TIME: Democrats Are No Longer Afraid of a Trillion-Dollar Price Tag

[crazytown]

TIME, May 8, 2029
http://time.com/5585136/democrats-2020-elections-trillions/

(After Spanky’s $1.5 trillion tax giveaway and yuuge $1+’trillion infrastructure promise, the GOP hasn’t got a leg to stand on. If in doubt, lie)

Democrats Are No Longer Afraid of a Trillion-Dollar Price Tag. Here's Why

When the Obama Administration set out to design a stimulus to stop the economy from a freefall in 2009, word came back from Republican and Democratic moderates in Congress that it couldn’t exceed $800 billion. That didn’t stop many of its conservative critics from decrying the plan as a “trillion-dollar stimulus.”

But as Democratic contenders gear up for the 2020 primary, they no longer seem afraid of the trillion-dollar price tag. In fact, several major candidates are leaning into it with proposals that tout the dollar sign as a marker of seriousness.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar wants to spend a trillion dollars upgrading America’s infrastructure. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to spend more than a trillion dollars erasing student debt and making college tuition free. California Sen. Kamala Harris has proposed a $3 trillion tax credit plan. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke wants to spend $5 trillion fighting climate change. And Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to spend trillions on Medicare for All.

snip “Ambitious plans are going to have ambitious price tags,” said Mark Schmitt, director of the political reform program at the New America Foundation. “They’re going to get bashed exactly the same no matter what. If you came up with a health care plan that cost a mere $50 billion, it would get beat up in exactly the same way, so you might as well get it out there now.”

snip (In 2016) Trump had a plan nearly four times as large (as Clinton’s) : $1 trillion on infrastructure. “Her number is a fraction of what we’re talking about. We need much more money to rebuild our infrastructure,” he told Fox Business Network.

snip Trump’s infrastructure plan has stalled repeatedly, but he’s never backed down from the idea. In a recent meeting with Democratic leaders in Congress, he even agreed in principle to $2 trillion in infrastructure spending.

[sandensea]

1. For a country like the U.S., anything big is certain to cost $1 trillion at least

The difference between us and our friends in the GOP, is that our trillion would actually improve people's lives and the nation itself.

Theirs just fattens defense contractors, and Swiss and Cayman accounts.

[asiliveandbreathe]

2. For me, just let them try to talk over Dems with regards to the deficit -

They have run it up and still counting....