It seems that the 'pandemic' will be used as harbinger for the "Universal Basic Income" programs in the United States, a report reveals.
The COVID pandemic had reportedly crippled the city of Chelsea, Massachusetts "in terms of infection rates and unemployment."
"We have lots of undocumented workers here so many of them lost their hours, lost their jobs and they were not entitled to any kind of government assistance," City Manager, Tom Ambrosino, told CBN News.
The report went on that the city attempted to run a food pantry for needy residents, but soon realized that it wouldn't be enough. The city leaders then launched "Chelsea Eats" which is hoped to become "a guaranteed income pilot program."
Done through a lottery, 2,074 low-income families were said to have been selected to receive a Visa debit card loaded with $200 to $400 a month. The amount will depend on the size of the family.
"It really is intended for food and necessities, but it is a basic income program," explained Ambrosino. "The card can be used anywhere that Visa is accepted in the entire world. There are no restrictions on the use of the money."
Also according to CBN's report, Chelsea is not the first city to implement this kind of program, and that there are more than 20 city mayors across the country that are running similar pilots. Their coalition is called "Mayors for a Guaranteed Income."
"We strongly believe that just because someone is poor does not mean they're irresponsible, and the data bears that out. 99 plus percent of the expenditures on these cards are for food and necessities. There's very little frivolous spending," said Ambrosino.
These pilot programs are still in their experimental stage, and are reportedly under the scrutiny of researchers from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania to determine if these could lead to federal policy.
Matt Weidinger, a research fellow in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and Brandon Arnold, Exec. VP of the National Taxpayers Union both agree that the program's focus should be on people who need financial assistance. Democrats, however, had something else in mind.
Democrats experimented on providing universal checks to parents, an initiative which CBN states as the concept of a Universal Basic Income (UBI).
"Universal Basic Income is essentially a program where the government is providing a basic level of income to each and every citizen in the country," explained Arnold.
Another form in which UBI is promoted is through the "new child tax credit," the report continues.
"It is a guaranteed check regardless of whether parents are working or not and that's quite different from the make work pay system that has evolved over the past generation or so," said Weidinger.
According to PEW, basic income programs and related policies have surfaced everywhere "from Capitol Hill to community Zoom meetings in cities like Hudson."
Officials who may potentially support the prospect of UBI are Vice President Kamala Harris and Andrew Yang, who is currently running for New York mayor.
Last year, then senator Harris introduced "pandemic payments" which would amount to $2,000 for each adult and up to three children in a household. On another occasion, Yang reportedly proposed $1,000 monthly checks for every American adult regardless of their income.
