My big problem with Andrew Yang

[rogue emissary]

By Jonathan Capehart
Opinion writer
Jan. 21, 2020 at 4:37 p.m. EST

When talking about changes in the economy, their impact on American workers, the failure of government to address myriad problems facing the country and his his proposals to address them, Andrew Yang is as clear as he is adamant about his ability to get things done. But when it comes to race and its impact on his ambitious goals, the candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination is disappointingly silent. And when I pushed him on it, he was stunningly naive.

Yang sat for an hour-long interview on Jan. 16 with The Post’s editorial board where he held forth on his “Freedom Dividend.” That’s Yang’s proposal to “put $1,000 a month into the hands of every American adult.” My ears perked up when he said the Freedom Dividend would be given “as a right of citizenship.” Perhaps I was especially sensitive to that phrasing because I had just interviewed Jonathan Metzl about his book “Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland.”

Using compelling data and focus-group interviews, Metzl argues and shows how white people are willing to die rather than be connected to or finance policies which they believe are giving resources to people they view as undeserving. The point of my question was to get Yang to talk about race and the racial divisions that President Trump gleefully exacerbates. And I wanted him to address how he would surmount the obstacles those divisions present to get his agenda passed.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/21/my-big-problem-with-andrew-yang/#click=https://t.co/zYHv6DANF6

[pnwmom]

1. Most people overlook the hitch in his plan: he only offers that to people who are willing

to give up payments from other governmental programs. It won't help the people who need help the most.

[rogue emissary]

2. Exactly, it's in the details that the plan falls apart.

[redqueen]

4. That's a misconception. It's only cash type programs which don't stack with UBI

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[pnwmom]

5. . I'm not saying it would take money away from someone with higher benefits.

I'm saying they wouldn't get those benefits PLUS any benefit from Yang's program -- just one or the other.

So people on the bottom would have the least benefit from his plan.

[redqueen]

7. Again though, you are over simplifying.

And if you actually talk to the people who are currently having to deal with the hoops you have to jump through, the bureaucracy that can end up with you losing benefits, the often humiliating process of applying and reapplying - you will find out which form of aid most of these people would prefer.

[squirecam]

11. I think

They would prefer more aid.

Not aid given to those who don’t need it.

[redqueen]

13. I suggest actually talking to some.

Most would rather have more aid (without having to jump through hoops & without the threat of losing it, etc)

Most put their own ability to get by & not constantly be stressed and worried about whether they'll be able to eat and keep the lights on WAY above any pettiness about rich people getting the same benefit ( especially since those rich people end up paying in way more than they get back )

[squirecam]

15. So how do you help

Someone struggling who already has $1000 in benefits?

Under the plan, they get no additional aid.

While people who have a good job get aid they don’t really need.

[pnwmom]

17. But they won't be getting more aid -- not if they've been getting more than

$12K a year in benefits.

[Blue_true]

16. One Yang supporter mentioned food assistance benefits, but

don't mention items like housing assistance, Medicaid, ect. What happens to those under UBI, do they stay in place? $1,000 per month is not a lot of money when a person has to pay rent, food, transportation, medical expenses, pharmaceuticals out of that amount.

[emmaverybo]

3. Excellent. Capehart shows deep insight into the issues that matter the most in America today.

[rogue emissary]

9. Alot people want to ignore those issues.

[redqueen]

6. My favorite response

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[redqueen]

8. Other good ones

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[redqueen]

10. And some more...

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[rogue emissary]

12. Here's a great summation of his opinion.

What good is $1,000 a month “because your country loves you” if the president who promised it is blind to the fact that he is presiding over a nation whose core problems are priceless? America needs more than a check. It needs a return of moral leadership.

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[redqueen]

14. Considering that alt right types have left the movement

after discovering Yang's Humanity First message, I'd reiterate that maybe Yang's method of reaching out is more effective than the op-ed writer's.

That's actual moral leadership. In practice.

[totodeinhere]

18. I doubt very seriously if the Republicans in Congress will work with an Democratic president.

not just Andrew Yang.