There is an old saying that if you fail once, try again. Well, for years now, Democrat-run cities across the United States have been pushing for guaranteed-income programs, mostly spurned on by the gifting of COVID relief checks during the pandemic.
People have been vehemently against using taxpayer dollars to fund other people's lives, and rightly so. Half of the time, as has been evidence with those COVID checks, money from the government typically is not spent on necessities. Most people when they got their COVID check spent it on luxury items. Do not forget too the countless claims of fraud amid the Paycheck Protection Program.
These liberal cities are now using their leftover COVID relief funds to start these guaranteed-income programs. Charles Blain of Urban Reform says they know they cannot sell this to the public if they use taxpayer money. So, this is their way around it.
"They are using this to hand it out...and it is unfortunate because they are doing this right around election time. These local officials will know they can buy some influence with it," he says.
The programs would give low-income residents checks up to $1,000 a month.
But the real problem is there is very little regulation to these programs.
"There are no work requirements. The reporting is mostly self-reporting, where you tell them how you spend it, and they determine if it is a reasonable expense," he says. "But outside of that, that is about it."
Of course, none of it is fair. Both for regular working people, and even the people who actually need the program.
"They can never provide enough for those who would need assistance...they are picking and choosing. Then, it falls on the back of taxpayers...and you cannot end them, because people become reliant on them," he says. "Once they run out of COVID cash, they will turn to local tax dollars."
This influx of funds though was free to politicians, so they will use that to gain themselves some free influence with voters, and pander to the people.
But is there any way to push back on this? As of right now, not really.
"You can speak up...but too often, they do not listen. I think when they transition into using local tax dollars...there might be more people can do to hold them accountable," he says. "But until then...there is not much you can do."
There are eight cities experimenting with the idea, including Chicago, Newark, and San Diego.
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