Moderate Democrats need to answer for the cost of their welfare plans

If Bernie has to explain how he'd pay for Medicare-for-all, moderates should have to defend the status quo

Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Win McNamee/Getty Images, jakkapan21/iStock)

The latest Democratic presidential debate, this time in South Carolina, was probably the worst one so far. The CBS moderators could not control the candidates, and they all constantly talked over each other. On several occasions, it was hard to tell who was saying what.

Still, perhaps the most important topic of discussion policy-wise was the welfare state. The moderators and other candidates attacked Bernie Sanders over the question of how he would pay for his welfare programs — but the argument was an incomprehensible mess. Unfortunately, nothing was clarified about the choices facing the American people.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.