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In an interview with CNN, Presidential candidate Kamala Harris claimed that she could pay for socialized healthcare on America without tax increases on the middle class.

[Click here for video]

This claim is laughable.

Bernie Sanders, a leading supporter of socialized medicine, which he calls Medicare for All, has admitted that American families will pay more taxes. His plan even includes a new, $3.9 trillion, 4 percent payroll tax on workers. 

This is likely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tax increases on the middle class because the Sanders proposal only raises $14 trillion, roughly 40 percent of the cost of his Medicare for All Plan which would require $32 trillion and $36 trillion over the next decade.

For her part, Harris has repeatedly proposed repealing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a middle-class tax cut which reduced taxes for an average family of four by $2,000 and reduced overall tax liability by an average of 24.9 percent.

Even assuming Kamala Harris is sincere in her desire to “pay for” socialized healthcare through taxing “the rich,” this would not come close to financing Medicare for All. 

At one point, the CNN host pushed back on the Harris claim that the middle-class won’t get hit with a tax hike, and said some people think she’s trying to “find money in magical ways.”

For instance, a “wealth tax,” a financial transactions tax, a 10 percent surtax on “the wealthy,” a 70 percent top rate, and doubling the tax rate on capital gains would pay for roughly 20 percent of the cost of Medicare for All according to the best-case scenario estimates by the left.

It is also important to note that these estimates assume no negative economic feedback, no changes in behavior, and do not account for any revenue loss from the corresponding other tax increases: 

  • A wealth tax (2% annual tax on $50 million in wealth, 3% annual tax on $1 billion) – a $2.75 trillion tax increase
  • A financial transactions tax (0.1 percent on every transaction) – a $777 billion tax increase
  • A 10 percent surtax on the wealthy ($2.9 mil in income and above) — an $800 billion tax increase
  • 70 percent top marginal income tax rate – a $353 billion tax increase
  • Doubling tax rates on capital gains — a $1.5 trillion tax increase
     

Total: $6.17 trillion (19 percent to 21 percent of the $32 – $36 trillion cost of “Medicare For All.”