SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Universal basic income bill rewards deadbeats with your money

Feb 6, 2020, 6:45 AM

Universal basic income, Joe Nguyen King County Executive...

Democratic Sen. Joe Nguyen. (Office of Joe Nguyen)

(Office of Joe Nguyen)

A Washington lawmaker wants to bring universal basic income to this state.

Sen. Joe Nguyen (D-Seattle), has introduced a bill in which the government would give deadbeats $500 a month for doing nothing.

This is the same legislator behind the 32-hour workweek bill, the bill that would cut workers’ pay, destroy jobs, and send away revenue-providing companies.

The universal basic income would begin as a two-year pilot program, but you know the state would choose to go forward with it after those two years. It begins at $500 a month, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that number increased, as taxes and spending always do.

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We have low unemployment right now. If you are employable and want a job, you can get one. If you’re not employable, you may have to work on your skills a bit.

We should of course have a safety net for people who are physically and mentally unable to work. But for others? They need to work like everyone else.

The state doesn’t need this pilot program. I can tell you exactly what will happen. The deadbeats participating in this universal basic income trial period will be turned into even bigger deadbeats.

“If we believe that tax breaks for large corporations work, maybe it will work directly for people who are impacted,” Nguyen told Seattle’s Morning News.

What an absolute travesty. Sen. Nguyen, do you know how much your party has raised taxes, has exploded the budget? You’ve asked everybody in the state to pay those taxes. And now you’re telling us a tax cut would be a good thing? Your party hasn’t done one thing in the last 20 years to save us money. When we tell you that we need a tax break through our $30 tabs vote, what does your party do? You refuse to listen to the tax-weary voters’ voices.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Dori: Universal basic income bill rewards deadbeats with your money