Personal Commentary ~
In a past life, I was a part of a pilot program that supported single moms in going to college and moving into careers that paid family living wages. Over 10 years, I saw financial assistance for living expenses plus leadership training, in community with like-minded women, move a majority of the women onto pathways leading to the ability to support their families, decrease their need for government assistance, contribute to the tax system, advocate for positive change for other families and impact a second generation.
That experience persuaded me that holistic investing in our people has greater potential to improve lives, i.e. the heath and welfare of our nation,
than investing in already, highly profitable big business because that promised trickle down never really trickles down.
Gently managed with the hope of personal success coupled with impacting the next generation, translating into institutional success as a by-product -- guaranteed basic income makes sense to me...
Focused Read in 2 minutes
"Michael Tubbs is the 1st African-American Mayor
of Stockton, California... Before being elected Mayor
in 2016, he served as the City Council member for
District 6, where he grew up. He is the youngest
elected official in Stockton history..."
"In California, Stockton
Experiments With Guaranteed Basic Income"
Highlights:
"The city of Stockton,
Calif., plans to give its poorest residents $500 a month, no strings
attached. It's the first U.S. city to guarantee a basic income...
Shapiro:
Finland has tried it.
Kenya has tried it. Now the city of Stockton, Calif. is going to try
it. A few dozen families will get a check, $500 a month, no strings
attached.
The fact that this money does not come with any
requirements makes it different from a traditional welfare program.
Stockton is calling it a guaranteed basic income. The city expects to
hand out the first checks later this year.
Michael Tubbs is the mayor
of Stockton. Welcome to the program...
Shapiro:
How is this going
to work exactly?
Tubbs:
So from now until
June, we'll do a community engagement process to come up with the
selection criterion for the families who will be selected.
Those
families will receive $500 a month for the next year to 18 months
with the idea to really elevate the story of working-class people
everywhere.
People are working very hard and struggling and unable to
make basic ends meet. So we were able to get a grant of $1 million
from the Economic Security Project to really test this idea.
Shapiro:
So this is not
going to cost taxpayers anything? It's being paid for by a grant.
Tubbs:
It doesn't cost tax
payers anything. It's paid from $1.2 million in philanthropic
funding.
So the idea is that in the next couple of years, we'll have
some data that will tell us whether this is a solution that is viable
or not.
Shapiro:
...This program and the idea of a
guaranteed basic income seemed to guarantee that people will get
money whether or not they earn it. Does that undermine the incentive
for people to have a job and be productive members of society?
Tubbs:
I would
disagree...
In fact, I think will make people work better and smarter
and harder and also be able to do things like spend time with their
families 'cause we're not robots.
We're not just designed just to
work all day and run a rat race. We're designed to be in community,
to volunteer, to vote, to raise our kids. And I think the more inputs
and investments we can give in people to do those things, the better
off we are as a community. … “
You can read more here
Transcript, courtesy
of NPR's "All Things Considered"
You
can read more about Mayor Tubbs here
You can read more about the Economic Security Project here
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The Democratic Party Website
Also
C-SPAN (a good place for speeches & hearings direct source (s))
→ Fact checking organizations courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists
in alphabetical order...
→ Some of my favorite, most informative
follows on Twitter include:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC
⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Voting Rights/Voter Suppression | Author | Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible media -- at the moment:
📰📰📰 Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
(Wallace, a Republican, an inactive Republican I believe she calls herself,
is new to the job but for right now she has clearly put country over party and
her work on Trump GOP has been credible, IMO... )
...for Networking for Democrats today!
g. (Unapologetic Democrat)
g. (Unapologetic Democrat)
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(Linked) "...is our 2016 platform...a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.
It’s a simple but powerful idea: We are stronger together."
( #its2018now )
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Curated by Gail Mountain, with occasional personal commentary, Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!
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Thank you for focusing!
g., aka Focused Democrat
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