The Dig: Matt Bruenig on Why Welfare Is Great and We Need More of It

Jacobin Radio

Jacobin

Socialism, History, News, Left, Jacobin, Alternative, Socialist, Politics

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2017

⏱️ 81 minutes

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Summary

Medicaid expansion saved Obamacare from repeal. There’s a lot to hate about Obamacare, but that expansion did something very good on a very large scale — and it made just enough Republicans very nervous about taking it away. It's an important lesson about economic policy generally: the more universal a program is, the greater the number of Americans who become advocates for its preservation — a fact conservatives know and fear thanks to Medicare and Social Security but that many liberals don't. Today, my guest is Matt Bruenig, a writer who is one of most incisive analysts of poverty, inequality and welfare systems, and the political conflicts that surround them.

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Transcript

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1:08.0	Welcome to the D.
1:10.0	Welcome to the dig, a podcast from Jacobin magazine.
1:17.0	My name is Daniel Denver and I'm broadcasting from Providence, Rhode Island.
1:21.0	The Obama administration's expansion of Medicaid was a rare extension
	...

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