‘Results, not a revolution’: Biden punctured Bernie’s argument that coronavirus demands ‘Medicare for all’

Joe Biden has a big advantage over Bernie Sanders: Sanders is an ideologue on the left end of the political spectrum, while Biden is much closer to the center. That doesn’t mean Biden’s is a moderate, just that he’s more moderate than Sanders.

As Biden put it, “People want results, not a revolution.”

While the Vermont senator is lobbying for “Medicare for all” as an answer to the coronavirus crisis, Biden is pushing a far more modest plan: a bill tailored to address the coronavirus crisis.

Sanders argues that if we had socialized health insurance right now, nobody would have to pay for testing or treatment for the coronavirus. That’s true, and if the only alternative were a total laissez-faire healthcare system, most of the population might side with Sanders.

But Biden, and no conservative or libertarian, has a real good response: He’d pass a bill to make sure that all the coronavirus testing and treatment is covered. That disarms Sanders’s argument that we need fully socialized health insurance.

Biden thus pushed Sanders to explain why we need the government to cover broken bones, and so on. Sanders wants to expand the argument from people with the coronavirus shouldn’t have to pay for treatment, to people with illness or injury shouldn’t have to pay for treatment.

But here’s the thing: It’s very sensible to have targeted government-guaranteed coverage for the coronavirus and not for broken bones.

For one, the coronavirus looks like a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Second, it’s incredibly contagious, and thus there are large externalities, and that’s the problem here. In other words, there’s a strong case for government action in this specific case — it’s a lot simpler than a revolution.

Yet, Sanders is promising a revolution, while Biden promises results.

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