A bad debate for the Marxists.
Bernie Sanders again extolled the virtues of life in Canada and Scandinavia but omitted some interesting details.
Sanders hates the Trump cuts in business tax rates, but the Canadians and Scandinavians have gone even further. The combined state and federal corporate income tax rate in the United States is still higher than the rates in Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Hmmm
The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom ranks Canada as the eighth freest economy in the world—with more economic liberty than the United States, which ranks twelfth.
The Scandinavian countries are all in the top 30.
Swedish historian Johan Norberg explainshow a decades-long movement toward economic freedom has revived Swedish prosperity:
“One thing the left gets wrong is that they think that Sweden has this sort of warm, friendly, fuzzy capitalist thing—no layoffs, no fierce competition, protecting the old companies and so on. And it’s really the total opposite. It’s more deregulated. The product markets are much fiercer competition, much more free trade. All of the companies know that they have to be world champions or they will be destroyed.
We have much higher taxes on the poor and the middle classes than you do, And this is the dirty little secret that no one in the American left wants to talk about. Nonprogressive taxes on consumption, social security and payroll are 27% of Swedish gross domestic product, 16 points higher than in the U.S.
As for Medicare for All the debate underscored the problems Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have in explaining the costs of their plans Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota effectively pointed out the staggering costs and abolition of current health plans that would result.
Warren had nothing but dodges to the question even when confronted by Biden on how she would finance her scheme. She lamely dodged muttering promises to punish the rich while reducing costs for the middle class. But as Biden pointed out, even if her wealth tax could raise the nearly $3 trillion she promises over a decade, that would still leave her close to $30 trillion short.
Sanders did not hide the fact the middle class and the poor are going to have to pay more taxes.
But both he and Warren can’t explain why 150 million Americans who would lose their current coverage would gladly vote to lose private insurance to a government agency.
A bad night for the Marxists.
Well deserved.
Poll
5 (45.5%)