Not missing a beat during last week’s Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren continued their promises of government-run healthcare for all. Rivals Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar had the tenacity to bring up some harsh reality checks, like how to pay for single-payer. The cost would be staggering, each argued.

Bernie at Least Candid

Even Bernie admits that middle-class taxes might rise to pay for truly universal health care. Warren was asked during the debate about Joe Biden’s attack on her support of a single-payer scheme. “He has actually praised Bernie Sanders for being candid about… the fact that middle-class taxes are going to go up and most of private insurance is going to be eliminated. Will you make that same admission,” asked moderator George Stephanopoulos. Warren flatly refused to admit the obvious truth.

Warren’s Artful Dodge on Middle Class Taxes

When asked how Warren would finance her proposal of scrapping Americans private insurance in favor of socialized medicine, the Senator skirted details of how she would pay for her scheme. Of course punishing the rich is one way to reduce costs, according to Warren.

Even Joe Biden took exception with this. If Warren’s wealth tax raised the nearly $3 trillion she assures voters would happen over a decade, that would still leave her close to $30 trillion short, James Freeman reports in the WSJ.

The math remains difficult even if she focuses on taxing incomes instead of wealth. Taking every last nickel of income earned by the top 1%—a 100% tax rate on the roughly $2 trillion they make—still wouldn’t cover the cost of her health care takeover.

Single-Payer Healthcare and the Taxes that Go with It

Voters can guess who else would be in for a tax hike.

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