Bernie: I’m going to raise taxes on the middle class. Here’s why.

When an audience member at Wednesday’s CNN town hall in New Hampshire stood up to ask Sanders why he would raise his taxes when he only makes $41,000 a year, Bernie didn’t miss a beat. 

In America, Sanders said, “We end up spending far, far more per capita on healthcare than other people—Canada, the U.K., France, whatever. What we’re going to fight for is a single payer program that would provide comprehensive health care to you and your family.”

“We would raise your taxes by about 500 bucks,” Sanders added, “but we would reduce your health care costs by about 5,000 dollars.” The Vermont senator went on to decry high deductibles and copays, and the astronomical costs Americans pay for prescription medications that are far cheaper overseas. 

For Sanders, this was a crucial moment in two respects: It gave him an opportunity to clarify that single-payer requires voters to think about both sides of the ledger—taxes and saved costs—and it allowed him to reiterate the reason that he, unlike his opponent Hillary Clinton, is comfortable potentially raising taxes on the middle class.