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A welfare overhaul proposal

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The constitution gives Congress the authority to tax and spend for the general welfare, and that includes welfare in the more specific modern sense. I support having about the current amount of welfare spending, but it should be considerably simplified.
I like the idea of Universal Basic Income, but the tax rate needed to give everyone $1000 a month would be too high. I propose instead to have a smaller basic income funded by 3 different sources, each paid quarterly so that people would receive one check each month. I'd replace the standard deduction with a $3000 tax credit with $2400 refundable, which would mean a six hundred dollar check every three months. I'd implement a tax on carbon and other mining to pay the second quarterly check, The third quarterly check would be funded by corporate taxes or a sales tax. Each of the latter two payments would vary depending on revenue, but would aim for an average of $500 a quarter. These payments would go to all adult Americans, and children would be provided for by implementing Romney's 2020 Family Security Act, which pays a monthly child tax credit of 250-350 per child, and pays for it with cuts to other welfare programs. Sen. Romney’s Child Tax Reform Proposal Aims to Expand the Social Safety Net and Simplify Tax Credits/

This basic income would replace most welfare programs, but there should still be some housing assistance in large cities, food banks, disability support, and some unemployment insurance, though at lower levels than currently since they would just supplement the regular monthly checks rather than support people by themselves. Most other means tested welfare, like SNAP, TANF, and WIC, would be abolished.

Social Security should be gradually replaced by the Homestead Capital Act, a program that would give everyone the borrowing power to use loans to buy stocks whose proceeds would first pay off the loan, then pay everyone's retirement. The Capital Homestead Act: A Plan for Getting Ownership, Income and Power to Every Citizen
 
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Interesting idea there. One thing that I'd like to add to that is that people receiving a UBI have some kind of education / vocation requirement so that they can gain some skills to come off of or reduce their need for UBI. I know that kind of defeats the purpose of UBI, but hear me out. The change in the economy has hit us so fast with Covid. Work from home was increasing but with Covid, it accelerated us by five years according to some technologists I work with. So UBI can help but if someone receives it for two years without advancing some skill set, they are going to be way behind the eight-ball.
 
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I like the idea of motivating people to work or improve their skills, but I'm concerned about the paperwork it would require and the way it might advantage more established, formal jobs and education over self employment and independent study.
 
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I like the idea of motivating people to work or improve their skills, but I'm concerned about the paperwork it would require and the way it might advantage more established, formal jobs and education over self employment and independent study.

Well there is a ton of paperwork generated for various welfare programs to begin with. I should know as my family (me, wife, 3 kids) was on welfare from 2007 to 2010 during the Great Recession. My biggest beef with the welfare system is getting off of it practically requires a miracle. At one point I received a $500 per month raise. However, this meant that I would have lost various benefits that would cost me $750 per month. So a raise meant I would bring home less money. Yeah, that suuuuucked having to turn it down.

When I looked at things basically I needed a $1000 per month boost to get us over the net loss gap of more money vs loss of benefits. So people cant get off of welfare by a raise, but entirely new job.

I'm very much open to low-cost vocational programs to help rather than the for-profit system that we currently have now.
 
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Yeah I really want to get away from having that much paperwork, it wastes people's time on both ends of the process.
 
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Yeah I really want to get away from having that much paperwork, it wastes people's time on both ends of the process.

I'm taking an H&R Block tax preparation course to be a tax preparer. Or at least until I saw how complex it is to do anything having to do with the government. Well, working at a VA hospital is also uhhh.... educational...

"quietly beating head on wall and drinking after telling one nurse the same thing for the 6th time in a row"
 
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Sparagmos

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People don’t have time to do that. Working a full-time job plus an internship or going to school isn’t realistic, especially for parents.
 
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People don’t have time to do that. Working a full-time job plus an internship or going to school isn’t realistic, especially for parents.

I'm open to online learning as well to try and make things flexible. I used to teach Office and some basic computer tech skills with hardware and networking at a small vocational school. Most of my students were 20-25 year old single moms and they were doing what they could to get into more advanced jobs. I remember the first one who had been waitressing and finally landed a receptionist job. I was so proud of her!
 
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Sparagmos

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That’s still time. If people have extra time, they can just get a second job. There are tons of people working low wage jobs (like receptionists) with college degrees.

People in the U.S. already work too much, we need to move in the opposite direction.
 
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Usually this sort of thing requires either work or education, not both. I think it's better to have no strings attached though, it's more efficient and more respectful to people.
 
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grasping the after wind

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I so do not see anywhere in the Constitution that gives the federal government the power to gift any set of individuals with money taken from another set of individuals. As there is no such annumerated power any "welfare" program (the word welfare here being used with a completely different definition and context than it is in the Constitution.) is properly the responsibility of the individual states.

Universal basic income is silly idea as it would have zero effect upon oncome disparity or upon a person's purchasing power. It ought to seem obvious to anyone that we just experimented with UBI and what happened was that we inflated it all away. The more money in the system the higher the prices so any amount of UBI will be worth about nothing after the inflation kicks in. If one wants to address poverty one must raise the purchasing power of the least wealthy not hand out inflated currency to everyone. If I have a dollar and bread costs two dollars, I do not become able to buy bread because the government gave everyone another dollar. Instead I have two dollars but bread now costs three dollars. What I need is for me alone to be getting that extra dollar so that I am able to compete in the market for that bread as I have advanced against the rest of the world in my purchasing power.
 
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Either inflation is caused by deficit spending, and UBI that is fully paid for by taxes will not cause inflation, or inflation happens whenever the common people have more money, even if it comes only from people getting better wages without government doing anything. Is it people having money that worries you, or the deficit spending? I'm pretty opposed to the latter as well, and that's why I designed this plan the way I did.
 
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Where I live, Welfare is supposed to be a 2 year program. You're provided training for jobs. My parent get EBT, medical, So they could get IHSS, and SSI. Since my dad worked. He's retired, and both of my parents need services. So I'm happy about what my parents are able to get.
 
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We would be better off without welfare of any sort. Temporary emergency assistance, I can understand. Taking care of those who are unable to work, such as elderly and handicapped, I can understand.

But free checks for life for lazy baby mommas, hookers, and druggie deadbeat dads is ruining this country.

James said if any man does not work he shall not eat.
 
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Parmallia

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Do you support each individual state being responsible for corporate welfare like subsidies for oil and gas companies?

But more to the point: given that you have NEVER lived in an America in which the government doesn't allocate funds to people in need from taxes paid by people able to pay, how do you suppose the country will look? Will it be better?

Let's take Appalachia for instance. Some of the most horrific poverty in states that are hardly able to take care of the problem themselves. Should we just let those folks rot?

At what point is there no value in having a single country anymore?
 
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Parmallia

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We would be better off without welfare of any sort.

Really? I am assuming at no point in you life have you ever been poor? That is a blessing for you.

Temporary emergency assistance, I can understand.

In a real sense that is what welfare is in the US. The average time people spend on welfare in the US is less than 36 months (HERE)

But free checks for life for lazy baby mommas, hookers, and druggie deadbeat dads is ruining this country.

That is standard issue Ronald Reagan "Welfare Queen" dogwhistle fodder. Let's not demonize poor people on the whole. Not everyone getting assistance is a lazy hooker baby mama druggie deadbeat.

James said if any man does not work he shall not eat.

And Proverbs 19:17 says Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 22:9 The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. Proverbs 22:16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
 
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DaisyDay

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Actually James did not say that, and he did have some strong language about the rich who don't help the poor. Paul said it, and how he said it only really makes sense in the context of a church that lived like Acts 2, sharing their wealth in common.
 
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This is a really bad idea as most people are not really very good with stock investing.
The plan includes directions on what stocks to buy, you'd need to follow the link and read the details to understand it. But I've been wondering lately, if the stock returns would be enough to replace social security, maybe the government should just invest the money they are collecting in payroll taxes and fund current SS benefits that way; pretty soon they could stop collecting payroll taxes and fund SS off just the investment returns. Probably the objections to that would be it's a bit more risky, and government owning all that stock seems kinda socialist.
 
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grasping the after wind

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What bothers me is UBI undertaken nationally would amount to people having the same purchasing power after being gifted with a whatever sum the government would decide was appropriate as they had prior to being gifted with more money.


The only actual result of UBI would be to increase the power, complexity and influence of the government.

No one is better off for having more money when that extra money does not give one more purchasing power.
 
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