Free Republic

The politics of a guaranteed income get a lot easier when you acknowledge that the U.S. is no longer the land of opportunity ... However, there are other trends that may be interacting with and exacerbating this original sin. Automation and globalization had already largely hollowed out America's manufacturing employment base; most jobs created during this "recovery" have been in crappy low-wage work. And when one takes automation to its obvious logical end, it's hard not to conclude that robots will soon be putting just about everyone out of a job. ... As someone with a nice, stimulating job, I...

Our current welfare system is clearly a mess. The federal government currently funds 126 separate anti-poverty programs, at least 72 of which provide either cash or in-kind benefits to individuals. For example, there are 33 housing programs, run by four different cabinet departments, including bizarrely the Department of Energy. There are currently 21 different programs providing food or food purchasing assistance. These programs are administered by three different federal departments and one independent agency.  There are eight different health care programs, administered by five separate agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. And six cabinet departments and five...

Last week, my colleague David Frum argued that conservative welfare reformers need to focus on simplification. As a young crop of conservative policymakers announce a range of proposals, there’s some movement in that direction. Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s plan would move most of America’s existing welfare funding into a single “flex-fund” to be disbursed to the states. Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, partly inspired by the “universal credit” reforms of Britain’s Conservative government, proposes allowing states to combine different forms of federal anti-poverty funding—food stamps, housing assistance, and more—into a single funding stream. In a recent speech about fighting poverty, Utah...

Until We Learn to Be Sovereign, the Illegitimate State Will Continue.A recent editorial column here at the PanAm Post spoke of the failures of the opposition parties in Venezuela and their culpability in the collapse of their country. The article raises some very important questions about democracy itself. Democracy, after all, is a very good system, and can produce some very positive results. However, it is also a system fraught with incredible danger. Democracy represents the will of the people, but it also represents their whims, their fears, and their prejudices. The Historical Legacy: False Promises, Division, Failure It was...

What if you could receive a guaranteed basic yearly income with no strings attached? Didn’t matter how much money you made now, or in the future. Nobody would ask about your job status or how many kids you have. The check would arrive in the mailbox, no matter what. Sounds like a far-fetched idea, right? Wrong. All over the world, people are talking guaranteeing basic incomes for citizens as a viable policy. Half of all Canadians want it. The Swiss have had a referendum on it. The American media is all over it: The New York Times’ Annie Lowrey considered...

"In the John Waters-esque sector of northwest Baltimore -- equal parts kitschy, sketchy, artsy and weird -- Gerry Mak and Sarah Magida sauntered through a small ethnic market stocked with Japanese eggplant, mint chutney and fresh turmeric. After gathering ingredients for that evening's dinner, they walked to the cash register and awaited their moments of truth." Those are two "hipsters", and the punchline is that they pay for their foodie porn with foodie stamps, which sounds like it should be a terrible thing, except it's in Salon.com, which means they're going to try and tell you how it's a good...

The next time you wonder just how far to the left Rolling Stone magazine is, consider that in its first issue of the new year, it actually published an article calling for capitalism to be totally abolished in America and replaced with a socialist structure wherein people didn't need to work, all assets were taken over by the government, and redistributed to the masses. Fasten your seatbelts before continuing further: 1. Guaranteed Work for Everybody Unemployment blows. The easiest and most direct solution is for the government to guarantee that everyone who wants to contribute productively to society is able...

More than 100,000 residents in Switzerland have signed a petition demanding that the government ensure a minimum monthly income of nearly $2,800 (2,500 Swiss francs) for all adults in the country. The 120,000 signatures are enough to formally call a vote in the government over whether or not to approve the “CHF 2,500 monthly for everyone" (Grundeinkommen)” funding proposal. Funding for the proposed measure would come out of the Swiss social insurance system, which already guarantees universal health care coverage for its citizens, along with other benefits designed to uphold the country’s social safety net.

In light of the recent Oregon Medicaid study, several people have discussed the idea of taking parts of the social insurance system and replacing them with cash benefits. This naturally brings up the debate about whether it should be a policy goal for the United States to adopt a universal basic income (UBI). These poverty-level targeted incomes are universal and unconditional, so everyone would get them regardless of their income, status or work participation. Wonkblog’s Dylan Matthews wrote an overview of universal basic incomes and some proposals for such a system last year. Though establishing a basic income was once...

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A federal program is giving away thousands of free cell phones and minutes in Minnesota, and you’re paying for it. Helping low-income people connect to services they need, the program gives free phones with hundreds of free minutes each month to people in need to land jobs, make appointments and stay in touch with family. But the program has come under fire for its $1 billion price tag and reports of fraud. . . Odell Hilson sold his phone for $20 because he needed the money. He didn’t remember which company gave it to him, but he...

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that only 11% favor a proposal for the federal government to provide every single American with a basic income grant, or enough money to enjoy a modest living regardless of whether they choose to work or not. Eighty-two percent (82%) oppose this idea. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The above title should say it all. It is a currently unheard of social program but one that will become widely known just like Social security and Universal health care. The Universal Basic Income is essentially getting free money for life with no strings attached. ABSOLUTELY NONE! It is already beginning to take hold in New Zealand and is being contemplated (not surprisingly) by that Communist liberal utopia that Democrats want us to emulate, the European Union. According to websites such as basic income.com and similar websites advocating the implementation of UBI, everyone would receive somewhere between six hundred to...

Those familiar with the history of twentieth 20th-century economic thought know of the dominance of "Keynesian economics" following the Second World War. While John Maynard Keynes typically receives credit for transforming economics, much postwar Keynesian economics was actually developed by his interpreters and followers. Perhaps the single most important one of these followers was the Romanian born economist Abba P Lerner. Keynes's book The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money popularized the notion that market economies were prone to persistent unemployment. Keynes often receives credit for promoting government deficit spending as a means of combating unemployment. However, Abba Lerner...

PEACE and Freedom Party Phone :510-465-9414 http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/Platform.htm (In Case You Want to Puke on Them, p6) PEACE AND FREEDOM PARTY Phone :510-465-9414 URL : http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/Platform.htm RESOURCES Socialist and feminist political party based in California Nominated Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver for U.S. President in 1968 Nominated convicted killer Leonard Peltier for U.S. President in 2004 Supports open borders and an end to deportations of illegal immigrantsEstablished on January 23, 1967, the Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) describes its founders as "people who wanted to vote for something they could support." According to PFP, this ruled out candidates of both major parties...

A former McDonald’s chief executive has warned that raising the minimum wage will spur unemployment as companies will instead employ robots that work for less. “I guarantee you if a $15 minimum wage goes across the country you’re going to see a job loss like you can’t believe,” said Edward Rensi in an appearance on Fox Business Network Tuesday. “It’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient making $15 an hour bagging French fries.” The minimum wage has been a hot topic this spring, with some states and employers deciding to...

Following the lead of a several trodden upon, yet Democrat-controlled municipalities, Washington D.C. recently approved a bill raising the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour by 2025. This move has been hailed by leftists as a triumph for equality and the little guys. Except minimum wage laws were first proposed by racists to keep minorities down, and current minimum wage laws further disenfranchise those in our society who are already disenfranchised.To help understand, a brief history lesson is in order. At the risk of wandering off topic, this brief history lesson will also serve to demonstrate why many leftists...

The fast-food chain has plans to replace some workers with the touch-screen technology in an effort to save on labor costs. By the end of the year, thousands of Wendy’s locations across the country will be offered the kiosks, while franchise-operated stores will have the option of whether to use the technology. ... This year, minimum-wage rose to $10 an hour in California and will gradually rise to $15. Wendy’s president and chief financial officer, told Investor’s Business Daily that labor costs have gone to five to six percent in the past year. ... On social media, there were mixed...

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- Dressed in Donald Trump shirts and hats, the family walked up to the window at the Cook Out on Boulevard in Colonial Heights to order burgers and milkshakes. "As soon as we got to the window, someone inside said 'Hell no! I'm not serving them,'" Riggs told WTVR. After a few minutes of discussion behind the window, their orders were eventually taken. "Everyone was laughing and giggling," Riggs said about the uncomfortable situation. At one point, she said, an employee yelled that an order was ready, but when her cousin went to the window to claim...

When Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a minimum wage bill into law in March, it was the highest statewide wage floor in the U.S. It was also the most convoluted, setting three different wages and raise schedules depending on the area's population. ‎ Wages will rise to $12.50 in rural Oregon, $13.50 in mid-size regions and $14.75 in greater Portland, all by the year 2022. But before the ink was even dry, Democrats, who control the state House, Senate and governor's office, announced they wanted to change the bill that was rammed through in a five-week legislative session despite fierce...

I have concluded that not doing fairly unto others ultimately could bring about another U.S. civil war. Please hear me out. See if you don’t agree it could happen unless the growing unfair political financial tide is corrected. The growing spread of wealth inequality has been underway for many years. It has come to pass even in a democracy and a so-called exceptional nation. I’m not a history major, but in my serious interpretation, another civil war appears to be a distinct possibility. Doing great and greater for the financially elite and less and less for others has come to...