Andrew Yang 2020?

[pinkytoe]

I happened to see a review for this Democratic candidate's recent book and his ideas got me to thinking about the "train wreck" coming for the US due to rising technology and the growing number of citizens who can barely eke by. Sounds like his primary platform is universal basic income. One part of me thinks that is entitlement and the other part thinks it ain't gonna be pretty when all these folks run out of options to pay their bills. Thoughts?

[LDAHL]

If we do as he proposes, and pay everybody a thousand dollars a month funded by a value added tax, wouldn’t prices just rise proportionately to the new income?

[ApatheticNoMore]

I don't think prices would rise proportionately for those who really have nothing. Like you give a homeless person $1000 a month and many will be better off - people that really have nothing (some of them would qualify for disability now though but it may be too complex). You give people that go to bed hungry $1000 a month and there is no way food prices rise that much proportionately. So I really don't think proportionate rise would at all describe what would happen at the bottom, but it might kick in to a degree somewhat higher up than absolute poverty and want, and then depending on location, yea it's easy to raise rents in dense urban areas, but that might not have much to do with say rural poverty.

I think there might be issues funding it, it's not just another social program afterall, it's a brand new thing, but that's a separate argument from whether it would help the bottom if it could be funded. I think there is no way it wouldn't make an impact on extreme poverty in the U.S..

[Teacher Terry]

I just went and read about his plan and it answered a bunch of questions including the inflation one. Most welfare programs would go away. With 1k/month homeless people could move to a low cost of living and rent a apartment or room. This would enable them to become employed. It is a old idea and studies support it. It might revitalize rural areas as people wouldn’t have to follow jobs. The studies show that people work more not less.

[LDAHL]

I could see differences between the Bugatti and Bologna market segments much like SS has a redistributive effect.

[dado potato]

I believe Andrew Yang could beat Donald Trump in 2020.

His emphasis is on policies that understand the changes that have transformed the US economy …

I like the sound of "Yang-Hickenlooper in 2020"

[dado potato]

Update:

Yang is polling about 3% now. His campaign has over 90,000 individual donors ($1.7 million). Yang's stated goal is to have 200,000 donors by June, and to be among the top 10 Democrat contenders in polling by September

Yang is making use of the internet to reach out to voters, in preference to making alliances with party leaders. He puts out policy proposals and is prepared to give reasonable answers to questions from journalists or town hall participants. For example his proposed $1,000 per month guaranteed basic income, statehood for DC and PR, legalization of marijuana, etc.

Yang's black-and-white MATH caps are a visual mockery of candidate Trump's MAGA cap. I believe Yang is unafraid of verbal insults during the campaign. At the town hall I watched on television, Yang said his campaign people have been having fun guessing what derogatory name Donald Trump would insult Yang with.

From a published account of a Yang rally in Washington DC, I understand that his supporters are generationally diverse, ethnically diverse (with an over-representation of Asian-Americans), higher income, social progressives, working-class whites, a few teamsters.

It remains to be seen when (if ever?) Yang will be regarded as "serious". His latest email to supporters said, "we must become serious".

Also, when and how will Yang demonstrate an ability to turn out a large and vocal crowd? I don't mean 300 supporters at a rally. I mean a crowd such as Obama used to turn out.

Seriously, folks!

[catherine]

Hmmm. I really know nothing about Andrew Yang, so I googled him and came up with this article in USA Today about the candidates USA Today readers are most interested in, and he was at the top. (Take it with a grain of salt, though, because Marianne Williamson was third).

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/21/yang-williamson-sanders-2020-candidates-standing-out/3506638002/

[gimmethesimplelife]

I believe Andrew Yang could beat Donald Trump in 2020.

His emphasis is on policies that understand the changes that have transformed the US economy …

I like the sound of "Yang-Hickenlooper in 2020"Hickenlooper - the former Governor of Colorado - works for me. I have so much respect for this man.....and in an interesting way. I was once very much against marijuana and have since met people for whom it's been a true blessing......when we were in Denver staying with friends of mine who moved to Colorado back in 2016, I met a neighbor of theirs who was able to avoid having seizures due to the easy access to marijuana in Colorado, and I've since met two men who are ex military with PTSD for all their troubles who have medical marijuana cards in Arizona and are doing better - they are able to function to some degree due to their access to marijuana - medical only in Arizona - which Arizona law now allows for.

Hickenlooper's administration presided over the time period when recreational access to mmj became legal in Colorado and I have so much respect for this man.........I'd love to see someone like him with access to the kind of power Trump has. It would be a calmer, quieter, possibly at least on the surface saner America. Rob

[ToomuchStuff]

I foresee someone like the above mentioned Hickenlooper running, there being an issue eventually with their campaign bus and federally illegal drugs, across state lines.

[JaneV2.0]

Obviously, I believe any of the Democrats running would be a huge improvement over our Mob Boss in Chief, though I would be disappointed if Biden and a couple of others got the nod. They comprise a tremendously diverse and accomplished field.

ETA: Most of my friends and family use cannabis for pain relief/sleep issues. The idea that all dispensary customers are red-eyed stoners is a outdated as Reefer Madness, and as foolish as the idea that everyone who imbibes is a step away from the gutter. I have one friend who has been able to decrease their use of opioids considerably, thanks to cannabis. I would be very reluctant to support anyone who opposed legalization.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Obviously, I believe any of the Democrats running would be a huge improvement over our Mob Boss in Chief, though I would be disappointed if Biden and a couple of others got the nod. They comprise a tremendously diverse and accomplished field.Mob Boss in Chief? I like that - can I start using this? Rob

[JaneV2.0]

Mob Boss in Chief? I like that - can I start using this? Rob

Sure--I'm probably not the first to characterize him that way...And my words for him are as fluid as his lies.

[catherine]

ETA: Most of my friends and family use cannabis for pain relief/sleep issues. The idea that all dispensary customers are red-eyed stoners is a outdated as Reefer Madness, and as foolish as the idea that everyone who imbibes is a step away from the gutter. I have one friend who has been able to decrease their use of opioids considerably, thanks to cannabis. I would be very reluctant to support anyone who opposed legalization.

I agree. I think it's ridiculous to oppose medical marijuana. My husband just went through the lengthy process of getting his card in NJ. It took four doctor visits (required by the State of NJ before an MD can refer a patient), payment of a fee, an application that required all kinds of information, and an interview at the dispensary before he could get his first supply. Yet, any idiot can walk into a liquor store and swig Jim Beam in their car and kill someone in short order.

I do not partake recreationally myself--I never liked its effect on me--but I'll fight for anyone's right to use it freely, especially for medical purposes.

[JaneV2.0]

I agree. I think it's ridiculous to oppose medical marijuana. My husband just went through the lengthy process of getting his card in NJ. It took four doctor visits (required by the State of NJ before an MD can refer a patient), payment of a fee, an application that required all kinds of information, and an interview at the dispensary before he could get his first supply. Yet, any idiot can walk into a liquor store and swig Jim Beam in their car and kill someone in short order.

Well put. I do not partake recreationally myself--I never liked its effect on me--but I'll fight for anyone's right to use it freely, especially for medical purposes.

As I don't visit doctors, and have no problem with using cannabis recreationally, I'm for blanket legalization. I've never found a strain that produced a high I really enjoyed either, but I'll lay in a supply of high-CBD edibles one of these days to supplement my OTC analgesics.

[Teacher Terry]

I don’t partake but it’s helped so many people.

[LDAHL]

I’m a libertarian. If people want to spend money to make themselves stupider for awhile, that should be legal. No need to claim weed is a magic elixir.

[JaneV2.0]

I’m a libertarian. If people want to spend money to make themselves stupider for awhile, that should be legal. No need to claim weed is a magic elixir.

Condescending twaddle noted.

[catherine]

I’m a libertarian. If people want to spend money to make themselves stupider for awhile, that should be legal. No need to claim weed is a magic elixir.

It's elixir enough for my husband, who has a degenerative spine and cannot take pain medications of any kind. It works for him.

[Teacher Terry]

Some kids have uncontrollable seizures that can’t be controlled by medications but Weed controls them. Cancer patients have found pain and nausea control.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yea really people who have never experienced chronic pain (nor empathized with anyone who has). Of course some of the CBT claims are likely over the top and a certain amount of snake oil since they are now advertised as treating everything. But that marijuana can relieve physical pain, this isn't news.

[Teacher Terry]

I am using a CBD ointment that has a small amount of THC in it. I use it for knee and wrist pain. My knee hurt constantly and after applying it twice a day for 8 months my knee pain is gone. I am now using it on my wrist that was broken. The CBD ointment without THC doesn’t work as well. It must be the combo of the two that works.

[JaneV2.0]

The government has blocked researchers from investigating cannabis by labeling it a schedule one drug, so anecdotal reports of its efficacy will have to suffice. Its curative powers could be attributed to placebo effect if it weren't for its near-miraculous ability to halt childhood seizures in patients too young to be susceptible to such. It seems to me to have tremendous potential.

[dado potato]

Update:

After a rally in Los Angeles attracted 2,000, Andrew Yang's "Humanity First" tour is en route to Las Vegas for a rally at 6 PM PDT.

April 24 at 3 PM Yang will meet and greet with Nevada SEIU.

There are 6 candidates who meet both the polling and the donations criteria of the Democratic National Committee, and thus are eligible to participate in the DNC debate. Others may become eligible in time for the debate. At this time they include: Yang, Buttigieg, Sanders, O'Rourke, Harris, and Warren.

[dado potato]

At a rally in South Carolina, Andrew Yang promised clean drinking water for all Americans. If elected President, he said he would spend the $384 billion (over 10 years) estimated by the EPA required to bring all Americans' drinking water up to EPA standards.

He continued to point out ways in which problems would be relieved by his proposed payment of $1,000 per month to all adults. Specifically, education outcomes would improve for school children because "factors outside of school" would be so much better (fewer evictions, for example).

[dado potato]

Update:

Andrew Yang is "in" for the Democratic debate 6/26 or 6/27.