$2,000 Cash Payments are the right idea, despite what the Washington Post says.

The Washington Post is a fantastic newspaper but they have a real issue in how they write about direct cash payments specifically and Universal Basic Income in general.  Their latest editorial got a bit right, but so much wrong.  Here is my comment:

I absolutely agree that state and local aid is critical; and its lack is likely the reason that the 2008 recession lingered so long.  That needs to be next.  And I agree that that the "targeting" to under 150k a year is also foolish - but I agree because these payments should be universal, and recurring.

But to oppose $2,000 stimulus checks is to show that the editorial board of the Washington Post is woefully uneducated about the large and growing body of evidence in support of direct cash payments, still believes that it is possible for the government to quickly and effectively "target aid", still believes that UI benefits do not have a negative drag on unemployment, and finally, and cruelly, that a certain segment of the population does not have a simple right to exist.

Direct cash payments flow through the economy unlike massive money given to large businesses which are often used for stock buy backs and simply sat on.  Giving people $1 amounts to up to $2.5 dollars in economic activity.  Not only do people need it, but it is good economics, and good bang for the buck.
 
Millions of people who desperately needed that lifeline never got it, and millions who did not need it did.  This is always the case when you create beurocratic rules on a scale of 330 million.  Universal benefits, targeted taxation.  Not only is this better procedurally, but it is also what we accept politically.

Plenty of friends who took the UI benefits,  did an odd job here and there, but were disincentivized from finding full time work again.  I don't blame em.

Finally, I will not accept your argument for waste.  After a $740 billion dollar defense bill, hundreds of millions for the largest corporations, it is time to bailout the people.  Not a penny will be "wasted"; spent, saved, invested, paid back in taxes.

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