We're in agreement here. I think I'm leaning to the "good" side of the proposed payments, just because they are sent to everyone, regardless of social status, therefore eliminating the tool of class warfare. Plus it allows each individual to chose what is necessary, instead of allowing for special interest groups to lobby for their commodities to be classified as necessary.
One problem I have is the classification of "# of persons in a family" qualification. We all DECIDE what lifestyle to participate in(single, married, children, etc.) and we should all be responsible for those choices. I do, however, see the political cards that this gives to the NRST. I can accept the changes one step at a time........
I tend to forget about the imbedded taxes when initially looking at things, thanks to these threads I am changing the automatic responses to the logical responses (I think).
The idea is that that each person has a right to the necessities of life (in this case, defined by poverty-line spending) without being subject to tax. Minors are the responsibilities of the parents, so the parents are given the minors' benefits.
Also, consider it pretty much an exact replacement for the personal exemptions and standard deduction of the income tax (which take into account the number of dependents).