A VERY BAD IDEA – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  Two things about socialism – it never succeeds and it never dies.  Now, a rather depressed city in California is going in the socialist direction, as if the city fathers, mothers and non-gendered parents have discovered something great.  They have not.  From WND:

The mayor of Stockton, California, is leading an experiment with “universal basic income,” which is set to start by giving low-income residents $500 a month, no questions asked.

Mayor Michael Tubbs calls his city “ground zero” for issues like wage stagnation, rising housing prices and loss of middle-class jobs that affect the nation.

The Central Valley city went bankrupt in 2012, and for decades it has been trying to diversify its agriculture-based economy.

“I feel that as mayor it’s my responsibility to do all I could to begin figuring out what’s the best way to make sure that folks in our community have a real economic floor,” Tubbs said.

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Dorian Warren serves as co-chairman the Economic Security Project, which is contributing $1 million to the initiative. He said the goal is to gather data on the economic and social impacts of giving people a basic income.

In addition to tracking what residents do with the money, Warren said they will be monitoring how a basic income affects things like self-esteem and identity.

“What does it mean to say, ‘Here is unconditional guaranteed income just based on you being a human being?'” Warren asked.

COMMENT:  A bad idea for a number of reasons.  There's a rule of thumb in politics that, once you give a benefit, you can't take it back, because the voters will turn against you.  That's true.  It's also true that a guaranteed income has to come from taxpayers who are earning their income, leading to real resentment and social division.  It's further true that a guaranteed income never created a job or an incentive.

President Trump understands economics, and knows that the road to economic prosperity is the building of a strong, jobs-oriented economy.  That will include the redevelopment of our infrastructure, which is on his agenda.  I doubt if giving people $500 a month, with no strings attached, will build anything but a huge deficit, which the powerful California delegation in Congress will pressure Washington to pay off.

February 5,  2018