Universal Basic Income blocked in Wisconsin, because Republicans don't want to know.

“Republican lawmakers held a day of back-to-back public hearings in mid-April for bills, (like) the ban local guaranteed income programs.”

Okay, we heard you, stop. WIS Republicans are loudly broadcasting that only they are in control. Not you, or parents, or “real Americans.” THEY ARE IN CONTROL. For example, the recently passed ban on advisory referendums screams authoritarian control, keeping popular ideas from ever getting off the ground. These are not just popular but, in many cases, successful ideas implemented elsewhere. But they don’t want to hear about it. Can you think of any other reason why they banned them?  

Universal basic income does not give people something for nothing so much as equalize everyone’s share of the luck. Fair giving and taking would then take place on the basis of a more equitable starting place.

And a growing body of research based on the experiments shows that guaranteed income works — that it pulls people out of poverty, improves health outcomes, and makes it easier for people to find jobs and take care of their children. If empirical evidence ruled the world, guaranteed income would be available to every poor person in America, and many of those people would no longer be poor.

Beginning in February 2019, for example, 125 residents of Stockton, California, received a monthly stipend of $500 over the course of 24 months through a citywide initiative. “And they did find that full-time employment increased,” says Donna Pavetti, vice president for family income support policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“It just gave people some flexibility,” she says, “So if they were working two part-time jobs, they could cut back, which gave them time to look for a better job.”

One year into the two-year pilot, Stockton recipients had spent 37% of their allotments on food, 22% on home goods and personal clothing items, and 11% on utilities. They spent less than 1% on alcohol and tobacco.

Beyond covering their own needs, some of the Stockton Compton recipients have committed to using the funds to pay it forward. That’s part of what the program’s organizers hope to demonstrate: that redistributing wealth through direct payments could improve access to education, housing and nutrition; reduce the racial wealth gap; and stimulate economic activity—which in turn can lift up a whole community.

Already, at least two members of the Compton Pledge have used some of their funding to start their own nonprofits

The final results of Finland’s program found that a basic income actually had a positive impact on employment. People on the basic income were more likely to be employed than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant, albeit small. Concurrent changes in other unemployment policies make it difficult to ascertain, from this study, whether the basic income, the other changes, or both were responsible for the higher employment levels. However, something about the modest level of the basic income and the lack of conditions attached to receiving it seems to have motivated recipients to seek and accept work they otherwise might not have.

A former liberal radio talk host who likes to ask the “follow-up question” at Democurmudgeon.blogspot.com