LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
As we celebrate a new year, a new decade, and PRI’s 41st Anniversary, America finds itself is in the midst of one of the most competitive and intense presidential election campaigns in recent memory.
Each Democratic candidate has offered a starkly different vision of what our country would look like if elected president in November.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) promises to enact a “Medicare for All” health care system that would ban all private health care coverage and reduce the quality of and access to care, in addition to imposing trillions of dollars in new taxes over a 10-year period. Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-MA), in addition to her support for a stepping-stone approach to Medicare for All, has a vision for education reform where students would be trapped in government-run schools, with parents in low-income communities losing the ability to send their kids to a charter or private school of their choice. Candidate Andrew Yang promotes a so-called “universal basic income” scheme that amounts to the government paying people to do nothing.
This edition of Impact explores the growing support for socialism, particularly among progressive Democrats.
In our cover story, PRI fellow in business and economics Damon Dunn shares his real-life story overcoming an upbringing in extreme poverty. He makes the case pointing out why socialism doesn’t work (Page 6).
Lance Izumi, senior director of PRI’s Center for Education, analyzes Senator Elizabeth Warren’s education plan, which he calls “My Big Fat Payoff to the Teacher Unions” (Page 15).
Center for California Reform fellow Kerry Jackson writes about a very controversial new California state law (Assembly Bill 5), that would take away worker freedom for millions of Californians. This idea has been endorsed by several presidential candidates (Page 12).
This issue of Impact also offers market-based reforms and ideas that would push back against the big government proposals being advocated on the 2020 campaign trail.
Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden makes the case that embracing entrepreneurship is one of the most important things policymakers can do to help people climb the economic ladder and escape poverty (Page 10).
My new book False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All (Encounter Books, January 2020), exposes the truth surrounding single-payer plans that will result in long waiting lists, rationed care, a shortage of doctors, and higher taxes. I provide real-life stories from Canada and the U.K. that illustrate the nightmare Medicare for All would bring to America’s patients. I conclude by offering market-based alternatives based on choice and competition that would improve our current health care system.
As socialism grows in popularity, PRI’s work is needed more than ever before to defend free markets and the individual liberty of all Americans. With your continued support, PRI will continue to be a beacon of freedom offering the right ideas and needed reforms to promote opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.
Sincerely,
Sally C. Pipes
President, CEO, and
Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy
