposals. This is six times as large of a growth of government than any of the Ronald Reagan dismemberments. We are in a kind of new era of radical proposal."
Exact cost projections on all of Sanders' proposals aren't available, in part because he hasn't fully fleshed out some of the ideas he's embraced (such as universal pre-K and child care). But a wide variety of estimates put the likely cost of the single-payer health care plan he has endorsed around $30 trillion or more over the next decade. Depending on the estimates used, including projections from his own campaign, the other elements of the Sanders agenda -- ranging from his "Green New Deal" to the cancellation of all student debt to a guaranteed federal jobs program that has received almost no scrutiny -- could cost about as much, or even more than, the single-payer plan. That would potentially bring his 10-year total for new spending to around $60 trillion, or more.
Sanders' plan would also increase the size of government far more than any modern Republican president, including Ronald Reagan, has sought to cut it, Summers' analysis concluded.
"On the spending side, ... this is far more radical than all previous presidencies, on either the right or the left," Summers said in an interview. "The Sanders spending increase is roughly 2.5 times the size of the New Deal and the estimated fiscal impact of George McGovern's campaign proposals. This is six times as large of a growth of government than any of the Ronald Reagan dismemberments. We are in a kind of new era of radical proposal."
Exact cost projections on all of Sanders' proposals aren't available, in part because he hasn't fully fleshed out some of the ideas he's embraced (such as universal pre-K and child care). But a wide variety of estimates put the likely cost of the single-payer health care plan he has endorsed around $30 trillion or more over the next decade. Depending on the estimates used, including projections from his own campaign, the other elements of the Sanders agenda -- ranging from his "Green New Deal" to the cancellation of all student debt to a guaranteed federal jobs program that has received almost no scrutiny -- could cost about as much, or even more than, the single-payer plan. That would potentially bring his 10-year total for new spending to around $60 trillion, or more.
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
53 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
So, Bernie, how are you going to pay for the free stuff? Details please [View all]
Jersey Devil
Mar 2020
OP
tax the rich. nationalize businesses? Aint that the play out of the socialist playbook?
beachbumbob
Mar 2020
#3
It ain't 'free stuff'. Europeans have it. It ain't 'free'. They just choose to pay for
pampango
Mar 2020
#6
Fine. Go ahead and join Trump and FOX News in calling any liberal program just 'free stuff'.
pampango
Mar 2020
#12
If you want a society like Germany or Sweden, you should probably do what they do.
pampango
Mar 2020
#16
CNN-Sanders' agenda: Its cost -- possibly $60 trillion -- would set a peacetime US record
Gothmog
Mar 2020
#42
If you already have employer paid health insurance, why wouldn't your employer
Meadowoak
Mar 2020
#11
Sanders still won't be honest with the American people about how much his plans cost
Gothmog
Mar 2020
#43
Sounds good but you have to back it up with numbers - you can't just point at Daddy Warbucks
Jersey Devil
Mar 2020
#20
Obviously we would be paying for it through our taxes... but the rich would pay the bigger share
budkin
Mar 2020
#27
As FDR said if people are suffering, try something. If that doesn't work try something else.
pampango
Mar 2020
#44
He is not going to be president but, if he were elected with his well-known liberal policy
pampango
Mar 2020
#47