It’s a hoot
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren’s long-awaited “Medicare-for-all” funding plan projects the government-run health care system would cost a staggering sum of “just under $52 trillion” over the next decade, with the campaign proposing a host of new tax increases to pay for it while still claiming the middle class would not face any additional burden.
“We don’t need to raise taxes on the middle class by one penny to finance Medicare for All,†Sen. Warren, D-Mass., said in her plan — a copy of which was obtained by Fox News in advance of its release Friday.
The campaign’s detailed Medicare-for-all proposal, however, insists that the costs can be covered by a combination of existing federal and state spending on Medicare and other health care — as well as myriad taxes on employers, financial transactions, the ultra-wealthy and large corporations and some savings elsewhere. Those measures are meant to pay for a projected $20.5 trillion in new federal spending. Notably, they include what is essentially a payroll tax increase on employers, something economists generally say can hit workers in the form of reduced wages. (snip)
So how would she pay for it?
Among other proposals, Warren calls for bringing in nearly $9 trillion in new Medicare taxes on employers over the next 10 years, arguing this would essentially replace what they’re already paying for employee health insurance. Further, Warren’s campaign says if they are at risk of falling short of the revenue target, they could impose a “Supplemental Employer Medicare Contribution†for big companies with “extremely high executive compensation and stock buyback rates.â€
Companies wouldn’t be the ones paying
Whether some of those costs, however, still could be passed on to middle-class employees – as economists argue payroll tax costs often are – remains to be seen. As the Tax Policy Center has noted, it is assumed the “employee bears the burden of both the employer and employee portions of payroll taxes.”
Does anyone think Trump won’t bash this and expose it non-stop, especially if she ends up being the Democrat candidate?
I’m a climate scientist. I’m also an evangelical Christian.
The celebrated Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has threatened to quit Facebook if the social media platform refuses to silence her critics.
The Trump administration is considering adding more countries to its travel ban list, an immigration measure taken by the Trump Administration that has sparked outrage from many Americans.
Every fall, I loved to teach folktales and fairy tales, setting the stage for the most imaginative holiday, Halloween. One of my favorite stories was The Emperor’s New Clothes. Remember that story? — The Emperor was a dull, boorish, clotheshorse who fell under the spell of thieves and “bought†or really imagined he bought, beautiful new clothes from the thieves who pretended to be weavers.
Here’s one version of a “CO-topiaâ€:
