New White House report echoes Trump campaign rallies against socialism

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A new White House report released Tuesday aimed at socialism, providing intellectual firepower to the speech that President Donald Trump made at campaign rallies.

"With the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, socialism is making a strong comeback in the American political discourse," says the report of the Council of Economic Advisers of the White House. "Detailed political proposals from self-declared socialists gain support for Congress and for much of the electorate," the report says. It is entitled "Opportunity Costs of Socialism".

This is a reference to the ideas of the Medicare-for-all proposals regarding the guarantee of a universal basic income to employment guarantees offered by politicians such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Congress Democrat Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez. Even Teen Vogue has launched a campaign against capitalism.

It's not just the left. A survey conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling firm revealed that 52 percent of Republicans surveyed said they supported Medicare for all, which would set up a single payer health system.

At election rallies, Trump said the Democrats would turn the United States into Venezuela when they took power.

The publication of the White House report prompted sharp criticism:

White House Council Chair Kevin Hassett defended the report. "I think my role at CEA is not to be a politician but an analyst," he said during a conference call. "And if our study convinces citizens of all parties that, if they rely on central planning and try to reduce the influence of private property by specifically nationalizing things or by regulating and taxing things down to the oubliettes, it would be bad for the economy as a whole, I would have the impression that the paper has reached its objective. "

The White House report examines socialism as it is practiced in Venezuela, Maoist China and the USSR, as well as more successful socialist concepts in the Nordic countries, including Sweden. and Norway.

"Socialists today do not want dictatorship or state brutality that often coincided with the most extreme cases of socialism," the report said. "However, the peaceful democratic implementation of socialist policies does not eliminate the fundamental problems of incitement and information created by high tax rates, large state organizations and the control centralized resources. "

The White House argues that if the US applied policies similar to those in the Nordic countries in the 1970s, US families earning the average salary would be taxed an additional $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 a year, net of transfers. The report concludes that US GDP would fall by about $ 11,000 a year per person if Nordic policies similar to those of the 1970s were in place, and $ 24,000 a year if "highly socialist" policies were in place .

While the taxpayer-funded report devotes many pages to tackling the policies that few in the United States would propose – such as the nationalization of agricultural production – it takes up a very real proposition, medicare for all .

The report states that the population would suffer even if new taxes replace the cost of premiums paid to private sector insurers, because "taxation distorts economic activity" and "the cost of tax revenues is higher than the cost recipes themselves ". The House report also stated that current Medicare beneficiaries are likely to be harmed by such a program. "The evidence of a compromise between universal health care and higher health care is corroborated both by the experience of the single European payer who restricts care for the elderly compared to the United States. as well as by the recent US ACA-level reforms that have reduced Medicare spending $ 802 billion to fund expansion projects for younger age groups, " indicates the report.

The report uses short queues for older people – all of whom must be eligible for Medicare care – to demonstrate the risks of switching to more Medicare:

A White House official who saw the tweet said that Medicare for All was different from the current Medicare Advantage program because it has many payers and shares costs and allows for competing health plans and complementary private sector programs. .

In addition, the bill will prevent health care providers from making a profit, said the White House official.

Even if Medicare for All did not make any changes to its operations, it would still be problematic to take a program that works well for about a sixth of the population and try to make it work on a larger scale, said the official. the White House.