57% of Americans cannot pay a $500 bill. 78% say they live paycheck to paycheck. It is not realistic to expect people to be politically functional if they are dealing with scarcity day-to-day. We need to secure people's future with UBI to move forward. pic.twitter.com/U2JqoaGhhB— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYangVFA) November 21, 2018
I don't know if UBI is the solution.
But we do need some solution. The current economy is broken.
But we do need some solution. The current economy is broken.
6 comments:
I was wanting to push UBI but I don't like the idea of it being universal. People above middle class income don't need UBI. I think basic income should entail working to shift lower and upper income levels towards the median. I think it should be done by taxing the rich more and using that to give handouts to the lower class so they'll be boosted towards the median.
Don't know much about economics and I know this idea pisses people off. It just seems like common sense to me.
PS: I personally like Yang's standings on a lot of things. He's got a lot of transhumanist ideals.
There are any number of problems with UBI, as attractive as it looks at first glance. One of the biggest is "Who pays?" obviously.
But we already have a *kind* of UBI, in the Earned Income Credit. It just isn't big enough.
Another way to boost income would be to eliminate taxes on all groceries. Right now, in some states (like Arkansas and Louisiana, for instance) taxes on food bought at grocery stores is the same as the tax bought on, say, an dirt bike or a new pair of running shoes or a rental on a limo. Food is being treated as a luxury, in other words.
If the grocery tax was eliminated, that would put a substantial savings in the pocket of poor families. (In many states, food bought in grocery stores is *not* taxed.)
Here in Arkansas, the sales tax on food bought in grocery stores is more than 11%.
The sales tax on food bought in grocery stores is 1.5% in Arkansas (the regular tax is 6.5%)... the 11% tax is for restaurant foods. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/apr/26/grocery-sales-tax-put-on-the-table-2018/
Local taxes might be more regressive, since they can be added on to the state tax.
Right, the tax is 1.5% state-wide, then whatever taxes are added on in each city/county. It's 11% here in the Fort, I should have said. Restaurant food is even more heavily taxed.
Hey Kelly. Sorry I didn't replay sooner.
It's happy to get another view on UBI. My former friends I've spoken too went more into bashing it because of SOCIALISM than giving good points on the matter.
Do you see a problem with the 1% paying for Basic Income? Why should they be allowed to hoard money that should be in circulation and used to help out their fellow humans?
Also, I think Texas doesn't have a grocery tax (thank god) but wow, that's a good insight. Food is certainly NOT a luxury and I think you guys should push to pass a bill to get rid of the grocery tax.
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