Could UBI Become a Reality for U.S. Citizens?

January 8, 2021

Written by Alberta Parish

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the wise decision that the federal government could make to combat income inequality and poverty is to provide a monthly check to all citizens beginning at the age of 18 known as universal basic income.

Universal basic income is already a program in countries like South Korea where citizens receive a monthly check, no strings attached. In South Korea, the UBI payout is provided electronically, either through a transaction card or bank account from which to access funds.

In recent months, many business owners have not been able to remain open because they can’t afford to continue paying their workers. Many Americans have either been laid off or their hours seriously reduced, so that those business owners who were able to remain open could continue keeping their staff working and make payroll.

Universal basic income should become a reality, and not remain just a concept in the minds of government officials and congressional leaders in Washington, DC. Under the Biden-Harris administration, I look forward to direct cash payouts (UBI) to offset at least some of the economic woes of many Americans, as we continue to navigate a pandemic many still do not believe is real. But it is real. COVID-19 has stolen many lives globally. Now, we have a mutant strain of COVID-19, which many people have contracted in the past 30 days.

COVID-19 is the new reality! This is not the time for congressional leaders to be stingy in providing some form of a monthly cash payout to all American citizens beginning at age 18. Right now, many people are unemployed and underemployed, or unable to receive unemployment benefits. When you have a mouth or two to feed, it’s not fun having to wait in line at food banks every week or bi-weekly only to receive a box of food that you’re expected to make last an entire week with one or more kids as well as yourself. Thank goodness I don’t have anybody but myself to feed. I cannot imagine what many parents or guardians of children are having to endure with very little income or no income at all due to being laid off from their job because their company went out of business in the wake of COVID-19.

Many jobs are lost forever because many business owners have closed their doors forever. Thousands of restaurants have been forced to close due to government measures in the effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. Owners of bars, diners, and restaurants have been hit hard by the pandemic. One of my favorite restaurants cannot operate like they once have because it is an all-you-can-eat restaurant.

UBI direct payouts has been a major discussion in recent weeks, as many Americans are feeling the pinch of unemployment benefits not being enough to pay their rent and bills. The average rent in a city like Atlanta is $1,000 per month. Meanwhile, the second stimulus bill only gives unemployment benefit recipients an extra $300 in addition to their regular benefits. Included in this same bill is a $600 stimulus payout. When the President had refused to sign the bill due to the $600 direct payouts, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi went to the House floor and asked for $2,000 direct payouts, which was later passed by Congress. However, Republican U.S. Senator, Mitch McConnell, decided that this was too much, and the Senate voted to not include $2,000 stimulus payouts.

The President eventually signed the second stimulus bill, and on Friday, January 1, 2021, I received my $600 stimulus payment. I’ve already spent every dime. Most Americans’ rent is at least $1,000 per month.

This is not the time for Senator McConnell and his colleagues to be stingy with their constituents, and the American taxpayer. Most of us have paid taxes all our working adult lives. When it comes to corporate interest, people like Mitch McConnell has no problem sending direct payouts, or giving tax breaks to the rich. However, what was the real reason Senator McConnell and most of his colleagues in the Senate said NO to the $2,000 stimulus payouts? One U.S. Senator cited that they’d be sending checks to dead people. The IRS is not going to send a check to a dead person. As soon as someone dies, the IRS is somehow made aware. My mother stopped receiving Social Security checks as soon as she died. The IRS is not going to send $2,000 stimulus checks to dead people all over this country. The IRS will do its due diligence in making sure checks aren’t being sent to dead people across America.

Mitch McConnell has a lack of empathy for the common folk. I’m trying to decide whether McConnell is a sociopath or not. We already have one sociopath in the White House. People like Mitch McConnell could do better because he knows to do better. But chooses not to. UBI need to become a reality in this country, and soon.