Richard Nixon in The War on Normal People

On Welfare & Poverty: 1969: build foundation under income of every family

Today, people tend to associate universal basic income with technology utopians. But a form of UBI almost became law in the United States in 1970 and 1971, passing the House of Representatives twice before stalling the Senate. Versions of the idea have been championed by robust thinkers of every political persuasion for decades, including some of the most admired figures in American life. Here's a sampling:

Martin Luther King Jr., 1967: "The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income."
Richard Nixon, August 1969: " What I am proposing is that the Federal Government build a foundation under the income of every American family .that cannot care for itself--and wherever in America that family may live."
Milton Friedman, 1980: "We should replace the ragbag of specific welfare programs with a single comprehensive program of income supplements in cash--a negative income tax."

Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p. p.166-8 Apr 2, 2019

On Welfare & Poverty: Build foundation under the income of every needy family

Richard Nixon, August 1969: "What I am proposing is that the Federal Government build a foundation under the income of every American family that cannot care for itself--and wherever in America that family may live."
Barack Obama, October 2016: "What is indisputable is that as AI gets further incorporated, and the society potentially gets wealthier, we'll be debating unconditional free money over the next 10 or 20 years."
Martin Luther King Jr., 1967: "The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income."

Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.166-8 Apr 2, 2019

On Families & Children: 1969 Family Assistance Plan: guaranteed income of $10,000

It's hard to fathom now, but the idea of a guaranteed income was mainstream in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Medicare and Medicaid had just been passed in 1965, and the country had an appetite for solutions for social problems. In May 1968, over 1,000 university economists signed a letter supporting a guaranteed annual income. In 1969, President Nixon proposed the Family Assistance Plan, which would provide cash benefits of about $10,000 per family and serve as a guaranteed annual income with some eligibility requirements; this bill was supported by 79 percent of respondents polled at the time. The Family Assistance Plan passed the House of Representatives by a wide margin--243 to 155--but then stalled in the Senate due to, of all things, Democrats who wanted an even more robust plan. Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.175 Apr 2, 2019

The above quotations are from The War on Normal People The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future by Andrew Yang. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Richard Nixon. Click here for Richard Nixon on all issues.
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Page last updated: Apr 26, 2021