Bernie Sanders often downplays how expensive his agenda really is, but when CNN can’t even sugarcoat it, you know you got yourself a ginormous monstrosity.
According to CNN’s own analysis, “the new spending programs Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed in his presidential campaign would at least double federal spending over the next decade.” They acknowledge this while also conceded that “he has faced almost no questions from other candidates or the media” about this fundamental truth.
Gee, whose fault is that, CNN?
Between Sanders’ own estimates and fiscal experts cited by CNN, his agenda “represents an expansion of government’s cost and size unprecedented since World War II,” and in fact “would increase government spending as a share of the economy far more than the New Deal under President Franklin Roosevelt, the Great Society under Lyndon Johnson or the agenda proposed by any recent Democratic presidential nominee, including liberal George McGovern in 1972.”
“The Sanders spending increase is roughly 2.5 times the size of the New Deal and the estimated fiscal impact of George McGovern’s campaign proposals,” says Larry Summers, the former chief White House economic adviser for Barack Obama and Treasury secretary for Bill Clinton. “This is six times as large of a growth of government than any of the Ronald Reagan dismemberments. We are in a kind of new era of radical proposal.”
Another expert, Maya MacGuineas, of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, says Sanders’ proposal would at least double federal spending. “We are literally talking about increases in government spending that would double the size of government as a share of gross domestic product.”
“It is remarkable how little attention such a huge change has gotten,” she added.
The media has suddenly taken an interest in Bernie Sanders and is desperately trying to thwart his surge in Iowa. He was pressed by the New York Times editorial board regarding his past anti-illegal immigration positions and the story about his belief a woman couldn’t win the Oval Office were clearly timed to hurt his campaign, and now CNN is suddenly raising red flags about the costs of his agenda.
Elizabeth Warren experienced a slide in the polls once she tried being all transparent about the cost of her Medicare for all plan. The risk of a Bernie Sanders victory in Iowa seems too much for even the liberal media to ignore and they’re clearly out for blood.
CNN took a huge swipe at Sanders’ claim to be able to pay for his agenda with built-in cost savings and tax increases on the wealthy. According to Summers, the spending Bernie is proposing simply can’t be offset by tax increases. Other economists argue that his plans would choke businesses, and stifle economic growth.
“There is no history that shows Americans are willing to vote for an agenda like the Sanders agenda,” said Jim Kessler, the executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic group. “Republicans will make an estimate of how much taxes will need to go up in order to pay for it. And he will not have an answer, because most of his proposals are paper thin and he has not figured out a way to do it, and we will have a repeat of 1972 or 1984.”
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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