DSA’s Spending Plan Could Spark Economic Trouble

The DSA’s platform promises a lot of free things. It includes universal health care, slavery reparations, a jobs guarantee, and housing for everyone. The price tag is huge. Over the next decade, health care could cost $29.9 trillion to $75.4 trillion. Reparations run $13.5 trillion to $28 trillion. Jobs guarantees add $4.4 trillion to $60.4 trillion. Housing for all could be $3.4 trillion to $16.6 trillion. Together, the total reaches $71.2 trillion to $211.6 trillion. That would push federal spending to 57% of GDP at the low end and up to 92% at the high end. No other country spends anything close to that amount.

Even if the government took every dollar held by the richest Americans and all corporate profits, and raised income taxes to the maximum, there would still be a shortfall of $29 trillion to $169 trillion. To close the gap, each dollar currently collected from middle‑class taxpayers would need to become $4.36. That would push the middle tax bracket above 100% and the top bracket past 160%. Such extreme rates would likely drive people abroad, push activity into black markets, and reduce work effort. The gap would grow even larger.

History shows that when governments have tried large‑scale socialism, the result has been poverty and misery. The DSA’s leaders either know this and don’t care, or they seem unaware of the math. A national co‑chair, Megan Romer, says, "We do believe in taxing the hell out of millionaires." When pressed for numbers, she stumbles and admits, "I don’t have, like, a solid" figure. In short, the message is, "Don’t worry about reality—just vote for our vision." The more voters are drawn in, the deeper the looming disaster becomes.

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