This is something that we've heard over and over again. Whenever anyone announces they support Medicare for all, no matter who they are, the question that is imminently asked for is "how are you going to pay for it?". Mind you, these people often ignore how single payer would save most people money, but that's beside the point.
Mind you, I'm not saying it shouldn't be asked. Of course it should. Have you seen our debt? However, the vast majority of the time it's not by someone who is curious or unfamiliar with the concept, it's by someone who already knows the answer and is asking so they can look like they came out on top.
So, if they can have a copy paste response I think it's fair that we have one back. So here are 3 ways to pay for a universal healthcare system.
#1-The Good Old Fashion Way
Yeah, it's the most obvious one, that's why it's the first. Figured we should get "raise taxes" out of the way early.
Of course, this scares people who own Don't Tread On Me bumper stickers, but here are the facts. First off, these people typically don't understand how taxes work. Taxes are a fee that you pay for to the government. It's only fair that you, the person who pays the taxes, get something in return.
However, how high are the taxes? After all, taxes being too high can cause negative economic effects (which these people seem to think never happens the other way around, but that's beside the point). I mean Bernie Sanders, the man who made the idea popular, said he wanted a top tax rate of over 90%. Wait, no that Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower and Bernie just pointed it out.
Here's the tax plan he actually proposed while running for president:
Now, here's how many percentage points your taxes would increase:
$1-250,000: 0% (Your taxes stay the same)
$250,001- 411,500: 4%
$411,501-464,850: 2%
$464,851-499,999: -2.6%
$500,000-2,000,000: 3.4%
$2,000,001-10,000,000: 8.4%
More than $10,000,0001: 12.4%
So you would need to make over $10,000,000 to have your taxes raised over 10%, over $2,000,000 to have them raised more than 5%, and more than $250,000 to have them raised at all.
#2-Enforce The Tax Laws We Already Have/Make Taxes The Same For Everyone
We have lost AT LEAST $70 billion to tax havens in one year. How is that not illegal? We all know they do it, and if you did it you'd be convicted of tax avoidance. How is this not a crime?
How about for the fact that (except for a brief point in the '80's) the capital gains rate is smaller than the individual rate. So someone making $80,000 a year through work could be paying more in taxes than someone making $500,000 a year through investments.
How about ban those non-sense "economic development" programs that actively don't work. Remember Amazon, the company that paid no taxes last year. Meanwhile, Jeff is still one of the richest men in the world.
And don't think I'm not going to mention the inequality in payroll taxes. Social Security taxes, for instance, only taxes up to $128,400. And people wonder why it's going bankrupt.
#3-Cut The Military
It previously seemed to be impossible make it more clear how cartoonish our military spending can be. Then Trump tried to create a space force.
As pointed out before, by the end of the Obama administration the United States had a military budget larger than the next 7 nations combined. We have over 800 military bases, including around Iran which the White House calls a giant threat. Bet John Bolton will never tell you that.
Then, without any debate, we increased the military budget by enough to pay for public college. Because if we don't the communists will take over or something, seriously this is ridiculous. Yet, no one ever asks how we're going to pay for the billions we spend with the Pentagon.
And these are just 3 of the millions of way progressives have given over the years to pay for a program that every other country in the modern world has.
Mind you, I'm not saying it shouldn't be asked. Of course it should. Have you seen our debt? However, the vast majority of the time it's not by someone who is curious or unfamiliar with the concept, it's by someone who already knows the answer and is asking so they can look like they came out on top.
So, if they can have a copy paste response I think it's fair that we have one back. So here are 3 ways to pay for a universal healthcare system.
#1-The Good Old Fashion Way
Yeah, it's the most obvious one, that's why it's the first. Figured we should get "raise taxes" out of the way early.
Of course, this scares people who own Don't Tread On Me bumper stickers, but here are the facts. First off, these people typically don't understand how taxes work. Taxes are a fee that you pay for to the government. It's only fair that you, the person who pays the taxes, get something in return.
However, how high are the taxes? After all, taxes being too high can cause negative economic effects (which these people seem to think never happens the other way around, but that's beside the point). I mean Bernie Sanders, the man who made the idea popular, said he wanted a top tax rate of over 90%. Wait, no that Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower and Bernie just pointed it out.
Here's the tax plan he actually proposed while running for president:
Now, here's how many percentage points your taxes would increase:
$1-250,000: 0% (Your taxes stay the same)
$250,001- 411,500: 4%
$411,501-464,850: 2%
$464,851-499,999: -2.6%
$500,000-2,000,000: 3.4%
$2,000,001-10,000,000: 8.4%
More than $10,000,0001: 12.4%
So you would need to make over $10,000,000 to have your taxes raised over 10%, over $2,000,000 to have them raised more than 5%, and more than $250,000 to have them raised at all.
#2-Enforce The Tax Laws We Already Have/Make Taxes The Same For Everyone
We have lost AT LEAST $70 billion to tax havens in one year. How is that not illegal? We all know they do it, and if you did it you'd be convicted of tax avoidance. How is this not a crime?
How about for the fact that (except for a brief point in the '80's) the capital gains rate is smaller than the individual rate. So someone making $80,000 a year through work could be paying more in taxes than someone making $500,000 a year through investments.
How about ban those non-sense "economic development" programs that actively don't work. Remember Amazon, the company that paid no taxes last year. Meanwhile, Jeff is still one of the richest men in the world.
And don't think I'm not going to mention the inequality in payroll taxes. Social Security taxes, for instance, only taxes up to $128,400. And people wonder why it's going bankrupt.
#3-Cut The Military
It previously seemed to be impossible make it more clear how cartoonish our military spending can be. Then Trump tried to create a space force.
As pointed out before, by the end of the Obama administration the United States had a military budget larger than the next 7 nations combined. We have over 800 military bases, including around Iran which the White House calls a giant threat. Bet John Bolton will never tell you that.
Then, without any debate, we increased the military budget by enough to pay for public college. Because if we don't the communists will take over or something, seriously this is ridiculous. Yet, no one ever asks how we're going to pay for the billions we spend with the Pentagon.
And these are just 3 of the millions of way progressives have given over the years to pay for a program that every other country in the modern world has.
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