Although it surely was not intended, Trump’s tariff plan may have opened the door for the Democrats to push for and win Medicare for All(M4A), a longstanding goal for progressives. It does this in two ways. First Trump was able slip by this massive tax scheme with almost no attention from the media. Democrats should demand Trump treatment when they push M4A.

The second reason is that Trump’s tariffs show that it is politically acceptable to tax the middle-class. Trump’s tariff scheme is a tax increase for middle-income households of several thousand dollars annually. If that is politically acceptable, then surely much smaller tax increases that may be needed to cover M4A would surely be politically feasible.