Saturday, August 31, 2019

Bernie Picked The Wrong Fight With Andrew Yang



Obviously, the Democrats can't have both Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang. So who is it gonna be?

To Bernie's credit, the idea of a shorter work week is not that bad. How about you work four days a week, not five? But a reduced work week is not an argument against the UBI. They are apples and oranges.

Andrew keeps coming at Universal Basic Income from the technology angle, the artificial intelligence, and robotics angle. And I believe his projections are valid. But projections are projections. Many of those things have not happened yet. The retail jobs are mostly still here. Truck drivers are still driving their rigs.

But what is already here is inequality. I like Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax idea. Marry that to the UBI idea. The inequality that already exists and keeps getting wider every year is extremely harmful not only to democracy but also capitalism. And the best way to narrow the gap is by applying a wealth tax to fund a UBI.

And if the technology arguments come to be, we will also use that Value Added Tax (VAT) to expand the UBI. I can see the UBI going up to $2,000 a month down the line. Technology could give economic growth rates of 50% in future years. You don't want all of that to end up with the top 1%. They will just end up fat and lazy.

This is a fight Andrew must relish. That is the only way for him to go into the double digits.

Unless he wins either Iowa or New Hampshire, he is toast. He is perhaps Secretary of Labor and not the president. More likely speaker and author and CNN talking head in 2021.

Universal basic income, and universal health care are two ideas that belong together. Andrew Yang does need to own Medicare For All if he has a fighting chance.

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