John Di Leo writes for the American Thinker about Democrats’ latest political scare tactics.
With the government shutdown, Democrat politicians are in rare form these days.
The talking points of the Left this week are that the shutdown fight is necessary, or 50,000 people will die, and 15 million people will lose health coverage, and 20 million will see their health insurance premiums double.
Politicians always like using superlatives; it makes them feel important.
And there’s no time like a government shutdown for speaking in superlatives.
Even without exaggerating, the numbers they have to work with are enormous. The federal government employs about 3 million people, making it the nation’s largest employer, almost double the size of Walmart’s 1.5 million, the nation’s largest private sector employer.
The federal government currently spends about $7 trillion per year, while taking in only about $5 trillion in revenue (“only $5 trillion.” Twenty years ago, could you imagine the federal government taking in $5 trillion – and it not being enough?). This creates an annual deficit – not the total annual debt, just this one year’s contribution to it – of about $2 trillion per year.
But different statistics mean different things to different people. All these numbers horrify conservatives, but leftists see them and are undeterred. The modern leftist likes an enormous federal government, so such figures don’t bother him in the least.
If you want to get a modern leftist excited, just tug at his heartstrings, as Bernie Sanders did this week:
“Some 50,000 Americans will die this year!” because of Trump’s agenda, the socialist Senator from Vermont declared, successfully netting him headlines around the world.
That certainly excites the Democrat rank and file. And perhaps it should, if you don’t dig too deeply.
But when we pay attention to the underlying truths below such numbers, we find that they don’t really support the Democrats’ position at all.
The only reason anyone would lose health coverage if there’s a government shutdown is if they depend on the government for their health care. People who don’t depend on the government for health care aren’t losing coverage.
