It's the attitude of those in poverty that needs to be changed, not the cash flow. Any time someone is more willing to collect an unemployment check then work at McDonalds, there's a problem. Stop the free hand-outs. There's plenty of jobs that need to be done. There's trash to be picked up by the roadside. There's something for everyone on unemployment to do to benefit society.
One of the main benefits of the BIG is that it eliminates the disincentive to work. Whats the fastest way to lose unemployment benefits? Get another job. Same thing with welfare, social security disability, etc. - make enough and they cut your benefits. what's worse is, for some people, if they get a job, they will not only get screwed on money (they still make money by working, but their benefits are often decreased by enough that they no longer earn "minimum wage" per hour above what they were making before), but they risk losing other benefits, especially state sponsored health care. Add in a kid, and you have to find someone to watch them while you go to work and take home a couple bucks an hour more than you would have if you just collected a welfare check. And before you say that its their fault for having a kid, keep in mind that nobody is proposing that we legislate against #######. The rules are written in such a way that there is often little reason to work for a lot of people.Enter the basic I come guarantee. Now, if you make more money, you keep it. Now we dont need minimum wage laws, which reduce the availability of low income jobs and hamper growth (but are arguably a necessary evil without a BIG). Now people who are out of work still have some small safety net, but have an immediate incentive to get back to work. Now illegals have a harder time gaming the system because you cant collect money without a ss#. Now we can change a ton of flawed areas in the tax code. And with a universal health care plan - properly implemented - people no longer have to fear going to work and losing their medical benefits, which is a serious issue for the partially disabled and mentally ill. There's a lot of good involved in the BIG, when you think it through. There are some concerns though. One of the biggest is inflation. At some point, if everyone has more money, everyones money is worth less. The BIG has the potential to put a lot more money into circulation, if there aren't corresponding tax code changes, which amounts to a fairly regressive wealth transfer. There's also a lot of effort involved in keeping track of every citizen and sending them a check - and some privacy questions, too. And the tax code would need to be changed all over the place, which inevitably creates new and interesting ways to game the system, no matter how well intentioned. But these seem like beatable hurdles. I am a fan.