For one thing, it comes with a stupendous price tag—at least $42 trillion over 10 years, according to one plausible estimate. That’s a problem if you’re trying to appeal to tax-averse and fiscally conservative voters in red and purple states.
Beyond costs is the dramatic expansion of Washington’s role in the economy. If you thought the initial public backlash to Obamacare was bad, wait until 156 million Americans with job-based coverage are told they have to give it up and pay higher taxes. And even if Washington knew how to create tens of millions of public sector jobs without undermining private labor markets, those jobs will look a lot like “welfare” to the working class voters they are supposed to appeal to.
This underlines the central flaw in the left’s theory of political change—concentrating more decisions and power in Washington. At a time when the federal government barely seems capable of conducting routine business, charging it with the sweeping transformation of our economy and society is a pipe dream. The problem isn’t just partisan paralysis, it’s that Washington’s governance model—hierarchical, rule-bound and controlling rather than collaborative—is obsolete in the digital age.
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