The Warren plan is out, and my predictions were right on target. She hired some of the best health care wonks around to prepare a plan based on assumptions that often range between aggressive and ridiculously optimistic. The plan consequently indicates that we can have the maximum version of Medicare for all without a tax increase on the middle class. Right, and Brexit would be easy and painless, too.
This is just the beginning of the questions for Warren–not the end. Since the real political issue with M4A is risk aversion, not cost, one has to ask whether the release of this plan has improved its chances of success. The answer is no, because the holes will be pointed out by Republicans and realos alike, and everyone who fears the worst will assume that, in the real world, their taxes will be increased substantially to fill them. The optimistic assumptions in M4A also bring into question the integrity of the assumptions in Warren’s other plans for pessimists like me. Politically, in my opinion, this is an own goal for the progressive side.