Quote from: gentlemand on Today at 09:50:40 AM

Are the people who proposed this credible characters? Never heard of either of them.

apparently they are the same representatives behind the first $1200 stimulus payment. that says something.

house reps are lesser known than senators because there are so many of them---435 vs 100. i don't know these two by name, but i recognize several of the bill's co-sponsors as well known political veterans.

Quote from: gentlemand on Today at 09:50:40 AM

I found the one off $1200 pretty weird. It would've been better to drip feed the same amount on a tiered basis but perhaps that's too close to UBI for their liking. Maybe they thought the idea of a one time windfall was less Unamerican.

i feel like there was an assumption at that time that the lockdowns might only last a few weeks, then life would return to normal. now everyone is grappling with the reality that it won't.

Quote from: Febo on Today at 06:13:08 PM

You cant really call it an UBI if it is just a temporary. UBI is a regular pay that happens every month.

okay but the way this is framed, it's not temporary. it renews every 6 months until employment levels return to pre-coronavirus levels, which will take years, if ever.

i also have a feeling that if people get monthly payments for the next year or two, there's no going back. if people get a taste of UBI as an alternative to working horrible paycheck-to-paycheck jobs that only enrich corporate executives/shareholders, they're not gonna go back to their old lives. there will be a serious push for social changes.

that's the biggest reason for conservatives to oppose this now---it will permanently change how the population views entitlements going forward.