I'm Andy Slavitt. I ran the ACA and I want to help you get health coverage at HealthCare.gov. AMA.

The hyper-rich own Congress and the Presidency (always and forever, via both major parties), the poor simply don't have any money, so every time some US government social program "helps" the poor, it does so by soaking the middle class, particularly the "rich" professional upper middle class making, let's say, over $100k/yr. In the current US system I see no game-theoretical way around this.. the hyper-rich will never allow a law that seriously taxes their income or wealth, so, you either soak the semi-income-rich middle class and put the entire burden of whatever you want to do onto them, or, you have to stop adding benefits / stop expanding government..

/r/IAmA Thread Parent