Senator Elizabeth Warren secured her position as a leading candidate to win the Democratic presidential nomination, after she successfully deflected attacks from her opponents and shifted the conversation to her own advantage.
Despite being the new front-runner in the race, Warren took multiple shots from her opponents, among whom were Senator Amy Klobuchar accusing Warren of deceiving people and not stating clearly that her plan Medicare for All would come with a tax raise for the middle class, NBC reported.
Sanders said that people’s existing insurance premiums and deductibles — which would be eliminated entirely under Medicare for All — were “nothing less than taxes on the middle class.”
“At least Bernie’s being honest here and saying how he’s going to pay for this and that taxes are going to go up. And I’m sorry, Elizabeth, but you have not said that, and I think we owe it to the American people to tell them where we’re going to send the invoice,” Klobuchar said.
Klobuchar argued that Warren’s plan would cause some 149 million people to lose their private health insurance while transitioning to the new plan – and then turned one of Warren’s line against her.
“I’m tired of hearing, whenever I say these things, ‘Oh, it’s Republican talking points’. You are making republican talking points right now in this room by coming out for a plan that’s going to do that,” Klobuchar said.
She suggested that Warren would never be able to get her plan through Congress, while Klobuchar said she could.
“The difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done,” the Minnesota senator said.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg also accused Warren of dodging the question, saying, “This is why people here in the Midwest are so frustrated with Washington in general.”
He also said Warren didn’t have a clear way to pay for her health plan.
“Your signature, senator, is to have a plan for everything — except this,” Buttigieg said.
Warren seemed prepared for the attacks, and was quick to return fire, calling Buttigieg’s plan, “Medicare for all who can afford it.”
Even former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s just been passed in some polls by Warren, later joined in, criticizing both Warren and Sanders for being “vague” about how they’d pay for Medicare for All. He also said he helped get votes to establish Warren’s brainchild, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
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