Democrats are increasingly lining up to support a “Green New Deal,” which, while vague on details, could end up being the largest expansion of government in decades.
As it stands, the “Green New Deal” is more aspirational than actual policy. Indeed, it takes its name from the New Deal of the 1930s, and its main backer, incoming Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, compared it to the Great Society of the 1960s.
More than 40 Democratic lawmakers support the “Green New Deal” as part of a broad plan to fight global warming and bring about what they see as “economic, social and racial justice.” A poll found most Americans supported the deal, but knew little about it.
But the big question is when Americans find out what’s in the “Green New Deal,” will they be willing to pay for it?
Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” calls for creating a House committee to draft legislation to fight global warming and turn the U.S. economy into something akin to what Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders envisions.
Indeed, the “Green New Deal” could be a preview of what policies the Democratic Party will back in the 2020 elections.
“This is going to be the New Deal, the Great Society, the moon shot, the civil-rights movement of our generation,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a panel event in early December alongside Sanders, a likely 2020 presidential contender.
Those goals include moving the U.S. to 100 percent green energy, federal job guarantees for workings forced out of their fossil fuel jobs, guaranteed minimum income and universal health care.
Democrats will take control of the House in 2019 and many want to see global warming become a central part of their agenda.
Republicans are unlikely to go along with a green deal in any form, and cracks are even appearing among Democrats on climate policy.
Since the “Green New Deal” lacks specifics, it’s hard to gauge the total cost, but similar climate and welfare policies are estimated to cost trillions of dollars.
For starters, moving the U.S. to a 100-percent renewable electric grid could cost as much as $5.2 trillion over two decades, according to a 2010 study by the conservative Heritage Foundation.
That’s about $218 billion to move the grid away from coal and natural gas.
On top of that, the non-energy-related portions of the Green New Deal could cost trillions more, including universal health care and guaranteed income.
The libertarian Mercatus Center released a study in July that found Sanders’s “Medicare for All” plan would cost $32.6 trillion over 10 years.
That same month, hedge-fund manager Ray Dalio estimated the cost to taxpayers of a universal basic income policy would top $3.8 trillion a year — and that’s assuming every American citizen got just $12,000 a year.
For comparison, the Great Society policies pursued by the Johnson administration during the 1960s cost $22 trillion, according to estimates from the Heritage Foundation.
Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” of the 1930s during the Great Depression cost $500 billion in today’s dollars, The Nation reported in 2008.
Of course, both the New Deal and Great Society have left U.S. taxpayers on the hook for trillions in debt and unfunded liabilities — somewhere between $87 trillion and $222 trillion.
Read more at Daily Caller
What does universal health care have to do with anthropological climate change? The question can be asked about a guaranteed income. The answer is nothing. This is another confirmation of what we have known for some time. One of the reasons that the climate change movement is so strong because of all of the liberal agenda items that the left hopes to implement with climate change legislation.
Of course the left and Democrats are very poor students of history. If they paid attention to history they couldn’t have many of their political goals. The New Deal of the 1930’s was a failure. Unemployment was the same as the beginning of World War II as when the program started. As far as the Great Society, one measureable part of that effort was the War on Poverty. It too was a failure with more people in poverty at the end of the program than when it stated. More recently, the taxes to support action on climate change and support socialism has caused the major yellow jacket rebellion in France. The Democrats have to be incredibly dumb to think that wouldn’t also happen here. The last election with all but one climate change initiative failing clearly shows how Americans feel.
Not only the Democrats but the authors of these articles continue to miss one point. It is impossible to move the country to 100% renewable energy because there is no feasible way to store enough energy for when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. The only way to be on 100% renewable energy is to have long and frequent power outages.
Bernie and AO-C will make the Democrats’ eventual nominee look moderate and electable.
Isn’t this the young lady who insists that she be allowed to wear her headdress in the House – but apparently does not wear it in public?
No, this is the Hispanic socialist from Queens who keeps saying really stupid things and gets lots of press coverage.
Thats all what the Dirty Democrats are about Bigger Goverment expanding Goverment intruding into our lives its Big Brother the Dirty Democrats want 1984 Anyone?
We’re screwed.