"Mayors hope giving away free money will bring big changes"

Wanna know how far over the cliff we are?  When a major TV network starts pushing "free money" not as "more-generous welfare" but as a way to "get people working again," insanity has completed its coup.

Article headline: "Mayors hope giving away free money will bring big changes"  Headline should have said "Democrat mayors,"

As extra federal unemployment windfalls are enabling former workers to avoid getting a job for another six weeks, dozens of cities and the state of California are experimenting with giving low-income residents an extra $500 to $1,000 each month, and tracking what happens

By giving $1,400 to millions of people, and higher "child tax credits," the biden regime has shown Democrat mayors a path to lifetime office:  That voters are willing to accept government giving tax dollars to low-income people.  

Hey, more "free" money!  Who's not in favor of that, eh?  

Now a growing number of Dem mayors and other Dem "leaders" say they want to see for sure whether giving more money to the poor is "the best way to reduce poverty, lessen inequality and get people working."

Seriously, the author of this piece actually wrote that.

In experiments across the country, the state of California and dozens of cities and counties — some using money from the $1.9 trillion "relief package" approved in March — are already giving some low-income residents $500 to $1,000 each month, and then (try not to laugh as you read this:) "tracking what happens."

A bunch of commie Democrats calling themselves "Mayors for a Guaranteed Income" plans to use the data to lobby the biden*harris regime and congress to make all taxpayers in the country fund this program for all low-income Democrats.  Cuz hey, who doesn't love FREE money, eh?

Okay, let's see if you can predict the future:  Without having seen a single bit of data, what conclusion do you think the "experiment" will reach, and what will the Maxine Waters/Nancy Pelosi/AOC party do with those conclusions?

Well, if you follow foreign news you already know that "guaranteed income" has been tried by a few northern European countries.  And the results were exactly as you'd guess:  More people refuse to take jobs, preferring to sit in cafes or home, drinking and getting stoned.  So except for making drug sellers richer, and enabling useless communist pols to get elected and re-elected, there was no detectable benefit.

But American Democrat pols are cunning and shrewd.  And over the years they've learned that no welfare program is ever really a failure, even if it doesn't have any detectable benefit.  That's because the REAL benefit of these programs isn't discussed in public: getting more Democrats elected to congress and other public office.  And even failed welfare programs have that effect.  People who get the "free" money vote Democrat for the rest of their lives.

So here's my prediction: After spending an extra few billion to give low-income voters a thousand bucks per month for a year, the Democrats will declare the program a huge success, and roll it into one of the bullshit "social infrastructure" bills that their majority will enable them to pass without a single GOP vote.  The recipients of the extra cash will then re-elect the pols who handed them the bribe.

   "The surge in interest in these *so-called free money* pilot programs shows how quickly the concept of handing out cash has shifted from far-fetched idea to serious policy proposal."

[Gosh, who'd have guessed there would be a "surge in interest" in "free money" programs, eh?]

Critics blast the programs a waste of money, or discouraging people from getting a job, but supporters say handing out free money is hugely popular with their constituents.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti--the second-most-interviewed mayor in the nation after NYC's faabulous Bill deBlasio--said “The pandemic showed us what is possible,” and his latest budget included $24 million to give 2,000 poor families $1,000 per month for a year.  Cuz hey, who doesn't love FREE money, eh?

The American Rescue Plan, which Biden signed in March without a single GOP vote, increased the child tax credit to $3,600 per year for children under 6, and $3,000 for ages 6 to 17.  But the big change is that in the past this amount was just credited against taxes, so people who didn't make enough money to pay federal income tax didn't get any money from the program.  But under the new Bidenrules, people who don't pay taxes will get the full amount of this credit in cash.  Nice.

Ten years from now we'll still have a few million more people unemployed than when Trump was president, but you'll never know it from the official figures, since those people won't be looking for work.  But you'll be able to see it in a figure called "workplace participation," which gives the total number of Americans with jobs.

So Democrats will crow that their brilliant plan to give tens of millions of Americans "free money" actually reduced unemployment and resulted in more people going to work!

As noted above, *reported* unemployment will indeed drop, but simply because the recipients won't have to be looking for a job.  And the part about "more people going to work" will be total horse shit.

Source.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/free-money-mayors-hope-local-tests-bring-big-79013653