State Governments Nationwide Are Doling Out Cash to Residents
Jose Nino
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According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, cities like Houston are rolling out universal basic income programs.
Starting this spring, 1,900 people residing in Harris County will be eligible to receive a no strings attached government payment.
This is part of a broader push by Democrat-controlled municipalities to tackle inequality and other economic issues that have exacerbated in the last decade.
Economists, tech industry giants, and Democrat politicians have largely forged a consensus that universal basic income and similar unconditional transfer payments is the most effective way to fight poverty without having to go through bureaucratic rigmarole.
Other cities that have launched guaranteed-income pilot programs include Stockton, California, Birmingham, Alabama, Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Republicans have naturally opposed this kind of plan, which they view as an unchecked handout.
A Republican State Senator in Houston, Paul Bettencourt, called on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to declare Harris County’s UBI program as unconstitutional. In a similar vein, Republican leaders in Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, and Wisconsin have made efforts to prohibit or curtail guarantee income programs in their respective jurisdictions.
Bettencourt contends that the Harris County UBI pilot program violates the Texas’ constitution.
“It’s wide-open, no-strings-attached lottery socialism,” Bettencourt declared.
While UBI programs are intriguing, they are misguided at best. What ultimately needs to be implemented to rectify the US’s standard of living problems is immigration restriction, rolling back the regulatory state, bringing back sound money, and lowering taxes. This ultimately necessitates a thorough rollback of the managerial state, not another technocratic spending program.
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