On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released another far-left trial balloon by suggesting that a guaranteed minimum income might be part of a future round of coronavirus legislation. The idea of a “universal basic income” provided to citizens by the federal government through taxation is a policy wish championed by the extreme Left.
Pelosi made the remark on MSNBC.
“Let’s see what works, what is operational, and what needs other attention? Others have suggested a minimum income, a guaranteed income for people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so,” Pelosi said.
Later, the speaker pulled back a little, and wondered at the logistics of such a radical idea. “But again, recognize the realities of it all. What is the execution of it? What is working? And what are we getting our money’s worth on?” Pelosi wondered. “I think we have to look at that, too.”
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Universal basic income (UBI) is an idea first pushed by dark-horse presidential candidate Andrew Yang during the Democrat debates. With the economic shutdown caused by governments’ response to the COVID-19 virus, calls for UBI have increased from the extreme left. Democrats apparently believe that the stimulus payments Americans received earlier this month ($1,200 per adult and $500 per child) should be both larger and occur monthly.
Yang noted on Twitter: “Thrilled that #StimulusChecks are reaching Americans who filed for direct deposit. They will help. But they are not enough. They should be monthly and they should go to EVERY American regardless of circumstance.”
And those payments should be bigger according to far left Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortex (D- NY). AOC, along with other far-left representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Marc Pocan (D-Wisc.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D- Mass.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) are calling for monthly payments of $2,000 for all families and $1,000 per child. Immigration status would not be a factor in those payments under the far-left plan.
According to a report by Ray Dalio of investment management firm Bridgewater and Associates, Yang’s original proposal to give every American $1,000 per month would cost an economy destroying $3.8 trillion per year.
AOC and her crew would more than double that, as well as allowing non-citizens to participate.
Democrats have not been shy about not allowing the coronavirus crisis to go to waste. Last week, Pelosi also pushed another leftist scheme — vote-by-mail. Pelosi connected the voter fraud scheme to COVID-19.
“This is the lifeblood of our democracy,” Pelosi said. “So, here we are trying to protect the lives of American people, the livelihoods of the American people, and also the life of our democracy. This is what we are going to do in the next bill as well.”
Shouldn’t the speaker of the House of Representatives know that the Founding Fathers created a republic and not a democracy?
With the Democrat Party’s far-left extremists fuming over yet again being shut out of the nomination process, the party’s standard bearers appear to be attempting to appease those voters by giving lip service to increasingly socialist ideas. Whether it’s Pelosi musing about vote-by-mail and UBI or Joe Biden, himself promising Bernie Sanders to create left-wing “task forces” on climate change, healthcare, education, the economy and immigration, Democrats seem to be realizing that a schism exists between the disparate wings of their party. And that schism will eventually pull the Democrats even further left than they already are.
Photo of Rep. Nancy Pelosi: AP Images
James Murphy is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of subjects, with a primary focus on the ongoing anthropogenic climate-change hoax and cultural issues. He can be reached at [email protected].
