Democratic Presidential Debate

[perpetuus]

I'm open to considering UBI but what irritates me is how a lot of people act like this is some revolutionary new idea when Sanders or Yang or anyone else touts it, despite it or similar versions having been around for decades. Irony is that it was an economic libertarian who was one of the earliest cheerleaders for the idea, yet these days most libertarians scoff at such suggestions and it's the left democrats who have instead become the loudest in favor.

I'm also concerned that some proponents want to add UBI on top of existing welfare programs, rather than offering it as a gradual replacement to those programs. They are either willfully ignoring the numbers or stupid. If this happens, there will be a lot of tax increases, and not just for the wealthy. That's fine, I just wish the candidates in favor of UBI would admit they're going to have to raise taxes across the board to fund UBI. Even UBI without other welfare programs will result in mass tax hikes.

[mfckrz]

I'm also concerned that some proponents want to add UBI on top of existing welfare programs, rather than offering it as a gradual replacement to those programs.

Which is why UBI won't happen. Those programs aren't going anywhere, and even with highly aggressive taxation there'd be nowhere near enough revenue to monetarily sustain a UBI on top of them.