Jeff Beals, a Democratic candidate in New York's 19th congressional district, on Monday gave a strange response to incumbent Rep. John Faso's (R., N.Y.) question on how he would raise $32 trillion to fund a "Medicare for All" health-care plan.
Faso on Friday tweeted that Beals' silence on how he would pay for the health-care plan was "deafening," citing a Vox.com study from last year that said the policy would "likely result in the largest tax increase in modern American history."
"[Eleven] days until the #NY19 Primary, & @JeffBealsNY19's silence on how he'd pay for his single payer health care scheme is DEAFENING!" Faso wrote. "Last year, a Vox. com study said Beals' plan would likely result in the largest tax increase in modern American history."
11 days until the #NY19 Primary, & @JeffBealsNY19's silence on how he'd pay for his single payer health care scheme is DEAFENING! Last year, a Vox. com study said Beals’ plan would 'likely result in the largest tax increase in modern American history" https://t.co/QffRzoVTNl
— John Faso (@JohnFasoNy) June 15, 2018
Beals, who is backed by Justice Democrats and People for Bernie, progressive organizations with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), responded to the tweet later on Friday, instructing Faso to ask the people in "Canada, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, South Korea, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Portugal, Poland, Finland..." how they were able to raise the money for the health-care plan.
.@JohnFasoNy can’t figure out how to do Medicare for All. I don’t know, John, but maybe we could ask the people in Canada, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, South Korea, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Portugal, Poland, Finland...https://t.co/soIgtFEEZK
— Jeff Beals (@JeffBealsNY19) June 15, 2018
This response prompted Faso to ask Beals to explain again how he would fund "Medicare for All."
".@JohnFasoNY We don't need your $32 trillion tax hike proposal to pay for Medicare for All. But we do need to be done with you," Beals responded Monday. "You're shilling for the profiteering 'health' system bankrupting and sickening taxpayers. I'm going to pass Medicare for All and save us lives and money."
.@JohnFasoNY We don’t need your $32 trillion tax hike proposal to pay for Medicare for All. But we do need to be done with you. You’re shilling for the profiteering 'health" system bankrupting and sickening taxpayers. I’m going to pass Medicare for All and save us lives and money https://t.co/DtaDNJdWQy
— Jeff Beals (@JeffBealsNY19) June 18, 2018
The National Republican Congressional Committee slammed the idea of a single-payer health-care system in a statement, saying that it has failed in at least three blue states.
"Single-payer has failed in at least three cobalt blue states because of the massive tax increases required to fund it," NRCC spokesman Chris Martin said. "That's why Democrats across the country are twisting themselves into pretzels trying to answer this simple question."
California, Colorado, and Vermont all failed to pass a single-payer health plan, either because voters rejected the idea or because lawmakers were unable to figure out how to fund the system.