I know DU is Bernie Country, but in response to an earlier thread about Rachel's Interview of HRC

[Triana]

21. The nation is NOT "broke"

The problem is that about 400 very wealthy families and lots of corporate entities are hoarding ALL THE MONEY and they REFUSE to pay their fair share of tax on it. In many cases, such as GE, they pay NO TAXES on their enormous profits.

We ain't broke, honey. We've been ROBBED and it's time to bring the ROBBER BARONS to their knees and TAKE. OUR. NATION. AND. OUR. MONEY. BACK.

The only person who realizes this and is willing to do anything about it is BERNIE SANDERS. And as far as 'freebies', he's made very clear how we can provide free public college to anyone - and as far as universal or single-payer healthcare or Medicare for all, that would be MORE affordable than the patched-together, expensive, ineffective profit-and-greed-driven system we have now. How do I know that? BECAUSE EVERY OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY has already done it.

So your assertion that Sanders is giving away a "basket of freebies" is also bullshit. We are NOT broke and we CAN afford every bit of this.

That the nation is "broke" is a conservative talking point meant to trick Americans into agreeing to cuts to vital social programs, public education, research, and other needed public services. It's bullshit.

From HuffingtonPost via Michael Moore:

America is not broke.

Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.

Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-moore/america-is-not-broke_b_832006.html


From the Center for American Progress:

Really, we’re not broke.

The notion that the United States is “broke” is a popular talking point for conservative lawmakers. They use the claim to justify cuts in government services for middle-class Americans and those with whom they have ideological quarrels. Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner (R-OH), for example, likes to say that the United States is “broke, going on bankrupt,” which is why he says we absolutely have to slash government services such as poison control centers, meat inspections, law enforcement funding, afterschool programs, and disease research.

But we’re not broke. Not at all. If we were, it would mean that we were out of money, unable to pay our bills, or meet our financial obligations. We are none of those things. A recent article by David J. Lynch of Bloomberg News points out that, actually, the United States continues to meet every one of its financial obligations with no trouble at all. The federal government is able to borrow funds at historically low interest rates. And those historically low rates apply to both short-term borrowing and long-term borrowing, indicating that lenders not only don’t believe the United States is broke right now, but also don’t see bankruptcy anywhere on the horizon.

The United States is an extremely low-tax country compared to the other economically advanced countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Over the past five years, the United States ranked 29th out of 33 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in total tax revenue as a share of our economy, with only South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, and Chile collecting less than us. In fact, U.S. tax revenues were a full 8 percentage points of gross domestic product below the average OECD developed or developing country.

. . .

Combining Canada-level revenue with the spending levels in the president’s fiscal year 2012 budget plan would produce an immediate budget surplus that would grow from about 0.6 percent of GDP in 2012 to 1.6 percent of GDP by 2021.* At that rate, debt as a share of GDP would fall from 63 percent currently to under 40 percent 10 years from now. In fact, we could even get to a balanced budget by 2015 with revenue levels about 1 percentage point lower than Canada’s.

It’s worth noting that having a somewhat higher overall level of tax revenue hasn’t done Canada any harm either. From 2000 through 2007 median family income in Canada rose by 8.6 percent, after accounting for inflation. Meanwhile, back here in the even-lower tax United States, median family income was essentially flat during that period, and then, of course, it plummeted during the Great Recession.

The United States is not broke. On the contrary, we have enormous economic resources at our disposal. We could, if we chose to, fully pay for every service, program, and benefit that the federal government provides without borrowing a single penny. We could do so and still be a relatively low-tax country—simply by raising the same amount of revenue, or even a bit less, as our northern neighbor does.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2011/03/21/9347/were-not-broke/