Billionaire Says We “Can’t Afford” ‘Medicare for All,’ Bernie Sanders Responds

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The Humanist Report (THR) is a progressive political podcast that discusses and analyzes current news events and pressing political issues. Our analyses are guided by humanism and political progressivism. Each news story we cover is supplemented with thought-provoking, fact-based commentary that aims for the highest level of objectivity.

Billionaire Says We “Can’t Afford” ‘Medicare for All,’ Bernie Sanders Responds

96 thoughts on “Billionaire Says We “Can’t Afford” ‘Medicare for All,’ Bernie Sanders Responds

  1. This video is a segment from *Episode 147* of *The Humanist Report* podcast. If you don’t want to wait, you can watch the entire episode right NOW—before it hits YouTube—by becoming a $5 Patreon patron! Otherwise, the rest of this episode will be up on this YouTube channel on Tuesday, June 19th, 2018. Enjoy the show!

    • +crash bandicoot  So True! Trump And The Republican Majority In Congress Recently Passed A 1.5 Trillion Dollar Tax Cut For The 1% And The Top 1/10 of 1%. With Passage of “REPUBLICAN TAX REFORM” The Reason Starbucks Billionaire Howard Schultz Says We (The U.S.) Can’t Afford Medicare For All, Is That Would Mean Higher Taxes on People Like Him, The Koch Bros The Waltons Etc. You Know The FORBES 500 Richest AMERICANS Types. Possibly Even A Reinstatement of The Estate Tax. That Republicans Recently Eliminated.    Check Out This Video.     “Senator Bernie Sanders: GOP Tax Bill Is Simply A ‘Gift’ To 1% | MSNBC”          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2E8fhKs-dI

    • Dude Trump is a genius; as soon as he started appealing to populism and to the right nationalists, I told myself this guy is gonna win. The idiots still worship him as their God-emperor messiah.

  2. Schultz is a prime example of the 1 percent watching out for themselves and trying to keep everyone else ignorant, not realizing that we know we deserve more.

    • Che e
      schultz would obviously make a poor (despite his billion$$$) excuse for a president. Plus, Starbucks’ prices are as bloated as repugs _generally_ are.

    • Schultz is saying that not only can’t americans have what most every other nation on earth has, but also we can’t have what he has! AND americans can’t expect any kind of justice or human rights from the richest nation on earth. the republicans went extreme right with he idiot trump. now many democrats claim the way to beat trump is to offer someone more like trump and for them to go EVEN further to right. BUT sanders’ numbers showed he WOULF’VE beaten trump handily but the fascist democrats rigged their primary to favor Clinton who ALSI beat trump! both of the U. S.’s political parties are already elitist and fascist. the ONLY way we’ll ever remove these fascists from power is through revolution – A REVOLUTION OF THOUGHT! we can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. the philosophy of equalism that I founded is THAT REVOLUTION OF THOUGHT! watch my channel and lets get this revolution started DAMN IT!

    • Che e Do (We) Really know this Majority Voted a man Disconnected from Reality Full of hate because of Hate. We don’t know anything and if we Deserved anything it might of been much Clearer but we as a Society believe what we’re told.

      We want Change if we Deserve something then start with the News Force a Change in Description from News to Entertainment make the Outlets tell it’s Fan Base it doesn’t give Facts.

    • Br Car “overprinting” is relative. you print what you need to print. You’re making very general statements. Obviously increasing the budget 100x is going to cause massive inflation but that’s not what I’ve said at all. Or anything remotely close to it.

      The point is, taxes don’t fund spending. You spend and then tax to keep inflation in check.

    • Burako Shimazaki, the hotdog guy is right but not worth a darn at explaining.
      Here it goes; our constitution grants power to Congress to create currency by legislative action. That means Congress actually spends money into existence after the president signs off on it. An appropriations bill is then sent to treasury which is compelled to spend the money required in the appropriations bill, which signals the fed to fill the treasury spending accounts with the exact amount required. Taadaa real high powered money is created. For real. The only way to eliminate that previous spending is to tax it out of the banking system, but remember, keep in mind this all happens on a spreadsheet. Trying to use taxes to spend is like taking a dollar out of your pocket, burning it to ashes, then trying to buy a candy bar with it. This applies to the FEDERAL government only. States and individuals can’t appropriate (print) US dollars but they need them to provision itself. State and local taxes are used to fill state and local coffers, and are spent on their requirements.

    • Uhohhotdog Gaming Okay if the government just prints money we would have rapid inflation that would hit poor people a lot more than rich and it would still be a tax. Inflation is a form of taxation.

    • matthew mcclain you didn’t explain anything I didn’t say. You just used more words.

      Federal Government creates money. Federal Taxes destroy money.

      The fed prints what banks request from them. There’s no need to print every dollar in circulation.

    • We spend more on Medicare or SS than the military, so yes. You could quadruple the military with that level of spending.

    • This is the big conservative lie. When they say “we can’t afford that!”, what they really mean to say is “we can’t afford that _any a massive military_ !”. They don’t want to cut social programs to be more “fiscally responsible”, they want to cut them to funnel the money into the military budget.

    • amihart Yeah, not seeing the lie in saying we can’t afford that. The U.S has averaged about $600 billion deficit annually with the biggest expenditures being Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Cutting social programs isn’t necessary when a 1-3% reduction of Medicaid is equal to shutting down foodstamps or housing subsidies in terms of savings.

      We really can’t afford more spending, especially since the U.S is already giving 45% of the U.S healthcare.

  3. Our current private healthcare system will cost $49 trillion over the next 10 years.
    HR 676, Single payer healthcare was estimated to cost $32 trillion over the next 10 years.
    Pretty sure we can’t afford not to do it.

    • +Aconitus… i studied a little Lao Tzu in college its quite intriguing. but my main focus has been a life long dedication to ending poverty and awakening people to the implementation of the police state. more people are becoming aware of this secret, slow but deliberate installing of the technology that enforces the police state. technology ISN’T freeing us – its enslaving, making us dependent on it and its enforcing the elite’s control over us. but people are still too apathetic to take the action needed to gain their own freedom! this is one of main concerns of equalism. WAKING UP people to the reality of their own slavery!

    • THE POLICE STATE IS HERE and people are just accepting it as inevitable or even welcomed ‘progress.” they’re welcoming their own Orwellian future with open arms. I don’t want to be a slave anymore! but I can’t free myself unless or until others want to free themselves. our freedom depends on each other. people MUST WAKE UP and take action!

    • OldTeaMate I’m unemployed and have been for a year. I’ve made $1500 from legal work in my lifetime. My principles aren’t based on greed, and I myself benefit greatly from Canada’s healthcare system. Please tell me more how greedy I am for arguing for the free market over gunpoint extortion. Tell me more about how I’m a sociopath who only cares about material gain. You would benefit more from the system I believe we should have in place much more than I would assuming you’re not homeless. You’re the greedy bastard who doesn’t want to pay your own way in life, and wants other people to pay it for you.

  4. Shut down the US military terrorist war machine! Then there would be plenty of money for one payer healthcare, and tons left over for infrastructure and green energy jobs. Peace costs less!

    • You’re right, as a Technician I certainly do have a vested interest in this. As a millenial I want cheap drugs in my future just like everyone else, and capitalism is the best policy for that. It’s reduced costs and increased quality in every other area of business not taken over by excessive govt regulations (housing, student loans, all levels of healthcare, you get the idea)

      Now you’ll have to back up that claim that drugs aren’t overprescribed, because last I checked there isn’t any significant difference between US and Europe per capita healthcare consumption. As far as cheap goes, the real out of pocket costs for Americans is incredibly affordable at $1400 per person/yr. On top of that, US citizens have a much higher median income than virtually all European nations (Our $58k/yr median vs the OECD median $31k/yr) so the out of pocket expense is neglibible especially due to the much higher wages. As far as economy goes, yes its doing fine. Ours is much better though.

      Now as far as cost goes thats great, but the big difference is we don’t have the problems major single payer systems do. Take the NHS in Britain for example, they shut down many hospitals earlier this year because they couldn’t handle the flu season and cancelled 50k surgeries and operations. Their doctors went on strike because of chronically low wages and extensive hours. Their healthcare system has prevented numerous families from seeking treatment from outside sources, including that infant Charlie earlier this year. We may spend a couple thousand more per family in healthcare here, but the quality of care in the US FAR outstrips that of the EU.

    • “As a millenial I want cheap drugs in my future just like everyone else, and capitalism is the best policy for that.”
      Somebody doesn’t know how unelastic markets work.

      “It’s reduced costs and increased quality in every other area of business not taken over by excessive govt regulations (housing, student loans, all levels of healthcare, you get the idea)” I really wish you are ironic here, all of the above have skyrocketed, in fact deregulation was the cause behind the 08 crisis, specifically around the mortgage market.

      Dugs are not overprescribed? So i guess the opioid epidemic is not real?
      Or what about considering natural child behavior as a mental disease, resulting in an entire generation raised on adderral, a drug meant to be used in cases of ADHD and instead it’s used on any kid that’s too roudy or inquisitive.(in some cases resulting in some nasty long term side effects)

      And yet the EU has a higher living standard, it’s citizens live a happier life, feel more fulfilledhave supeiror medical coveradge and have a higher literacy rate+ more highly educated citizens.
      It’s almost as if raw income is not the only thing a society should provide, rather these numbers are showing that when you have representation for the taxation you have a society that’s better off and is far more stable.
      In fact even though they get paid less becuase they’re economically and socially more secure than here EU citizens have more money left in the pocket at the end of the month to spend at their leisure.
      In constrast int he us we have a 65% or something who cannot afford an unexpected annual expense of 500$.

      When planning a national system or policy you cannot form use an individual case-by-case basis. bringing up individual cases or a few hundreds of deaths due to an overflow is nothing compared tothe thousands of annual deaths that result from our system.

      Here’s what you are missing: under the US system far more people simply die either because they did not get a checkup when their disease was at an early stage because they didn’t feel sick and thought that it was not worth the expense, or becuase they coudn’t outright afford medication, treatment or surgery.
      Another thing you have omitted is that an ilness in europe is not a cause for bankruptcy.

      Before you use the sensationalised “death panel” argument you should fisrt realize that here we judge who lives and who dies through a wallet autopsy. witch is a death panel based on one’s wallet.
      In other words we’ve put a pricetag on human life.

      The UK can easily fix their problem by making a few more hospitals
      The UK can’t.

      “We may spend a couple thousand more per family in healthcare here, but the quality of care in the US FAR outstrips that of the EU.”
      Really ?
      https://nordic.businessinsider.com/the-16-countries-with-the-worlds-best-healthcare-systems-2017-1/

      The only time where the US healthcare system is the best is when yo have a few millions ready to burn, and even that is debatable as we technologically fall behind asia and europe.

    • Jeez I can’t even read your whole comment on one screen.

      Ok, lets start top to bottom. First off non-emergency medical care and prescription drug markets have nothing to do with elasticity of demand, rather who gets to fill that demand. Since you claim to know so much about healthcare you obviously would know how Medicare negotiating has effectively chosen the winners and losers for all levels of healthcare provision, from the drug manufacturers to suppliers to the doctors offices that prescribe. Let’s be real here, monopolizing suppliers and providers for patients and heavily regulating them is not a capitalist practice that’s govt intervention. The result: hospitals and pharmacies can’t shop for the lowest cost provider, patients won’t benefit from those lower prices, and there’s no competition for drug prices. That’s why insulin prices have tripled since 2000 as the number of manufacturers have declined through Medicare negotiation.

      The ’08 market crash occurred due a large number of factors, the biggest being subprime lending practices. https://www.factcheck.org/2008/10/who-caused-the-economic-crisis/
      Realistically, if we didn’t have the heavier regulations on banking we’d have a greater diversity of lenders and banks so the poor decisions of a few companies wouldn’t impact the majority of Americans. Go figure, diverse competition is better than a handful of few large competitors.

      Like I said, we use a similar if not equal number of healthcare services per capita as Europe. This goes for prescription drugs as well, so if you want to say Europe is overprescribing be my guest. As far as opioids go, what’s the epidemic? The rate of prescription opioid deaths is steadily dropping, however illegal opioids is the factor going up.
      https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/02/the-real-cause-of-the-opioid-crisis/553118/
      As far as antidepressants go, the US only hit #1 within the last couple years. For most of the 21st century the worlds happiest countries have also been the highest consumers of antidepressants: Iceland, Denmark, your Scandinavian countries.

      As far as how great Europe is, is pretty obvious you’ve missed several factors. Sure the EU has universal healthcare coverage, yet Switzerland has privatized healthcare plus universal care and still performs better in terms of patient outcomes while spending about 75 cents on the dollar for healthcare. The major difference between the US and Switzerland is obesity, drug/alcohol abuse, and the socialization of healthcare in the US versus Switzerland. EU and US have comparable literacy rates, US is #4 on percent population with tertiary education accomplishment, and like I noted earlier the countries with the greatest happiness are also heavy longtime users of antidepressants with a culture than emphasizes less emotional expression.
      In terms of income, the US drastically outpaces Europe.
      http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/05/through-an-american-lens-western-europes-middle-classes-appear-smaller/
      While Europe does provide more welfare, the benefits of said welfare still don’t outweigh the higher income of U.S citizens in all income levels. Our lower income class, despite being bolstered by the largest group of fixed income senior citizens in our history, outpaces some European nations middle class in terms of income even after benefits are applied. As far as the unexpected expense goes, it’s actually 40% of citizens who can’t cover it and I can’t find any comparable data for Europe so that’s a questionable argument.

      Here’s the problem for you: I’ve already considered all of these points you’ve brought up and found them lacking. Yes, as a result of greater financial freedom and decisions Americans are more obese, make more negative health decisions, and save less. We’re also better off, are more educated, and have greater financial opportunities than Europeans. Is it bad that less than 9% of US citizens don’t have healthcare insurance? Yes. Does that mean that the UK, with their NHS considered the worst in Europe, has a chance of competing in terms of quality with the US?
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/18/nhs-care-among-worst-europe/
      No it doesn’t. You may be right that the US does great when there’s money, but that’s why we want more capitalism so we can have the same great care for less cost. And seriously, you think we have worse healthcare technology than China?

    • At the moment we need this military to supply our bases all over the word which sadly costs a lot. I say get rid of these terrible social programs then worry about education (and maybe healthcare depending on who you are)

    • Simon and Gar Farkell Then ANYONE with a conscience can do the same.
      How about a toaster that will last 100 years, use lasers to print Jesus on my bread, and only costs $20 (with a trade in of ANY planned Obsolescent toaster)
      LIFETIME WARRENTY
      If it breaks, we’ll fix it or replace it.
      Why ?? Because we can.

      Onesmalltown.org
      Thetransition.org

      The Venus Project will push everything to the cutting edge of technology, the best we know how to make as a species.
      The $25 is just because we’re stuck in a monetary system and are prostitutes still until we transition off money all together.

  5. I know how we can afford it. You know that trillion dollars in corporate welfare and those tax cuts for the rich that we hand out every year? And then the rich take it offshore and refuse to pay taxes so they live “free” on our dime? Yeah ,that’s where we get the money. And by the way you say you want to run as a democrat in 2020? The democratic party is being smashed and destroyed as we speak. It will no longer exist as a viable option for you in 2020. So take your money and go back to your bubble behind your privacy wall and stay there until it’s all over. We’ll come and get you as soon as we need you.

    • Sweederland Johnson , I defend their right to live and to their human, social, and civil rights. However I do demand they pay their back taxes to include the last 40 years and end corporate welfare benefits. We can run a country and guarantee social and economic rights on that alone. Go figure

    • +Cathy Morrone  So True! Trump And The Republican Majority In Congress Recently Passed A 1.5 Trillion Dollar Tax Cut For The 1% And The Top 1/10 of 1%. With Passage of “REPUBLICAN TAX REFORM” The Reason Starbucks Billionaire Howard Schultz Says We (The U.S.) Can’t Afford Medicare For All, Is That Would Mean Higher Taxes on People Like Him, The Koch Bros, The Waltons Etc. You Know The FORBES 500 Richest AMERICANS Types. Possibly Even A Reinstatement of The Estate Tax. That Republicans Recently Eliminated.    Check Out This Video.     “Senator Bernie Sanders: GOP Tax Bill Is Simply A ‘Gift’ To 1% | MSNBC”          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2E8fhKs-dI

  6. I feel sorry for Bernie having to debate these people……I bet Schultz also says we can’t play nice with Putin…

    • *_RWANDA_* has universal health care, FFS. So do all 32 developed Western democracies, plus another 25 countries have it. –We need to be clear that zhitbags like this swine are perfectly happy to kill upwards of 50,000 Americans every year just to keep feeding at the trough of corporate welfare. This is quite simply mass murder, for profit.

    • If we can “play nice” with Osama bin Fucking Laden then we can “play nice” with Putin.
      We used to fund Islamists all the time because they tended to be vehemently anti-Communist.
      We saw Osama bin Laden as a “lesser evil” to the Soviets. >.>

    • and the worst part is that they could potentially earn more themselves by giving those 50,000 people a higher level of support. The more money people have to spend, the more they tend to spend all around giving profit to everyone. I wish everyone would watch the kurzgesagt video on the selfish argument for altruism.

  7. So the rich cant help with medicare but will gladly steal our income and fund Thousands of dollars for military and Congress lobbyists cool

    • The rich don’t steal your income. Come on people be smarter than this. Are your taxes going to the rich. NO! It going ti the government then turns around n starts these wars. They promise you “free” stuff, but it’s not free. Poor people are stealing from you by demanding healthcare, education, and other stuff as a right.

    • We spend nearly $700 billion on military actually, however nearly all of that goes into a service the government is specifically supposed to do: protect the nation from foreign attack. While it appears expensive, it also stabilizes major trade lanes and ensures our trade isn’t threatened militarily by opposing nations or even friendly nations.

      As far as a wall goes, it’s estimated at $20 billion. Currently we have 58,000 illegal aliens in federal prison housed at approximately $30k/yr on the taxpayers dime, or $1.7billion annually. Within 20 years the wall will be paid for just by preventing their re-entry into the US and our prison system.

      As far as Medicare for All goes, the U.S spends $1.2 trillion on both Medicare and Medicaid (seniors and low income coverage) out of the total $3.3 trillion of total healthcare expenses in our nation to cover 110 million people. This is paid through the 7.5% payroll tax, plus the mandated match by businesses, plus state and federal taxes while still leaving patients with greater deductibles and “doughnut holes” in coverage than private care. We’ve seen healthcare become more expensive as we socialize it and cut competition, tripling our taxes and monopolizing it won’t solve our healthcare crisis.

    • … Seriously? I just pointed out how easy it is to pay off the wall and how bad single-payer healthcare is. Why are you preaching to the choir?

    • Which, btw, taxing trade and money transfers will not cover the $20 billion as effectively as simply deporting federal criminals like I pointed out which is entirely within Trump’s right as the executive branch leader.

      Yes Obamacare made things more expensive, but the big issue now-a-days is the Medicare-For-All the Democrats are pushing. The goal posts are shifting with the left and I doubt many people remember an America where family insurance was >$500/month.

      China and Russia are certainly not doing better than the U.S, in reality their economy is pretty pathetic. Russia is hampered by Oligarchy of corporations and the Russian focus on protecting the European portion of Russia. Not to mention the Ural mountain division in their society, the lack of economic opportunities because of said corruption, it’s pretty slim. China is worse, only recently have most of their population risen above absolute poverty ($1/day>) while their economy is centralized around government-manipulated corporations. The U.S by far is more fair and more effective at innovation and economic growth.

      It’s a nice first step, but you’re pretty extreme. Chill out and stick to the facts and know who you’re arguing against. Ranting about socialism and free stuff just gets you written off by everyone including moderates.

  8. Spends trillion dollars on bombing desert countries that don’t pose a threat to us – can’t pay for healthcare. Priorities.

  9. Here i the thing. War is good for the big spenders of most countries. People die so with brand name weapons in their hands. Innocent people are killed by items made to factory standard weapons. Every bullet every blade, every chemical, and thing that is worn is made with money. Powers from all over the world need these weapons and armor, it needs also to be maintained.
    If you think about it, why would the governments of the world be SO quick to war? It makes money!
    So why lose money to help those who wont be in war? Why care for the sick, the needy, the weak when you can get young men, and why young men and not both genders? Cause it would cost a bit much to maintain the needs of a woman, its actually not about a male agenda to get them out of war, just cheaper for men. Of course they allowed some women in in order to keep people happy, I mean happy people are SO more willing to die for the cause of money then sad ones right?
    World peace is a NIGHTMARE for these people. War is something they can milk till they die, its a family run business, world peace would just be scary.
    There is a large group of people who hate a certain world power? Interesting, lets supply them with weapons!
    In fact the idea of school shootings or some one who kills a lot of people with certain weapons is another thing these people do not want. Why? Is it for the many lost innocent people? NO, its a scary event that puts them in the light, where they don’t want to be.

    • If you look into what I said you would see that I am pointing out the reality of how certain people act with war.
      I am 100% with you. We need another war like we need another shot up school. We need less murder in this world, less dead innocents. Less political powers doing horrible things to their own people to further their political gain.
      And yet with all that people like you and me do, war wont end. In fact even after we are dead and dust out decedents will be used as pawns to kill one another.

    • I dont think he was supporting it. I think hes stating that its not about war…its about money. Those making the money dont give two *beeps* about the dieing, or the suffering caused by the war.

  10. any healthcare system that has insurance companies in it does not benefit the patient… profit is not part a doctor’s oath … witch is why cure’s are not the objective of the big pharma … i say we need a national healthcare system only run by the government ….. but only after we stop letting the rich bribe our government ….

    • Look you put so many “…” in you comments I have a hard time reading this as a complete thought.

      Here’s the big issue: we don’t have a capitalist healthcare system. We’re halfway to a nationalized healthcare system with Medicare and as a result the Medicare system has monopolized several key parts of healthcare. When there’s competition in healthcare for patients dollars then every group competes to give their patients the most benefits for the least dollars, and this involves everyone from the Insurance company to the Doctors Clinic to the pharmaceutical manufacturers and so on. If the healthcare system didn’t lock supply contracts with specific drug manufactures, if Medicare didn’t “negotiate” their drug suppliers into a monopoly, then we wouldn’t have a big pharma. Instead we have Big Govt.

      You assume the rich are bribing the govt, but lets be real here the govt makes money off of their donations. There isn’t money for people wanting to be a “public servant” just in getting rich people to listen to you. How do you think Bernie Sanders can afford 3 houses on a Senators salary? How do you think Hillary got a net worth of $45 million? No, even if you tamp down on “the rich bribers” you’d still have govt officials abusing their position for personal gain. The question is, do you want them to abuse your healthcare for personal gain?

    • jacob archer you are exactly right Jacob the U.S. should keep going the way it is definitely elect this guy he seems spot in there is definitely too much government get those taxes cut and let that trickle become a flood…

    • I think that we should go be going further and start cutting out the middle man, as it were, by stripping power over things like this away from the federal government and putting power in the hands of the people. More democracy in all things. I think we’ve let our representative system go unchecked for too long after we’ve already been shown that these politicians will act for their own gain and interests above those of the citizens. If something is for the people, who better to decide how that works than the people themselves?

    • Frankly the representative system is the part of government that keeps Democracy from turning into Mob Rule where the most popular opinion, regardless of how valid it is, violently overthrows other opinion. The nice thing about representatives is that yes a few may be corrupt, but the corrupt people don’t have to be the same all the time. Plus it’s easier to change policy with a small group than a big one. Think about it like this: Who is easier to convince, a single flat-earther representative or 10 million flat-earther believers?

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