Universal Basic Income
Andrew Yang's "Humanity First" campaign, for Democratic Party presidential nominee, ended with Yang's dropout and endorsement of Joe Biden for president in 2020. A signature policy of the "Humanity First" campaign was a call for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) program named the "Freedom Dividend"
Andrew would implement the Freedom Dividend, a universal basic income of $1,000/month, $12,000 a year, for every American adult over the age of 18. This is independent of one’s work status or any other factor. This would enable all Americans to pay their bills, educate themselves, start businesses, be more creative, stay healthy, relocate for work, spend time with their children, take care of loved ones, and have a real stake in the future.
With falling job approval ratings, the Trump administration is desperate to curry favor with the American electorate. As a result, the administration has resurrected a campaign idea of paying the American people a dividend out of the slash and burn savings generated by his department of government efficiency.
A DOGE Dividend?
President Trump floated giving taxpayers a piece of any savings that Elon Musk’s cost-cutting generates, which could reignite inflation.
It isn’t clear whether this would actually happen. Trump described: forking over 20 percent of the savings that Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency initiative has cut from government spending “to American citizens”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/business/dealbook/trump-doge-dividend.html
Dispite the non partisan call for a reoccurring payment to the American people in order to supplement their incomes by Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang and now the Republican president Donald Trump; the idea of a Universal Basic Income does have problems to consider. This article by the New York magazine goes into detail.
A DOGE Dividend Is a Bad Idea. Trump May Cut Checks Anyway.
Unfortunately for deficit hawks and tax cutters, Musk seems to be taken with a very different idea: giving savings directly back to taxpayers as a “DOGE Dividend,”
State legislatures and governors have generally said no thanks to the idea of tying their own hands in this manner and creating a mechanical system of rebates that taxpayers regard as an entitlement. Elevating this bad idea to the federal level would really create chaos and vast inequities.
the U.S. government is not operating on a balanced budget. Furthermore, the spending and revenue plans of the Trump administration will make the deficit problem much, much worse.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/doge-dividend-bad-idea-trump-checks.html
Is a Universal Basic Income program a worth while endeavor or are the dangers of inflation and inequity to high to make it a reality?