My only hope is they take the old unused school buildings and make them into community/rec types of places.
I'm sure there's a lot that goes into that but watching an old building with space, a gym etc. rot away is sad.
Retirement Targets
- Thread starter yowza
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My only hope is they take the old unused school buildings and make them into community/rec types of places.
I'm sure there's a lot that goes into that but watching an old building with space, a gym etc. rot away is sad.
The big drop in American poverty during the pandemic, explained
The lesson from the past year: Poverty is a policy choice.
I think some type of UBI would be great, the problem is what amount do you give to every adult. If you give everyone that is age 18 and over a $1000 a month, the program would cost $3.13 Billion a year, not sure the government could pay the much, even with means testing kicking some people off, it would be hard to make the numbers workable.
Since we're talking about UBI, I read this article today:
www.denver7.com
Denver Basic Income Project, which gives $1,000 in cash to unhoused each month, getting 6-month extension
A program that gives unhoused Denverites up to $1,000 in cash payments each month, no-strings-attached, will be extended for another six months, organizers said Tuesday.
I think you mean trillion but yeah, it’s a major change. It’s doable but not without figuring out how to get rid of 1/3 of government spending + adding new taxes to cover it.
It’s a pie in the sky concept that lawmakers can’t/won’t figure out but I do like the concept because it treats everyone equally and gives them basic support - something the richest country in the world should do.
Weird, I read that whole article and didn't see inflation mentioned once. Looks like it worked, I wonder why they stopped?The big drop in American poverty during the pandemic, explained
The lesson from the past year: Poverty is a policy choice.www.vox.com
I did mean trillion, the numbers are so large its hard to get your head around it. I looked at what the government brought in and spent, we brought it around 4 Trillion and spent 6 Trillion. If this program alone costs 3 trillion, add in defense at $900 billion that is reaching the point of what their are bringing it.
Its an interesting idea, eliminate SS, welfare, SSI, unemployment, student loans, farm payments and rest of it, and you still cannot make the numbers work.
Giving everyone 18 and older $1,000 per month is a terrible idea.
But giving everyone 65 and older $4k per month is sacrosanct?
I think UBI is interesting, at least worth looking at. It would certainly be a hell of a lot cheaper and more efficient to implement than the 100 other welfare programs we do now.
I think you'd discover rather quickly that this would be false. It looks like the U.S. spends 1.2 trillion on welfare programs per year. There are 340 million people in the U.S. , which would give every person $3,500/year. This would not come close to replacing the services provided by these welfare programs......I can't believe I'm defending government welfare programs but the math doesn't come close to working. Also, medical is by far the biggest slice of this pie.
May I ask why you believe it would be a terrible idea? If the numbers worked, and that is a big IF, by giving everyone a $1,000 a month in income you take away the stigma of people on welfare, and allow them to make a chose of what to do with the money. I can see where people that benefit from programs now would hate to see that changed, like farming and other businesses across the state. No need of programs like PPP, because everyone would be getting $12K a year, a couple would be getting $24K a year. You want more, go out and work for it, like the rest of it. As you age and enter your retirement years, it would actually save money, because most people on SS are getting more than a thousand a month. If you did not save or invest some of that money that is on you.
I think some of the businesses, like farming wouldn't complain about the government getting out. Only reason I'm in the program is I want crop insurance. Since the government subsidizes it, they force you into the program if you want to buy crop insurance. It's like SS, if you want to work for someone you have to pay into it, there is not choice but to pay in.
Anyone not of retirement age that can physically work and chooses not to, but live off the government. Like I said before, I am not sure the numbers for such a program will ever work, but it would be interesting to look at eliminating most government spending programs other than defense, instrastructure, R & D and a few other areas of the government and see if this could be done.
Doing some research, it shows that states spend about half of what the federal government does on welfare programs/assistance. If it went 2/3 fed 1/3 states for the 1000 per month. It might make the math work.
You would then have a large amount of government workers laid off when you slashed that mountain of programs and paperwork, so there is no way it work pass.
It will never pass because the government does not like giving money to people, but large corporations and businesses that can then turn around and give them money back to get reelected. Look at the amount of money we give the oil companies every year and they make record profits.
