Andrew Yang Says Current Stimulus Payments to Americans Aren’t Enough

Andrew Yang isn’t satisfied with the one-time $1200 stimulus checks going to 80 million Americans today. He wants the federal government to continue paying out $2000 monthly checks until the crisis is well and truly over. 

The ex-presidential contender, basic income advocate and crypto community favorite thinks the pandemic is too bleak to be worrying overly about the national debt. 

“When the house is on fire, you don’t worry that much about the water you’re using to put it out,” he said as part of a web chat with Axios. “We have the equivalent of a $21 trillion fire on our hands, and we have to do everything we can to help people get through this.”

Bernie Sanders, Rep Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Rep Ro Khanna (D-Cal) introduced legislation Tuesday to deliver $2000 monthly payments until employment returns to pre-COVID-19 levels. Khanna represents California’s 17th Congressional District, which is located in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The payments would cost billions of dollars, but when asked if this was too expensive, Yang dismissed the idea that cost should be at the forefront of considerations right now. 

“We have mass graves and people doing really heartbreaking things to try and keep themselves safe, but [it] can get even worse if you have people literally facing mass deprivation,” said Yang. “And they’re not sure how they’re even going to put food on the table. So this, to me, is a necessary investment in the preservation of our economy and society.”

Yang went on to say that there are dozens of legislators that are going to be pushing forward a plan like the one he’s proposing, and he’s in touch with members of Congress, Biden’s team, and others that are going to be “pushing forward a plan that’s essentially identical to what I’m championing right here.”

Asked specifically if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would back this plan, Yang demurred, and said Biden was a very smart, practical leader who knows we need to do everything we can to provide for people in a time of crisis. 

The Biden campaign has not responded to CoinDesk’s request for comment by publication. 

Ryan and and Khanna’s Emergency Money for the People Act pushes for more sustained direct cash payments to American adults. Every American adult age 16 and older making less than $130,000 annually would receive at least $2000 per month as part of the bill. 

“A one-time, $1200 check isn’t going to cut it,” said Khanna (D-Cal.) in a statement. “Americans need sustained cash infusions for the duration of this crisis in order to come out on the other side alive, healthy, and ready to get back to work. Members on both sides of the aisle are finally coming together around the idea of sending money out to people. Rep. Ryan and I are urging leadership to include this bill in the fourth COVID relief package to truly support the American working class.”

The coronavirus crisis has spurred what could be considered the first federal UBI experiment in the US, but whether it’s only a one time payment is yet to be seen.