Bernie Sanders Says He 'Can't Rattle Off Every Nickel and Dime' Of How He'd Pay For Socialist Programs

Brittany M. Hughes | February 24, 2020
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Wondering how Vermont Senator and self-described “democratic socialist” Bernie Sanders would pay for all his “free” programs if he’s elected president in November?

Well, so is he. 

In an interview with 60 Minutes’ Anderson Cooper, Sanders admitted that he has absolutely no idea how much all his expensive propositions would cost (though he did acknowledge “Medicare For All” would cost at least $30 trillion).
 


Here’s how the conversation went down:


Cooper: Do you know how much though? I mean, do you have a price tag for all of this?

Sanders: We do. I mean, you know, and...and the price tag is...it will be substantially less than letting the current system go. I think it’s about $30 trillion.

Cooper: That’s just for “Medicare for All,” you’re talking about?

Sanders: That’s just “Medicare for All,” yes.

Cooper: Do you have a price tag for all of these things?

Sanders: No, I don’t. We try to...no. You mentioned making public colleges and universities tuition free and canceling all student debt, that’s correct. That’s what I want to do. We pay for that through a modest tax on Wall Street speculation.

Cooper: But you say you don’t know what the total price is, but you know how it’s gonna be paid for. How do you know it’s gonna be paid for if you don’t know how much the price is?

Sanders: Well, I can’t, you know, I can’t rattle off to you every nickel and every dime. But we have accounted for...you talked about “Medicare for All.” We have options out there that will pay for it.
 

Sanders may be the oldest “democratic socialist” who can’t explain how he’d pay for his trillion-dollar (or more) programs, but he’s certainly not the only one. Sanders protigé and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’s endorsed the elder socialist for president, told CNN’s Jake Tapper in a similar interview back in 2018 that she’s not sure where the money for all the government giveaways would come from, either.

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