A taxpayer-funded gravy train promoted by Democrats Kamala Harris and Cory Booker that would provide “free money” to low-income and middle-class Americans would add trillions to the US debt and result in higher unemployment. That’s the assessment of several public-policy think tanks.
Harris and Booker — who are each considering running for president in 2020 — are apparently trying to buy votes by proposing government-subsidized programs designed to turn the US into socialist Venezuela. Look how well that turned out for Venezuelans.
In October, Booker proposed taxpayer-funded savings accounts that would give a federal “opportunity account” containing $1,000 to every child born in the US, Fox News reported. That presumably includes illegal immigrants.
The child would not be able to touch the account until he turns 18. By that time, the US Treasury-managed accounts would collect interest that could top $46,000 per child by their 18th birthday.
Sounds great, right? Except Cory Booker’s plan would cost American taxpayers about $60 billion a year, Watchdog.org estimated.
Remember: It’s not really “free” if taxpayers like you and me are financing it.
Proposed taxpayer-funded savings accounts would cost at least $60 billion. https://t.co/TqoBenXbav
— Watchdog.org (@Watchdogorg) November 5, 2018
Similarly, Kamala Harris introduced legislation called the LIFT the Middle Class Act, that would offer a tax credit of up to $6,000 a year to families earning less than $100,000 a year, and a credit of up to $3,000 for those earning less than $50,000 a year.
While giving away money sounds fantastic (who doesn’t like free stuff?), Democrats never consider how to finance their socialist programs without padding the already massive $21 trillion US national debt.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center said Harris’s plan would add $2.8 trillion to the federal deficit in its first 10 years alone, and that amount would swell over the next decade.
This notion of handing out “free money” with no strings attached has already been proven to disincentivize employment and erode self-reliance.
“Those calling for a government-funded universal basic income are acting as though it’s a hot new idea. It’s not. It’s been tried before—and it didn’t work,” the Heritage Foundation reported.
Giving away money doesn’t curb poverty; in fact, all it does is encourage unemployment, research indicates. After all, why work for something if you can get it for free?
Countless psychology studies show that people get used to free stuff, and then feel entitled to it. Renowned economists like Thomas Sowell said handing out free stuff will never solve the poverty crisis, as BizPac Review reported.
“The political left’s welfare state makes poverty more comfortable, while penalizing attempts to rise out of poverty,” Sowell wrote. “Leaders of the left in many countries have promoted policies that enable the poor to be more comfortable in their poverty.”
Sowell is a black Harvard graduate and retired U.S. Marine who has authored numerous economics books. He says many American who live in “poverty” actually live fairly comfortably, and this comfort makes them complacent.
“Most Americans with incomes below the official poverty level have air-conditioning, television, own a motor vehicle and, far from being hungry, are more likely than other Americans to be overweight.
“But an arbitrary definition of words and numbers gives them access to the taxpayers’ money. This kind of ‘poverty’ can easily become a way of life, not only for today’s ‘poor,’ but for their children and grandchildren.”
It seems “free stuff” proponents have never heard the adage: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
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