Category: Basic Income

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the U.S. economy, causing a heightened financial strain on U.S. households, the argument for a universal basic income (UBI) has been gaining traction.

In fact, legislation introduced in the House of Representatives in April 2020 proposes a UBI payment for up to 12 months in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The payments would consist of at least $2,000 a month for individuals age 16 or older who earn less than $130,000 a year, and $4,000 each month for married couples who earn less than $260,000 annually. The proposal also includes $500 per […]

Full Post at www.magnifymoney.com

First off, this writer is simply a Socialist- not a Marxist or Trotskyite or Stalinist, Leninist or whatever flavor of left wing tastes there are. All of them are categorically better than what we here in Amerika (and most of the industrialized world) live under. That being Corporate Capitalism On Steroids! Yes, what Adam Smith proselytized hundreds of years ago is nothing l ike what this current mess is all about. This is actually as close to Fascism as one can get. Not being an economist I will leave it at that for now. Let’s just say […]

Full Post at www.nationofchange.org

Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Rashida Tlaib / Getty Images Two leading progressive House Democrats on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to radically overhaul the criminal justice system by dismantling policing and incarceration in the United States.

Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), both known as members of the House’s uber-progressive "squad," backed the BREATHE Act, legislation that would strip federal law enforcement to the bone, disband the DEA and ICE, end federal funding for police, and "develop a time-bound plan to close all federal prisons."

The bill would also, an official summary states, funnel unspecified amounts of […]

Full Post at freebeacon.com

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — More than 150 of the country’s top economists are calling on the government to provide ongoing stimulus checks as the United States continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

In an open letter published by the Economic Security Project, the 156 economists also asked for increased unemployment benefits and money for state and local governments.

The letter argues regular checks to individuals could help boost economic activity and provide stability for struggling households. The economists say consistent payments could increase or decrease based on the current economic situation.“Direct cash payments are an essential tool that will boost […]

Full Post at fox40.com

Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak Vouchers are all the rage. We’ll get some for home insulation. We’ll get them for groceries and free school meals – over the summer at least. And now we could each get a £500 voucher to spend in selected high street stores.

They are of course nothing new. Businesses promote them at Christmas. Asylum seekers got them ( until they were scrapped for being dehumanising ). They are a way of maintaining loyalty and control. A way of directing our behaviour – and for the government, often the behaviour of the poorest . […]

Full Post at www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

Providing almost all Canadians with a basic income for six months beginning this fall could cost about $98 billion, the parliamentary budget officer said in a report on the eve of a preview of how COVID -19 will shape government spending until next spring.

The figure is the upper range of the scenarios the budget watchdog was asked to research as part of a report released Tuesday morning as policy-makers consider how to shape emergency supports set to expire in the fall.

Planned federal spending to date on pandemic-related aid now tops about $174 billion, in a range of programs meant […]

Full Post at eedition.thesudburystar.com

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top coronavirus stories:

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for coronavirus after months of playing down its severity. He told reporters today that is already taking hydroxychloroquine – an anti-malarial unproven to effectively treat the COVID-19.More than 65,000 Brazilians have so far died from COVID-19 and more than 1.5 million have been infected. Both numbers are the world’s second-highest totals, and are considered to be underestimates due to the lack of widespread testing.Bolsonaro has said that his history as an athlete would […]

Full Post at www.theglobeandmail.com

Jonathan Bartley: Here’s how the Chancellor can protect Britain from an economic catastrophe. As lockdown is lifted, so too are the provisions that have protected many millions from economic catastrophe. But in so doing, the government is creating the conditions for a perfect storm which threatens to destroy lives and livelihoods in a way we haven’t seen for decades, possibly generations.

Even the new rescue package for the UK’s arts sector, while welcome, does not do enough for freelancers and the self-employed who face seeing very little of the money promised to institutions. While the government tries to convince […]

Full Post at leftfootforward.org

Jamie Swift has been arguing for the introduction of a basic income for years.

But with the previously unseen levels of economic downturn initiated by the COVID -19 pandemic, the movement toward basic income has earned increasing traction in recent months.

Swift, a local writer and member of the Kingston Action Group for a basic income guarantee, was one of four people who co-ordinated a new report by the Ontario Basic Income Network that says basic income will be crucial to the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic.“The idea of basic income has indeed gone viral,” Swift said.The 24-page report, organized […]

Full Post at eedition.thewhig.com