Most 2020 Dems won't take a position on Universal Basic Income

[Mr. Morden]

http://ijr.com/2017/10/986540-democrats-tiptoe-around-universal-basic-income/

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[YE]

Since when has Bernie supports this looney idea of UBI?

[TheLeftwardTide]

Skeptical of UBI at the moment. I think it may eventually be necessary but it's definitely not a priority right now. I'm also very skeptical of the idea of UBI replacing a social safety net (though is there much to replace at this point?)

[Kingpoleon]

Skeptical of UBI at the moment. I think it may eventually be necessary but it's definitely not a priority right now. I'm also very skeptical of the idea of UBI replacing a social safety net (though is there much to replace at this point?)

When you say "social safety net", are you including SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, HUD funding, or EITC? If not, then no. If so, then that's at least $700 billion.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

ubi should definitely not be pursued in 2020. the optics of it are going to be awful, and it's really not needed right now.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

UBI will be needed eventually as robotic workers put most people out of a job.

[Famous Mortimer]

UBI is impossible unless you are willing to limit the in take of new citizens. Smart people realize this but they are afraid to explain it to the left-wing base.

[Rookie Yinzer]

I don't believe anyone with a brain would support this.

[Phony Moderate]

I've always thought of UBI as being fundamentally a technocratic concept as opposed to a left-wing one per se.

[Sirius_]

We don't need to give government checks to millionaires and billionaires, only to those who need it.

[kyc0705]

UBI will be needed eventually as robotic workers put most people out of a job.

I can't believe you just said something I agree with. We definitely need to acknowledge that it will one day enter the political sphere as a major issue, but it's not going to be in 2020, unless the singularity magically happens tomorrow.

[publicunofficial]

We don't need to give government checks to millionaires and billionaires, only to those who need it.

No, means-testing is the cancer of US domestic policy.

[America Needs R'hllor]

UBI will be needed eventually as robotic workers put most people out of a job.

I can't believe you just said something I agree with. We definitely need to acknowledge that it will one day enter the political sphere as a major issue, but it's not going to be in 2020, unless the singularity magically happens tomorrow.

This. UBI will be necessary soon enough, whether we want it to be or no, and it's good that places like Finland are testing it, but most countries are not ready yet and don't have the means to provide it.

[PoliticalJunkie23]

They're already taking enough risks by (mostly) supporting single payer and tuition free college. I do believe a UBI is inevitable, but for now it's best to focus on more popular and pressing issues.

[UncleSam]

I like universal basic income as an alternative to government infrastructure - how many countless billions are wasted in inefficiency when most of what the government does is redistribute wealth in one form or another? Of course that's not what most progressives mean when they say UBI but the idea isn't crazy

[HillGoose]

It really doesn't sound like it would work to me, at least not at this point.

[Adam Griffin]

Of course they're not. You'll have a federal budget of $5 trillion at minimum under status quo spending (+ a total elimination of Social Security) coupled with any meaningful UBI - say, $10k per year for every adult. There's no way you could eliminate Medicaid/Medicare. If you include children under UBI at the same amount, add another trillion. Throw in single-payer and you're getting very close to a $10 trillion budget/a majority of the economy.

We're not at a point where people are going to accept such phenomenal spending increases - even if they weren't paying the brunt of it, even if it's good for them in net terms and even if you rationally explain it to them in classic left-of-center fashion. Look at how much people freaked out over $100-200b per year in new ACA taxes: of course, there are some people out there who think the public would be fine with 10-20x that amount in taxes so long as it's easily explained or whatever.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

UBI is a nice idea, until you realize that money doesn't grow on trees and no one wants the 50 percent plus tax hike that would be needed to pay for it. And to those who are suggesting eliminating Social Security, Medicare, and/or Medicaid to pay for it - good luck EVER having the votes to do that, never mind the fact that throwing a poor family of 4 $20k/yr doesn't necessarily suddenly take away their need for Medicaid.

[Mr. Morden]

*bump*

Biden doubles down on his opposition:

http://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-universal-basic-income-bernie-sanders-elon-musk-864801

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[Progressive Pessimist]

UBI will be needed eventually as robotic workers put most people out of a job.

This is definitely true. We will have to consider this one day in the future. But it looks it will be a few more Presidential election cycles until it becomes the national issue it should be.

[Lord Admirale]

Honestly do most people outside of Atlas care about UBI?

[Blue3]

*bump*

Biden doubles down on his opposition:

http://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-universal-basic-income-bernie-sanders-elon-musk-864801

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and there's the generational divide...

I do not believe people should tie their sense of self-dignity and respect to their job.

The old way is gone.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

*bump*

Biden doubles down on his opposition:

http://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-universal-basic-income-bernie-sanders-elon-musk-864801

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Biden really doesn't understand the situation we're header to. People with a college degree already have a harder time finding a job than someone from his father's generation with a HS degree did. More and more jobs will be automated and not replaced. Wealth will be more and more concentrated as they have fewer workers to pay.

[Sestak]

I don't think it's a guarantee that UBI is going to become necessary soon. Every past wave of technological advancement that was supposedly going to kill jobs have just opened up more in other areas.

That being said, this wave is obviously a much larger change, and it is certainly possible that UBI will become necessary at some point soon. I don't like treating it as an inevitability, but it's definitely something that we will need to consider if jobs do end up not being replaced.

[King Lear]

*bump*

Biden doubles down on his opposition:

http://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-universal-basic-income-bernie-sanders-elon-musk-864801

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Biden really doesn't understand the situation we're header to. People with a college degree already have a harder time finding a job than someone from his father's generation with a HS degree did. More and more jobs will be automated and not replaced. Wealth will be more and more concentrated as they have fewer workers to pay.

I totally agree with the fact that once Automation destroys most jobs, the government will have to create some form of UBI to prevent America from turning into a Third-World country (this could be a real possibility with rapidly increasing Income Inequality, slow detoriation of the Infrastructure in major cities, along with rapid changes in the countries Racial demographics). However, the day America adopts a UBI will also be the day America will have to shut down all Immigration (Legal and Illegal), because even a Leftists like myself realizes it will be unsustainable for the whole world to flee hear for a paycheck. Finally, I don’t think Democrats should talk about UBI in 2020 because it isn’t urgently needed yet (it’s going to take at least another 10-20 years before most of nations jobs are destroyed by Bezos and company), plus before UBI is implemented America needs to implement Single-Payer Healthcare, Free-tuition at Public Universities, and a 15-dollar minimum wage.