The election is well underway with over 15 states casting their votes for both the Democratic and Republican candidates. While the Republican nominees have dwindled down to three, the Democratic field has stayed solid at two candidates–Former Secretary of State HIllary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Although Bernie and Hillary both differ sharply on many different issues, one major disagreement between these candidates is regarding their economic policies. Bernie in this respect is in incredibly unique candidate as he is advocating some very unknown (to America) policies. The 74 year old senator is advocating for  free college, increasing social security, free childcare, and free healthcare. How he’s going to pay for this? By heavily taxing the top one percent of the population.

Although these economic plans seem great on paper, can we really afford this? Has Bernie thought this through? The New York Times wrote: “by the reckoning of the left-of-center economists, none of whom are working for Mrs. Clinton, the proposals would add $2 trillion to $3 trillion a year on average to federal spending; by comparison, total federal spending is projected to be above $4 trillion in the next president’s first year” (NY Times).

Furthermore, Austan Goolsbee, the former chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, now at the University of Chicago, has noted: “The numbers don’t remotely add up” (NY Times).

The political satirist Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher also called into question Senator Sander’s economic plans by saying “But it couldn’t even work in your home state of Vermont. They were going to institute it and the governor said it’s gonna cost to much money” (Real Time with Bill Maher).  To this Sanders replied: “I’m not the governor of the state of Vermont. I’m the senator from the state of Vermont” (Real Time with Bill Maher). Bill hit back at Bernie again by saying: “So you’re saying that we can pay for all this without raising taxes on anybody but the one percent?” (Real Time with Bill Maher). Sanders once again replied with a vague answer, saying “We might have to go a little bit lower. But not much lower.” (Real Time with Bill Maher).

The fact that Senator Sanders not only refuses to acknowledge that his economic plans are incredibly difficult, but also cannot even provide his own specific tax rate, should also be a bit concerning to the American people. Although  Bernie’s plan of establishing free college, increasing social security, free childcare, and free healthcare seem great on paper, these feats are impossible to accomplish in the United States.

Works Cited

Calmes, Jackie. “Left-Leaning Economists Question Cost of Bernie Sanders’s Plans.” The New

York Times. The New York Times, 15 Feb. 2016. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Real Time with Bill Maher: Interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) – October 16, 2015 (HBO).”

YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016  <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDRxbQlpqmo>.