Dems Not All On Board With Warren’s Medicare-For-All Plan

Nov. 4--Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren could be turning off swing voters in New Hampshire and the Midwest with her Medicare-for-All plan -- which "opened up a can of worms" and leaves plenty of questions, pundits tell the Herald.

Warren, who took heat over the weekend from Democratic rivals, has also provided plenty of new talking points for President Trump.

"If fellow Democrats are picking her plan apart, imagine what the man in the White House is going to do and what conservatives are going to do," said veteran pollster John Zogby.

Warren on Friday said her $52 trillion plan over 10 years wouldn't raise taxes on the middle class, and it would require $20.5 trillion in new revenue. That revenue would come from employers paying Medicare instead of private insurance, and the rest from "targeted defense spending cuts, new taxes on financial firms, giant corporations, and the richest 1% of Americans."

Many voters remain skeptical that this monster plan wouldn't result in higher taxes for middle-class families.

"It's a very ambitious plan, but there are a lot of concerns about the costs to individuals. It leaves a lot of questions," said Democratic N.H. House Speaker Steve Shurtleff.

Added New Hampshire conservative activist Fran Wendelboe, "I don't think voters here are impressed by it. They're confused how it's going to get paid for. ... At least Bernie Sanders is being honest by saying everybody will have to pay more."

Joe Biden's presidential campaign ripped Warren and her plan, accusing her of misleading voters on its costs and calling the plan unrealistic. On Sunday, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, another presidential rival, criticized Warren's plan.

"What is just not true is that hers is the only solution," he said on ABC. "This 'my way or the highway' idea, that either you're for kicking everybody off their private plans in four years or you're for business as usual, it's just not true."

Zogby warned that Warren's plan could turn off Midwest swing voters.

"You have union members with their own coverage there, and they're the ones likely to wonder what's going to happen to the plan they have," Zogby said. "It seems she may have opened up a can of worms for herself."

Warren's plan is a "complete fairy tale," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.

"There is no way it's not going to lead to taxes on the middle class," he added.

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