Articles tagged with: ordinary Americans

Strong signs of real progress toward a basic income in the United States
Over the past week we’ve seen some possible breakthrough steps toward a basic income. Did you miss that news? Not surprising, because it’s been buried in news reports about the Copenhagen Climate talks.
Sen. Maria Cantwell from Washington is introducing a bill calling for [...]

Will 30 million Americans demand income security?
Official unemployment is now 9.5 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. As reported in the New York Times:
The American economy lost 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in a sobering indication that the most painful downturn since the Great Depression [...]

Struggling families need income security
It’s no secret that families are scrimping, struggling, and sacrificing.
Too often, however, the human face of financial difficulties is obscured by the conventions of economic discourse. Pundits, journalists, and economists – and most  politicians, though they ought to know better because they depend on winning votes – seem to prefer to [...]

After roughly ten days of nearly constant news about the rapidly-spreading swine flu, it now appears to be relatively mild. That’s very good news.
There are many lessons. One is that we depend on government. In crisis situations particularly, we rely on government to respond appropriately and inform us responsibly. President Obama and other officials mostly [...]

At GM and Chrysler, autoworkers and their union have agreed to concessions to “save” the companies, to save their jobs. Wages are falling. There have been many reports of falling wages, as well, in businesses and industries around the country.
That’s more evidence for why we need Citizen Dividends, a guaranteed basic income.
Economist Paul Krugman discusses [...]

The outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and elsewhere, including confirmed cases in New York and other states, is an additional argument in favor of Citizen Dividends.
When everyone has a guaranteed basic income, we’ll be much more able to stop the spread of the disease. And much better prepared to cope with whatever happens. If [...]

“Tea party” tax protests have been in the news all week. “Taxed Enough Already,” protesters declare, with the tea bags used to symbolize anger at government, especially the bank bailouts. But will anything come of it?
If those protesters sincerely seek to cut government, they ought to endorse Citizen Dividends.

There is a rapid, reliable, responsible way to end the recession. We can achieve that by enacting Citizen Dividends, a guaranteed basic income for every American.
Moderate Democrats and Republicans supported guaranteed income in the 1960s — so did leading economists, liberals and conservatives — and a plan to provide it passed in the House by [...]

The Federal Reserve Board will spend $1.2 trillion to buy long-term government bonds and other securities as a way to stimulate economic activity. That $1.2 trillion could give every adult roughly $1,000 a month for six months.
Give us the money. We’ll stimulate economic activity by our spending. We’ll make mortgage payments, ending the foreclosure crisis. [...]

Aid to small businesses is a step, potentially, though only a baby step, in the direction of a guaranteed basic income for all Americans.
A New York Times story about President Obama’s announcement is here and a 15-minute video is here.

A story in the Washington Post, here, includes the following paragraph:
“Small [...]