By: DailyForex.com
It took Bernie Sanders, the only other candidate on the Democratic ticket besides Hillary Clinton, some time to make his economic plans clear to the public. But now that he is moving along in his campaign, he has outlined his proposals and has listed clearly the way each proposal will be funded.
Healthcare
Sanders’s big push will be "Medicare for all," or single-payer healthcare funded by the government. This tremendous proposal, which differs from those presented by any other presidential candidate, would cost the government somewhere between $1.4 trillion and $2.8 trillion per year, or $13.8 trillion over 10 years, according to the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget. It would also put health insurers (which employ more than half a million people) out of business, end employer-provider insurance and disturb many other elements of the healthcare system.
To pay for the increased spending, Sanders would impose a series of tax increases on companies, workers, investors, heirs and the wealthy with the idea being that most people would save more on healthcare costs than they’d pay in new taxes. Sanders says his tax hikes would be adequate to cover the costs, but CFRB estimates that the Sanders plan could come up short by as much as $1.4 trillion per year, a great deal of money and a deep pocket to fill.
Sanders’s big push will be "Medicare for all," or single-payer healthcare funded by the government.
Infrastructure
Sanders proposes to spend about $100 billion per year constructing or shoring up roads, bridges, ports, runways and other types of facilities. This is part of the “Rebuild America Act,” a bill President Obama advocated but that was turned down by Congress. To pay for this infrastructure, Sanders will tax corporate money being held in offshore tax havens, which means a new law would have to be enacted that would force money to be brought stateside.
Taxes
Sanders would like to see personal income-tax rates for households with more than $250,000 in income taxed as high as 58%. He would cap deductions for the wealthy, raise the estate tax and kill the “carried interest” loophole that mostly benefits private-equity firms. Tax rates for lower earners would stay the same, but their taxes would still go up because of the 2.2% increase in payroll taxes employees would pay to cover the cost of “Medicare for all.” Overall, Sanders’s tax hikes would amount to around $1 trillion a year.
Social Security
According to those in the know, Social Security is not only not going bankrupt but has a $2.8 trillion surplus. It can pay every benefit owed to eligible Americans for the next 19 years (and more than three-quarters after that). Sanders proposes increasing the S.S. coffers by lifting the existing cap so that all those making more than $250,000 a year pays the same percentage of their income into Social Security as the middle class and working families.
This would not only extend the solvency of Social Security for the next 50 years, but result in additional plusses: It would bring in enough revenue to expand benefits by an average of $65 a month; increase cost-of-living-adjustments; and lift more seniors out of poverty by increasing the minimum benefits paid to low-income seniors.
Youth Jobs Program
Sanders has proposed a $5.5 billion youth jobs program to create 1 million jobs for disadvantaged young Americans. He sent the amendment to the Senate in July 2015 where it was turned down by a vote, 60 votes short of those needed for passage.
The youth program would be funded by ending the carried interest loophole that allows billionaire hedge fund managers to pay a lower tax rate than nurses and truck drivers.
Renewable Energy and Clean Jobs Transition
When it comes to renewable energy, Sanders is pushing investments in clean, sustainable energy sources powered by the sun, wind and Earth’s heat. He also has a plan to provide comprehensive benefits to workers as they transition to making the solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries of tomorrow.
These programs would be paid for by stopping taxpayer-funded giveaways to oil, gas and coal companies.
Family Issues
One of the items proposed by Sanders is an increase to at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to all workers.
This would be covered by a payroll tax that would total $1.61 a week for the typical American worker and would not add to the federal budget.
Efforts would be made to prevent cuts to the pensions of over 1.5 million Americans by closing two tax loopholes that primarily benefit wealthy individuals and their estates and allow them to avoid taxes on money they inherit and expensive artwork they collect.
According to Bernie Sanders, his economic plan would mean a median income increase by more than $22,000, the creation of close to 26 million jobs and a drop in unemployment to 3.8 percent. Many analysts contend that Sanders’s proposals are so radical they have zero chance of ever going into effect. Given that at least one house of Congress seems sure to be controlled by Republicans for the foreseeable future, a President Sanders would probably meet a brick wall on Pennsylvania Ave.