Further proof that the liberal establishment and the far-right are different sides of the same coin serving plutocracy
As
Jacobin
reported recently, the US could insure 30 million more Americans and
virtually eliminate out-of-pocket health care expenses while saving
$300 billion in the process, according to a new report about Medicare
for All released by the libertarian Mercatus Center.
In the
report, Charles Blahous attempts to roughly score Bernie Sanders’s
most recent Medicare-for-All bill and reaches the somewhat surprising
(for Mercatus) conclusion that, if the bill were enacted, the new
costs it creates would be more than offset by the new savings it
generates through administrative efficiencies and reductions in unit
prices.
Federal
health expenditures refer to health spending from the federal
government in particular. Since the federal government takes on
nearly all health spending under Medicare for All, federal health
expenditures will necessarily go up a lot, $32.6 trillion over the
ten-year period according to Blahous.
But this
is more of an accounting thing than anything else: rather than
paying premiums, deductibles, and co-pays for health care, people
will instead pay a tax that is, on average, a bit less than they
currently pay into the health care system and, for those on lower
incomes, a lot less.
Immediately,
the vast majority of the establishment spectrum from the liberal to
the ultra-conservative media, isolated the "$32.6 trillion over
the ten-year period" cost and used Τwitter and related
headlines to do the propaganda. Very few bothered to give the whole
picture.
David
Doel of The Rational National gave an example of these reactions:
Bloomberg:
"Medicare for all" bill estimated at $32.6 trillion over 10
years, study says.
CBS
News: "Medicare for all" plan touted by Bernie Sanders
would cost $32.6 trillion, study finds.
National
Review: A new study has found that 'Medicare For All' would cost a
whopping $32.6 trillion over ten years.
FOX
& friends: The real cost of Democratic socialism? New study finds
giving Medicare for all would cost the country $32.6 trillion over 10
years.
ABC
News: Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for all" plan would
increase government health care spending by $32.6 trillion over 10
years, according to a study.
TIME:
'Medicare for all' could cost $32.6 trillion, George Mason study
says.
Yahoo
Finance: 'Medicare for All' bill estimated at $32.6 trillion, says
study.
The
New York Times: Study: 'Medicare for All' projected to cost $32.6
trillion.
Why the
vast majority of the media across the political spectrum rushed to
attack the "Medicare for All" plan of Bernie Sanders?
Basically for two reasons:
First,
because the private insurance industry will suffer heavy losses,
meaning billions in profits.
Second,
because the super-rich who own the corporate media will have to see
their taxes rise in order to contribute to a publicly managed
healthcare system. They don't like such things. They are addicted to
continuous tax reliefs since the Reagan era, which, by the way,
brought much more poverty, enormous inequality and a deficit beyond
any comparison.
Notice
that the politicians and the pundits both from the liberal and the
ultra-conservative side are frequently using exactly the same
pseudo-arguments of the type 'who is going to pay?' for such things.
In an
awful theatrical performance, of course, the liberal establishment
pretends that it fights against Trump on fabricated, or very selective, or minimum
importance issues. Yet, it remains silent or even supports actions
like further tax-reliefs for the super-rich, or, more military action
abroad dictated by the deep state and the war lobby.
So, here
is another evidence that the liberal establishment and the far-right
are different sides of the same coin that serves plutocracy.
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