Andrew Yang seems pretty awesome

Quote: AZDuffman

Boost energy taxes and prepare for higher gas prices and eventually even gas lines.

Quote: Evenbob

Whatever, Face.. Quit it.

Quote: Wizard

Why would people stand in line to pay more for gas?

Quote: Face

"The problem is kids without dads. We need more father figures."
Dad stays home to raise kids
"No, not like that"

You're absurd, AZD. I could not think of a better fate for my child (or myself, even) to manage a financial state where one parent could rear their own child. I'd smach the s#$% out of him, sure. In a high five, every single time I saw him.

Quote: Gandler

That is a total strawman. Nobody (on this site) is claiming to want to seize everything from rich people.

From Yang's site:


The means to pay for the Freedom Dividend will come from 4 sources:

1.  Current spending.  We currently spend between $500 and $600 billion a year on welfare programs, food stamps, disability and the like.  This reduces the cost of the Freedom Dividend because people already receiving benefits would have a choice but would be ineligible to receive the full $1,000 in addition to current benefits.

Additionally, we currently spend over one trillion dollars on health care, incarceration, homelessness services and the like.  We would save $100 – 200+ billion as people would take better care of themselves and avoid the emergency room, jail, and the street and would generally be more functional.  The Freedom Dividend would pay for itself by helping people avoid our institutions, which is when our costs shoot up.  Some studies have shown that $1 to a poor parent will result in as much as $7 in cost-savings and economic growth.

Quote:

2.  A VAT.  Our economy is now incredibly vast at $19 trillion, up $4 trillion in the last 10 years alone.  A VAT at half the European level would generate $800 billion in new revenue.  A VAT will become more and more important as technology improves because you cannot collect income tax from robots or software.

3.  New revenue.  Putting money into the hands of American consumers would grow the economy.  The Roosevelt Institute projected that the economy would grow by approximately $2.5 trillion and create 4.6 million new jobs.  This would generate approximately $800 – 900 billion in new revenue from economic growth and activity.

Quote:

4.  Taxes on top earners and pollution.  By removing the Social Security cap, implementing a financial transactions tax, and ending the favorable tax treatment for capital gains/carried interest, we can decrease financial speculation while also funding the Freedom Dividend.  We can add to that a carbon fee that will be partially dedicated to funding the Freedom Dividend, making up the remaining balance required to cover the cost of this program.

Quote: AZDuffman

Happened in 1973 and 1979. I remember it vividly.

Quote: Wizard

That wasn't the reason they were standing in line. Correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

Quote: AZDuffman

Taxing gas to give money away will cause shortages as investment in oil wells dries up.

Quote: Wizard

I disagree. The reason for the long lines was rationing.

Quote:

Odd-even rationing was introduced — meaning that if the last digit on your license plate was odd, you could get gas only on odd-numbered days. New Jersey and New York have just reintroduced the system.

Some gas stations took to posting flags — green if they had gas, yellow if rationing was in effect and red if they were out of gas.

To conserve gas, the maximum speed limit was cut to 55 miles per hour. To cut energy consumption in the broader economy, daylight saving time was introduced year-round at the beginning of 1974, facing criticism from parents whose kids had to go to school before sunrise in the winter month