Medicare for all would cost more than what we are paying now. We need to stop avoiding this fact.

[PatrickforO]

182. Nice post, full of good stats.

But there is one thing you omit. Why should we not organize our economy around helping each other? These are OUR tax dollars - why not use them for a program that benefits us instead of a forever war?

And you know, there are two huge reasons we even worry about the cost:
1. Big corporations like GE, Paccar, Wells Fargo and Mattel are not paying their fair share of federal income tax because of a loophole that allows them to 'offshore' profits. Billionaires also take advantage of this loophole. Some say there is as much as $20 trillion in untaxed profits offshore. The Bush tax cuts were disastrous. You simply cannot lower taxes for the wealthy and at the same time increase spending.

2. The national debt, if you think about it, is money we owe to ourselves if in fact our government is of, by and for us, the people. So why do we owe it to Wall Street banking lizards, with interest? Because of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. And, you know what? The Fed is NOT 'quasi governmental.' That's bullshit. The Fed is OWNED by banks, and the majority interest in it is held by Citi and JP Morgan Chase. As Bill Murray would say, 'That's the fact, Jack!'

If we wanted a society of abundance instead of scarcity where people have to die because some greed head wants too much profit for a drug, then we'd end the Fed's charter and begin issuing our own money as it says we should do in the Constitution. Will there be inflation? Nope. That's a myth, because as money expands, goods and services also expand, so the market keeps prices in equilibrium.

Now, if we did this, the bankers would come out with the long knives. They would attack the new currency, counterfeit it and attempt to cause steep recessions. But if we stuck it out, and ran our show like the founders did in PA and NY, and like Lincoln did with his greenbacks, then a Wall Street lizard could very well say, “If this mischievous financial policy (the Greenback), which has its origin in North America, shall become endurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous without precedent in the history of the world. The brains, and wealth of all countries will go to North America. That country must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe.” –Times of London

So there it is. For more read Ellen Brown's Web of Debt. Here's another link that elaborates the position more: https://realcurrencies.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/the-difference-between-debt-free-money-and-interest-free-credit/

Besides, no one (except Bernie and a couple others) asked how much Bush's forever war would cost. Why must we ask how much something that's actually GOOD, like single payer healthcare, cost?