Would $1000/month significantly improve your life?

[redqueen]

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16 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, $1000/month would significantly improve my life.
	9 (56%)
	No, $1000/month would not significantly improve my life.
	6 (38%)
	I like polls.
	1 (6%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[DanTex]

1. I know it's besides the point, but that dude is seriously jacked!!

[redqueen]

2. LOL true! Those clips are from this video

[Devil Child]

3. Yes, and I love polls!

[redqueen]

4. Me too!

My memory isn't so great but I could swear that was a thing we used to do here, offering that up as a poll choice

[Devil Child]

5. It's a much nicer option than "don't know/don't care"

But that moment of distracted indecision as I almost hit the big shiny red “I like polls!” button almost derails my intended response

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Robb is a dingbat!

[redqueen]

11. !

[emmaverybo]

6. Sure it would, but I'd rather see people on welfare, single mothers in need of child care, hungry

children, and a host of underfunded, at-risk, broken social services get that investment. If some is left over we can expand Medicaid, rescue Social Security and raise it, stop foreclosures, make reparations to historically disenfranchised and ripped-off peoples, bring back federal teen job training programs, close the gap in Medicare for lower income folks, shore up rural hospitals and clinics...

[pnwmom]

9. I agree. nt

[redqueen]

12. We've had years to fix those things

They don't get fixed. People are hurting now. They're falling through the cracks now. People suffer for years trying to get disability. Some never do. People get dropped from snap all the time, and not because their needs are now met.

Are we really going to keep trying to patch up the same system that's been leaving millions out in the cold for decades?

I think it's time to try something new.

[nilesobek]

17. A thousand dollars a month is a force multiplier.

Especially when you have a large family living at different residences, for me, that's 5000$ a month.

We are tired of platitudes and ancient failing social programs that are constantly in peril by some rich, judgemental politicians.

Just give us the money and we will buy what we need.

Cut out the middle man.

[redqueen]

21. Exactly! And since it benefits *everyone* - fewer people resent it.

It makes it harder to cut it, or attack it.

It also will give a real boost to *every* struggling small town, industrial area, and impoverished neighborhood.

It's a win win win!

[pnwmom]

8. The correct question would be: Would you be willing to give up benefits from other federal

programs in exchange for $1000 a month to spend however you wished?

I favor targeted grants for people who most need it, not billions going to people who don't.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2019/aug/12/andrew-yangs-universal-basic-income-proposal-expla/

Yang says the payments would be offset by a 10% value-added tax, VAT, and by replacing duplicative social-welfare spending. Current recipients could choose between their existing benefits and $1,000 in cash.

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/465906-universal-basic-income-advocates-warn-yangs-freedom-dividend-would-harm-low-income-americans

Advocates of universal basic income (UBI) are cautioning against Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s proposed “Freedom Dividend,” saying it would hurt low-income Americans.

In interviews with economists and organizations that promote UBI in the United States, experts said Yang’s version could do more harm than good because some Americans would need to choose between accepting $1,000 a month and receiving certain public assistance benefits.

“While the Freedom Dividend has many characteristics that we support, forcing people to choose between current social programs and a basic income plays into this harmful scarcity mentality and would keep many struggling people in the same place,” said Jim Pugh, co-director of the Universal Income Project.

SNIP

If UBI is implemented under Yang’s proposal, some economists argue that poverty and inequality will be exacerbated because money for government assistance programs, like food stamps and housing vouchers, will instead be converted to payments to people across the economic spectrum, meaning less money for programs that target poor Americans.

[redqueen]

13. Misconceptions in your post are clarified below.

Yang's UBI stacks with many programs (SSDI, SS retirement, etc) the only things it doesn't stack with are cash-type benefits.

Bernie's FJG also touts attrition from safety net programs as a way to save money on spending.

Some economists don't like Yang's plan, others do. It's up to each voter to decide which economists' arguments make the most sense. Also Yang has a degree in economics himself, so he's not coming up with this out of ignorance.

[pnwmom]

15. "The only things it doesn't stack with are cash-type benefits"

that are targeted at the poor. They are the ones who would be unlikely to benefit from Yang's plan. And millions would benefit who don't need it.

So Yang got a B.A. in economics. So did my sister. My father got an MA in economics. That doesn't qualify any of them as experts in the field. And neither does Yang's successful little start-up. He's way too inexperienced for the job he's applying for. Why didn't he start as a Representative, a Senator, or a Governor first?

Obama proved his governing ability, starting with working in Illinois government, before moving onto Senator, and then to running for President. Why are Yang and Buttigieg in such a hurry?

[redqueen]

16. Have you talked to anyone depending on those programs?

Asked the people using them how great they are - and whether they'd rather have $1000/month without having to jump through hoops and put up with an often humiliating process to get them?

This is the only source I could find with a quick search. I can definitely get more. This is a known issue. It isn't new.

13 million people in poverty are disconnected from the social safety net. Most are white.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/13-million-people-in-poverty-are-disconnected-from-the-social-safety-net-most-of-them-are-white/2019/02/04/807516a0-2598-11e9-81fd-b7b05d5bed90_story.html?

So many people don't get any help, even many who qualify. This isn't good enough. These problems have gone on for decades. Generations of families have been affected, with higher stress, poorer nutrition, and worse educational outcomes as just a few of the knock-on effects.

The safety net has holes as a design feature, not a bug. An income floor prevents that.

[dawg day]

10. That's about all I'll get from social security in a few years--

Sigh. Have worked 50 years, and I'll get $1154 a month.

So yeah, another $1000, and I could actually retire!

[redqueen]

14. And that, my dear dawg day, is exactly why Yang Gang is fighting so hard

because too many people have been left behind for too long, while constantly hearing that we will do everything we can to make people's lives better.

What we've been doing has not worked. We think it's time to try something new.

Especially because we are going to need UBI eventually anyway - why wait? What are we waiting for?

[rownesheck]

18. I voted yes

because i could cut my working hours in order to spend time with family. We work far too many hours in this country.

[redqueen]

22. Yes, I had two jobs for a while

and many of the women I worked with at my night job also had two or even three jobs. All of us had kids. Most of us were single moms.

[Amimnoch]

19. In honesty, I had to vote no, but I do 1000% support it.

Myself, it wouldn't. I also think it should be income capped where someone like me should not receive it.

But, I do totally support it. I'm a unique exception in my whole extended family on both sides. Almost all of my longest term gradeschool friends, this would be a life changing thing. My whole family on both sides this would be a life changing thing.

I'm not one of those voters/political supporters that a program has to benefit "me" to support it.

[redqueen]

23. And people like you, who really would be able to do without it comfortably

can always opt in, or out, but the fact that it's universal really is a strength. Lack of means testing not only means it's a less expensive program to administer, it also makes it harder to attack in Congress.

[NurseJackie]

20. How about three thousand. Can I have three thousand?