US Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Unveils Plan to Enter Democratic Debates

US Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Unveils Plan to Enter Democratic Debates

by | Feb 21, 2019 | News

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, whose central campaign pillar is “The Freedom Dividend” (a re-branding of Universal Basic Income, where all American citizens ages 18+ receive $1,000 per month), has unveiled his plan to enter the Democratic debates being held this June and July. On February 18th, Yang blasted out a call-to-action newsletter to his supporters, revealing exactly what it will take to get him onto the debate stage.  

“…we are going to leave nothing to chance,” he wrote. “We have to blow through both criteria to make sure we are in the top 20 and have the chance to speak directly to the American people.”

Yang went on to discuss the new criteria released by the DNC. In addition to a candidate’s polling, the committee will prioritize accepting candidates who have shown they can raise grassroots money from individual donors.

In order to qualify for the debates, candidates will need to:

  1. Receive at least 1% in 3 polls, either nationally or in early states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina) between January 1 and mid-May
    or
  2. Receive 65,000 individual donations, including at least 200 from 20 different states.

As of February 4th, Andrew Yang is already at 1% in at least one national Monmouth University poll. Yang has revealed that he’s also reached 200 unique donors per state in over 20 US states.

“We’ve received donations from approximately 16,000 people to date,” Yang wrote. “Our new goal is to have 65,000 people donate at least $1 by May 15th. Across our social media platforms, we have over 130,000 followers and friends, so we know we can do this. Simply put—if everyone on this list donates $1 and gets one friend or relative to donate $1, we’re on the debate stage. Period.”

Since the newsletter was released, the Yang2020 campaign has received an additional 4,000 individual donations. However, Yang still needs approximately 45,000 individual donors to meet the 65,000 unique donor mark.

According to the DNC, they are currently preparing for a scenario in which there could be 20 or more qualified Democratic candidates for the first debate. If that is the case, the top 20 candidates will be selected using a method that favors candidates who meet both the polling and donation thresholds, followed by the highest polling average, then the most unique donors.

If you would like to learn more about Andrew Yang’s campaign platform or make a $1 donation, visit his website.

US: Basic income presidential scorecard (Update)

US: Basic income presidential scorecard (Update)

by | Jul 23, 2016 | News

Probably for the first time in US history, the basic income is becoming an issue in the presidential election. Most of the candidates have already made their positions known. Two candidates, Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, appear to be the most supportive of the basic income. Although, Stein recently said basic income is a “visionary goal” and not something she is going to push as part of her agenda.

Hillary Clinton

The candidate said she is “not ready to go there,” but she would expand the earned income tax credit. She said distributing money without producing income is not something that “works for democracy and I don’t think it works for most people.”

Gary Johnson

Johnson said he was “open” to the idea of a Universal Basic Income based on its ability to save bureaucratic costs. Johnson directly supports the FairTax, which has a basic income component in the form of a prebate.

Jill Stein

UPDATE: On a recent CNN interview, Stein said guaranteed minimum income is a “visionary goal and not one of the practical goal posts of our agenda.”

“(Guaranteed basic income is) not something I’m willing to move forward at this point,” she said.

Donald Trump

Trump has not commented on the basic income. Requests for comment from the campaign were not returned.