Pelosi Pitches Universal Basic Income To Cope With Pandemic

After holding up aid to small business owners before rushing to bail out horribly managed blue states, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now pushing a guaranteed minimum income for Americans struggling due to the pandemic. 

“Let’s see what works, what is operational and what needs attention,” said Pelosi during a Monday interview with MSNBC, adding “Others have suggested a minimum income, a guaranteed income for people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so. Because there are many more people than just in small business and hired by small business … that may need some assistance as well.” 

WATCH: Speaker Pelosi: A minimum guaranteed income may now be “worthy of attention.” pic.twitter.com/19W3gwKGm4

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 27, 2020

More via CNBC:

The idea of a government-guaranteed minimum income has gained attention in the past year thanks largely to Andrew Yang, who ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary on a platform built around universal basic income. Yang failed to win any delegates in the primary, but he built a devoted campaign following and raised the issue of UBI onto the national debate stage. 

More recently, as the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the U.S. economy and forced more than 25 million Americans to seek unemployment benefits, the idea of guaranteed income has reemerged as a possible way to stabilize the economy and help people meet their basic needs while millions of businesses are under forced closures.

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Supporters of UBI such as Yang and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have noted that the $1,200 cash payment for guaranteed income for those making under $90,000 per year is quite similar.