Is God a socialist? Stephen Colbert says he is, but this statement is just part of a larger trend by the media to sell socialism. Andrew Klavan, host of The Andrew Klavan Show, broke that trend down on Monday’s episode.
“My feeling about that is when the government can cure people the way Jesus cured them, fine, then we can have universal health care,” Klavan said. “But as long as they’re actually paying and not performing miracles, what kind of argument is that from a Sunday-school teacher? It’s absurd! It is absurd.”
Klavan then showed a clip of New York Democratic Socialist candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claiming America can pay for Medicare-for-all by raising taxes on the wealthy and implementing a carbon tax. Klavan called these proposals, “make believe.”
“The money she’s talking about, you know, the government took in over three trillion dollars in taxes this year – she wants to double that – but she’s talking about over ten years. She’s talking about over ten years, this is gonna add to the deficit right away. $3.3 trillion, it’s all nonsense, it’s all make-believe,” Klavan said. “The Boston Globe had a headline: ‘Americans actually like socialist policies’ and my response to that is Americans like opiates – you know? These are the things we’re trying to cure.”
Video and transcript below:
Andrew Klavan: I just have to point out, the other side is now selling socialism. Stephen Colbert, who should know better. Stephen Colbert is on TV, this guy is supposed to be a comedian, and he is selling socialism. You know, I don’t have time to go through this again, but socialism is slavery. That’s all it is. It says – even if it worked, which it doesn’t – but even if it worked it would mean that your life belonged to the state. The state has the right to decide how to spend your money.
Listen to Colbert, [he] is a Catholic Sunday school teacher! Listen to this.
Stephen Colbert: “You know that God’s socialist right? Jesus didn’t charge the lepers a copay. ‘Look, I’d cure your blindness but you’re out of network!'”
Klavan: My feeling about that is when the government can cure people the way Jesus cured them, fine, then we can have universal health care. But as long as they’re actually paying and not performing miracles, what kind of argument is that from a Sunday-school teacher? It’s absurd! It is absurd.
You know, this woman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who actually is a fair target. You say “well she only got 15,000 votes in Queens and if her opponent had actually shown up or picked up the phone he would have beaten her.” But she’s now become their star and they’re talking about her as the future of the party, and they’re touting her and all this stuff. She is with Bernie Sanders in putting forward a universal Medicaid/Medicare – or whatever it is – idea. That would cost $3.32 trillion dollars, okay? That’s what it would cost…
So now she wants this, and even Trevor Noah, to his credit, asks her “how are you gonna pay for all this?” And her answer is just an absolute – it’s kind of like a little song in the musical about how stupid socialists are – listen to this.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “If people pay their fair share, if corporations and the ultra wealthy – for example as Warren Buffett likes to say – if he paid as much as his secretary paid, 15%, if he paid a 15% tax rate. If corporations paid – if we reverse the tax bill, but raised our corporate tax rate to 28%, which is not even as high as it was before. If we do those two things and also close some of those loopholes, that’s two trillion dollars right there. That’s two trillion dollars in ten years, and one of the wide estimates is that it’s gonna take three to four trillion dollars to transition us to a hundred percent renewable energy economy. So we got two trillion dollars from folks paying their fair share, which they were not paying before the Trump tax bill. They weren’t paying that before the Trump tax bill. If we get people to pay their fair share that’s two trillion in ten years.”
“Now, if we implement a carbon tax on top of that so that we can transition and financially incentivize people away from fossil fuels – if we implement a carbon tax – that’s an additional amount of a large amount of revenue that we can have. Then the last key, which is extremely, extremely important, is reprioritization. Just last year, we gave the military a $700 billion budget increase which they didn’t even ask for! They’re like ‘we don’t want another fighter jet, don’t give us another nuclear bomb.’ They didn’t even ask for it and we gave it to them.”
Klavan: First of all, that’s not true. I mean [Defense Secretary Jim] Mattis was lobbying for an increase, so that’s utterly absurd. Everything she says though – she said we move away from fossil fuels, to what? Water? I mean what are you gonna run your car on lady? What is she talking about? Move away from fossil fuels, to what? That is what runs democracy is fossil fuels. You want to invent something else, go ahead! At least you’d be doing something useful with your life.
The money she’s talking about, you know, the government took in over three trillion dollars in taxes this year – she wants to double that – but she’s talking about over ten years. She’s talking about over ten years, this is gonna add to the deficit right away. $3.3 trillion, it’s all nonsense, it’s all make-believe. The Boston Globe had a headline: “Americans actually like socialist policies” and my response to that is Americans like opiates – you know? These are the things we’re trying to cure.