According to Forbes, a measly six of the many, many, objectives found in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” would cost $2.5 trillion per year. That’s roughly half of the government’s entire 2018 outlay, and it only covers a few of the more achievable bullet points. So far, no one has managed to uncover the cost of eliminating airplanes and cow farts.
Multiple studies have shown that “Medicare for All” – the latest moniker being applied to “socialized medicine,” “government-run healthcare,” and “single-payer” – would cost $32 Trillion over 10 years. As we all know, studies tend to underestimate cost, government waste, and eventual bottom lines, so it’s a safe bet the actual price tag would actually be higher.
Even if we set aside the fact that these things shouldn’t be done, can’t be done, won’t be done, and are essentially left-wing grabs for cash and power, we’re left with the fact that they are very, very, expensive. On their own, the Green New Deal and Medicare for All both represent one of the greatest federal expansions in history. Together, they’re almost unfathomably massive.
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Their cost is absolutely real.
But don’t tell Kamala Harris that. According to the would-be President, “it’s not about cost.” It’s about “return on investment” or something.
“One of the things that I admire and respect is the measurement that is captured in three letters: ROI,” Harris told CNN’s John King. “What’s the return on investment? People in the private sector understand this really well. It’s not about a cost. It’s about an investment. And then the question should be, is it worth the cost in terms of the investment potential? Are we going to get back more than we put in?”
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) repeatedly failed to give CNN’s John King a clear answer on how she would pay for her proposals, saying, “it’s not about a cost.” pic.twitter.com/w8UHy10heg
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 24, 2019
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First of all, the federal government’s history of ROI is dismal. With a few rare exceptions, federal investments are money pits that lead to waste, fraud, and throwing good money after bad. If Harris is basing her support of these plans on their potential return, we should be extremely skeptical.
Second, ROI is great, IF you have the money to invest in the first place. The United States is currently $22 Trillion in debt. Taxes proposed by leftists would cover only a fraction of the costs associated with the Green New Deal and Medicare for all, and we haven’t even gotten to free college, reparations, or any of the other expensive boondoggles leftists desire. Debt, combined with an inability to raise sufficient funds, means the capital for the so-called investment simply isn’t there.
What Harris is really doing here is dodging. She knows Democrats have no chance of passing, much less enacting, their ridiculous schemes. They’re simply talking points designed to appeal to the “gimme free stuff” base of their party. They have no intention of following through.
If the last 50 years taught us anything, it’s that Dems like to promise big and deliver… nothing. Just look at the freakout that ensued when Mitch McConnell threatened to put their plans to a vote. If they really believed their agenda was workable, plausible, or affordable, they’d welcome the chance to pitch it to the American people and enact it. Instead, it scares the guano out of them.
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They know it will never work, so they’re terrified that someone may demand they go on record about their platform.
