Democrats have a really weak electoral platform: Varney
FBN's Stuart Varney on the costly impact of Democratic proposals such as Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal.
It was strange to see the left criticizing its own. That’s a rarity in politics. The Democrats have a history of at least public unity. But dissent, division, is now appearing. And it’s public. Medicare for all: Bernie wants it. So do many of the 22 presidential candidates.
But the editorial board of the Washington Post says, “Hold on a minute. It’s not the Promised Land.” The Post says there's no Medicare for all without trade-offs, specifically, much higher taxes on the middle class, as well as the rich.
Bernie likes to use Denmark as an example of how to do health care right. But Denmark charges a 56 percent tax rate on incomes of $80,000 a year! And Denmark imposes a 25 percent sales tax on everything.
Does Middle America want to pay that kind of price for Medicare for all? I think not.
Then there's the universal basic income scheme, favored by the more extreme presidential candidates. This is the plan to give all adults a monthly income with no strings attached. You don't have to work. Spend it on anything. Great. Free money. Not so fast.
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Britain's Guardian newspaper, a very left-wing operation, quotes a study of 16 universal basic income schemes that have been tried around the world. The study was conducted by a global trade union federation! There is no evidence that any of the schemes were sustainable. In other words, they couldn't be paid for. And none significantly reduced poverty.
It’s the same with the Green New Deal … just not affordable. You can't pay for it. Free college: you can't pay for it.
What a mess: 20 months to the election. The economy is booming and the Democrats are pushing wild schemes that would cost a fortune and disrupt the prosperity that we now enjoy.
That’s a really weak electoral platform.