Bernie Sanders’ Plan to Pay for Economic Agenda to Rebuild the Middle Class -

Share with:

WASHINGTON, DC – Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Bernie Sanders, issued the following statement on Wednesday in response to Clinton’s attack on Sanders’ health care plan:

“Every proposal Senator Sanders has introduced in this campaign has been paid for. We hope the Clinton campaign will stop engaging in false and misleading attacks and instead provide similar clarity on how their proposals will actually be paid for.”

Plan	Payment Mechanism
Rebuild America Act Sen. Sanders has proposed a $1 trillion plan to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and put 13 million Americans to work.	Paid for by making corporations pay taxes on all of the “profits” they have shifted to the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens, which the Congressional Research Services estimates may currently create losses that approach $100 billion annually, and other loopholes.
College for All Sen. Sanders has proposed making public colleges and universities tuition-free and substantially reducing student debt, in a plan that would cost about $75 billion a year.	Paid for by imposing a tax on Wall Street speculators that would generate about $300 billion in revenue.
Expand and Extend Social Security Sen. Sanders has proposed expanding Social Security and extending the solvency of this program until 2065.	Paid for by lifting the cap on taxable income above $250,000 so that the wealthy pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security as working people.
Youth Jobs Program Sen. Sanders has proposed a $5.5 billion youth jobs program to create 1 million jobs for disadvantaged young Americans.	Paid for by ending the carried interest loophole that allows billionaire hedge fund managers to pay a lower tax rate than nurses and truck drivers.
Paid Family and Medical Leave Sen. Sanders has proposed at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to all workers.	Paid for by a payroll tax that would total $1.61 a week for the typical American worker. According to Sen. Gillibrand’s office, this would be “a self-sufficient program that would not add to the federal budget.”
Protect Pensions Sen. Sanders has introduced a plan to prevent cuts to the pensions of over 1.5 million Americans.	Paid for by closing two tax loopholes that allow the wealthy to avoid taxes on money they inherit and expensive artwork they collect.
Renewable Energy and Clean Jobs Transition Plans Sen. Sanders has a plan to invest in clean, sustainable energy sources powered by the sun, wind and Earth’s heat. He also has a plan to provide comprehensive benefits to workers as they transition to making the solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries of tomorrow.	Paid for by stopping taxpayer-funded giveaways to oil, gas and coal companies.

Cost and Revenue of Proposed Plans

Plan	Cost	Funding	Revenue
Rebuild America Act	$1 trillion/ 10 years	Taxing corporate offshore income [Congressional Research Service, 1/15/15]	$100 billion/year
College for All	$75 billion/year	Wall Street speculation tax [Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 3/2/12]	About $300 billion / year
Social Security Expansion Act	$1.2 trillion / 10 years	Remove payroll tax cap for earnings above $250,000 [Office of the Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration, 3/26/15]	$1.2 trillion / 10 years
Employ Young Americans Now Act	$5.5 billion / 2 years	Closing carried interest loophole [Joint Committee on Taxation, 9/16/15]	$15.6 billion / 10 years
Offer 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave		Additional 0.2% Payroll Tax [Office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand]	$319 billion / 10 years
Keep Our Pension Promises Act	$29 billion / 10 years	Closing tax loopholes on estate taxes and artwork [Pension Rights Center, 7/7/15]	$29 billion / 10 years
Responsible Estate Tax Act		Progressive estate tax on inheritances over $3.5 million; closes estate tax loopholes.	$214 billion /10 years
End Polluter Welfare Act	$110 billion /10 years	Ends tax breaks and subsidies for fossil fuel companies	$135 billion /10 years