Actually, Milton Friedman pointed out that the only income redistribution scheme that does not create perverse incentives is a non-means-tested uniform payment, a “basic income” if you will. Anything means tested ends up subsidizing poverty, since the effective tax rate for passing through the earnings threshold to not qualify is very high, anything dependent on some other qualification (having a child as a single parent, to give a particularly baleful example) subsidizes the behavior that qualifies.
One problem is it’s hard to figure out how much such a scheme would actually cost. The total payout for a $1000/month per adult citizen scheme (gets everyone to about the Federal poverty level if living alone), but that’s not the cost since implementing it would also involve abolishing all the poverty-alleviation programs and most social service programs (not child protective services or whatever it’s called wherever you are), and cutting Social Security payments by the same amount (since it’s being replaced it doesn’t break faith with those who paid the blasted taxes all those years), and the payments would be taxable income so everyone would return whatever percent their top marginal rate represented.
Thank you for not leaving me here as the sole voice of reason on this issue. I was expecting to feel very lonely. Good to see there are others who get it.