Presidential Election 2020: Candidate Andrew Yang Promises Free Cash To Everyone If Elected

In the 2020 U.S presidential race, candidate Andrew Yang promises monthly government paycheck of $1,000 for all citizens, if he wins.

Yang is running as a Democrat, according to his campaign website.

In Yang’s perspective, the universal basic income (UBI) payment is “Freedom Dividend” and is the most concrete way a government can improve the lives of citizens.

“A government check of $1,000 every month and that let you spend it in whatever manner will benefit you the most,” Yang wrote on his campaign website.

Importance of providing universal basic income

Yang points out that the government has “plenty of resources and they are not being distributed to enough people in the right manner." He also believes a cash dole will improve the mental well being of Americans and boost the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Yang has also authored a few books. One of them is The War on Normal People: The Truth About America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future.

Yang also says why $1,000 a month is just fine. The $1,000 dole a month was recommended by Service Employees leader Andy Stern in his book, Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Economy.

There is also a logic-- $12,000 a year brings an individual close to the U.S. poverty line, which is $12,752 per person per year under the age of 65, per the U.S Census Bureau.

It may be too meager to survive. But it can make a huge difference in the life of many families and is at a level that would not make people lazy to skip work, Yang argues.

In Yang's view, Donald Trump manifests a sign of massive institutional failure happening on both sides of the polity.

Getting closer to Democrats’ national debate

Meanwhile, Andrew Yang raised $1.7 million during the first fundraising quarter of 2019, according to the campaign team.

Yang received contributions from 80,000 individual donors in February and March. The Federal Election Commission seeks report of the first three months of the year.

Yang is one of the early Democratic candidates to announce the first-quarter numbers. There is time until April 15 to file FEC disclosure reports with details of fundraising.

Zach Graumann, Yang's campaign manager said: “an outsider candidate raising nearly $2 million in two months in entirely small contributions is unheard of.”

Yang has already met a major qualification for the first Democratic National Committee debates for June and July.

Yang received campaign contributions from at least 65,000 individual donors. It met the criteria of donors support from 20 different states as the first qualifying yardstick to take part in the national debate.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg also shared a similar idea of paying a basic dole in a Harvard speech in 2018 May.

The Facebook boss called for a new social contract suiting the new generation and explore ideas like universal basic income to serve as a cushion for youngsters to try out new things.