Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Robert Reich: The Washington Post's Pathetic Attempt to Attack Bernie
Sanders
________________________________________
Robert Reich: The Washington Post's Pathetic Attempt to Attack Bernie
Sanders
By Robert Reich [1] / RobertReich.org [2]
October 2, 2015
The Washington Post just ran an attack [3] on Bernie Sanders that distorts
not only what he's saying and seeking but also the basic choices that lie
before the nation. Sanders, writes the Post's David Fahrenthold, "is not
just a big-spending liberal. And his agenda is not just about money. It's
also about control."
Fahrenthold claims Sanders's plan for paying for college with a tax on Wall
Street trades would mean "colleges would run by government rules."
Apparently Fahrenthold is unaware that three-quarters of college students
today attend public universities financed largely by state governments. And
even those who attend elite private universities benefit from federal tax
subsidies flowing to wealthy donors. (Meg Whitman's recent $30 million
donation to Princeton, for example, is really $20 million from her plus an
estimated $10 million she deducted from her taxable income.) Notwithstanding
all this government largesse, colleges aren't "run by government rules."
The real problem is too many young people still can't afford a college
education. The move toward free public higher education that began in the
1950s with the G.I. Bill and was extended in the 1960s by leading public
universities was reversed starting in the 1980s because of shrinking state
budgets. Tuition has skyrocketed in recent years as states slashed education
spending. It's time to resurrect that earlier goal.
Besides, the biggest threats to academic freedom these days aren't coming
from government. They're coming as conditions attached to funding from
billionaires and big corporations that's increasing as public funding drops.
When the Charles Koch Foundation pledged $1.5 million to Florida State
University's economics department, for example, it stipulated [4]that a
Koch-appointed advisory committee would select professors and undertake
annual evaluations. The Koch brothers now fund 350 programs at over 250
colleges and universities across America. You can bet that funding doesn't
underwrite research on inequality and environmental justice.
Fahrenthold similarly claims Sanders's plan for a single-payer system would
put healthcare under the "control" of government.
But health care is already largely financed through government subsidies --
only they're flowing to private for-profit health insurers that are now
busily consolidating into corporate leviathans. Anthem purchase of giant
insurer Cigna will make it the largest health insurer in America; Aetna is
buying Humana, creating the second-largest, [5]with 33 million [5]members.
Why should anyone suppose these for-profit corporate giants will be less
"controlling" than government?
What we do know is they're far more expensive than a single-payer system.
Fahrenthold repeats the charge that Sanders's healthcare plan would cost $15
trillion over ten years. But single-payer systems in other rich nations have
proven cheaper than private for-profit health insurers because they don't
spend huge sums on advertising, marketing, executive pay, and billing.
So even if the Sanders single-payer plan would cost $15 trillion over ten
years, Americans as a whole would save more than that.
Fahrenthold trusts the "market" more than he does the government but he
overlooks the fact that government sets the rules by which the market runs
(such as whether health insurers should be allowed to consolidate even
further, or how much of a "charitable" tax deduction wealthy donors to
private universities should receive, and whether they should get the
deduction if they attach partisan conditions to their donations).
The real choice isn't between government and the "market." It's between a
system responsive to the needs of most Americans, or one more responsive to
the demands of the super-rich, big business, and Wall Street - whose
economic and political power have grown dramatically over the last three
decades.
This is why the logic of Sanders's ideas depends on the political changes he
seeks. Fahrenthold says a President Sanders couldn't get any of his ideas
implemented anyway because Congress would reject them. But if Bernie Sanders
is elected president, American politics will have been altered, reducing the
moneyed interests' choke hold over the public agenda.
Fahrenthold may not see the populism that's fueling Bernie's campaign, but
it is gaining strength and conviction. Other politicians, as well as
political reporters, ignore this upsurge at their peril.
Robert B. Reich has served in three national administrations, most recently
as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He also served on
President Obama's transition advisory board. His latest book is "Aftershock:
The Next Economy and America's Future." His homepage is www.robertreich.org
[6].
Share on Facebook Share
Share on Twitter Tweet
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [7]
[8]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/robert-reich-washington-posts-pathetic
-attempt-attack-bernie-sanders
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/robert-reich-0
[2] http://robertreich.org/
[3]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bernie-sanders-would-transform-th
e-nation/2015/09/30/d3b57b8e-616a-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html
[4]
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/billionaires-role-in-hiring-decisions-
at-florida-state-university-raises/1168680
[5]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-03/aetna-agrees-to-buy-humana
-for-37-billion-in-cash-stock
[6] http://www.robertreich.org
[7] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Robert Reich: The
Washington Post's Pathetic Attempt to Attack Bernie Sanders
[8] http://www.alternet.org/
[9] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Robert Reich: The Washington Post's Pathetic Attempt to Attack Bernie
Sanders
Robert Reich: The Washington Post's Pathetic Attempt to Attack Bernie
Sanders
By Robert Reich [1] / RobertReich.org [2]
October 2, 2015
The Washington Post just ran an attack [3] on Bernie Sanders that distorts
not only what he's saying and seeking but also the basic choices that lie
before the nation. Sanders, writes the Post's David Fahrenthold, "is not
just a big-spending liberal. And his agenda is not just about money. It's
also about control."
Fahrenthold claims Sanders's plan for paying for college with a tax on Wall
Street trades would mean "colleges would run by government rules."
Apparently Fahrenthold is unaware that three-quarters of college students
today attend public universities financed largely by state governments. And
even those who attend elite private universities benefit from federal tax
subsidies flowing to wealthy donors. (Meg Whitman's recent $30 million
donation to Princeton, for example, is really $20 million from her plus an
estimated $10 million she deducted from her taxable income.) Notwithstanding
all this government largesse, colleges aren't "run by government rules."
The real problem is too many young people still can't afford a college
education. The move toward free public higher education that began in the
1950s with the G.I. Bill and was extended in the 1960s by leading public
universities was reversed starting in the 1980s because of shrinking state
budgets. Tuition has skyrocketed in recent years as states slashed education
spending. It's time to resurrect that earlier goal.
Besides, the biggest threats to academic freedom these days aren't coming
from government. They're coming as conditions attached to funding from
billionaires and big corporations that's increasing as public funding drops.
When the Charles Koch Foundation pledged $1.5 million to Florida State
University's economics department, for example, it stipulated [4]that a
Koch-appointed advisory committee would select professors and undertake
annual evaluations. The Koch brothers now fund 350 programs at over 250
colleges and universities across America. You can bet that funding doesn't
underwrite research on inequality and environmental justice.
Fahrenthold similarly claims Sanders's plan for a single-payer system would
put healthcare under the "control" of government.
But health care is already largely financed through government subsidies --
only they're flowing to private for-profit health insurers that are now
busily consolidating into corporate leviathans. Anthem purchase of giant
insurer Cigna will make it the largest health insurer in America; Aetna is
buying Humana, creating the second-largest, [5]with 33 million [5]members.
Why should anyone suppose these for-profit corporate giants will be less
"controlling" than government?
What we do know is they're far more expensive than a single-payer system.
Fahrenthold repeats the charge that Sanders's healthcare plan would cost $15
trillion over ten years. But single-payer systems in other rich nations have
proven cheaper than private for-profit health insurers because they don't
spend huge sums on advertising, marketing, executive pay, and billing.
So even if the Sanders single-payer plan would cost $15 trillion over ten
years, Americans as a whole would save more than that.
Fahrenthold trusts the "market" more than he does the government but he
overlooks the fact that government sets the rules by which the market runs
(such as whether health insurers should be allowed to consolidate even
further, or how much of a "charitable" tax deduction wealthy donors to
private universities should receive, and whether they should get the
deduction if they attach partisan conditions to their donations).
The real choice isn't between government and the "market." It's between a
system responsive to the needs of most Americans, or one more responsive to
the demands of the super-rich, big business, and Wall Street - whose
economic and political power have grown dramatically over the last three
decades.
This is why the logic of Sanders's ideas depends on the political changes he
seeks. Fahrenthold says a President Sanders couldn't get any of his ideas
implemented anyway because Congress would reject them. But if Bernie Sanders
is elected president, American politics will have been altered, reducing the
moneyed interests' choke hold over the public agenda.
Fahrenthold may not see the populism that's fueling Bernie's campaign, but
it is gaining strength and conviction. Other politicians, as well as
political reporters, ignore this upsurge at their peril.
Robert B. Reich has served in three national administrations, most recently
as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He also served on
President Obama's transition advisory board. His latest book is "Aftershock:
The Next Economy and America's Future." His homepage is www.robertreich.org
[6].
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [7]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[8]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/robert-reich-washington-posts-pathetic
-attempt-attack-bernie-sanders
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/robert-reich-0
[2] http://robertreich.org/
[3]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bernie-sanders-would-transform-th
e-nation/2015/09/30/d3b57b8e-616a-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html
[4]
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/billionaires-role-in-hiring-decisions-
at-florida-state-university-raises/1168680
[5]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-03/aetna-agrees-to-buy-humana
-for-37-billion-in-cash-stock
[6] http://www.robertreich.org
[7] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Robert Reich: The
Washington Post's Pathetic Attempt to Attack Bernie Sanders
[8] http://www.alternet.org/
[9] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B