I was watching "The Americans" the other night, and there was a scene from what was supposed to be a live TV show from the 80s in which David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear then reappear. In reality, that stunt was a very large scale slight of hand trick. Viewers had to suspend belief for a while, but it was an impressive trick.
One trick magicians never promise to do is make money appear. Only politicians do that.
When we hear that Bernie Sanders wants to do away with all the existing health care insurance options and replace them with a single payer plan -- a Medicare for all -- most of us hear a magician and know it's going to be smoke, mirrors, and slight of hand. To help pull back the curtain, Investors.com editorializes:
When he released his plan, Sanders claimed it would cost about $14 trillion over 10 years. But not to worry, he said, since it would be fully paid for by the rich, and the middle class, and the working class, who would all see their taxes go up. /snip/
When you add it all up, the Urban Institute says, the price tag works out to $32 trillion over 10 years. In other words, Sanders’ plan would increase the already gargantuan size of the federal government by almost two-thirds.
Yes, state and local government, businesses and individuals will save money on premiums and out-of-pocket costs. But the idea that they’d be better off requires a suspension of disbelief that is almost impossible to maintain.
Bernie Sanders is the magician promising to make money appear.
Editor's note: Donald Trump's promises require a belief in magic, too, so they've got that in common. Robo-ed. | Hmm. We've got us a regular carnival magic show going on here.
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