Posted on 11/12/2021 5:37:43 PM PST by blam
When people think of the proper role of city government, they usually think police, roads, and schools. The City of Los Angeles ranks near the bottom in all three (not to mention having the worst homeless problem in the country). Perhaps this is because the city seems more intent on engaging in social experiments than fixing roads, fighting crime, and improving schools.
The latest example is its new “BIG:LEAP” basic income program, designed to “transform the role of local government.”
While defunding the police and giving free money to people are considered fringe ideas in most places, in Los Angeles it is becoming a reality.
Last week it began accepting applications for what amounts to a lottery for 3,000 lucky winners. The prize is $12,000 per year, at a total taxpayer cost of $36 million.
This is far more than the $2,000 per year Andrew Yang, who introduced the concept to Americans in his presidential race, recently proposed to New Yorkers in his mayoral race. New Yorkers rejected it, giving him just 12 percent of the vote.
About a third of the money comes from defunding the Los Angeles Police Department, another radical idea rejected in other areas. It was just roundly rejected by voters in Minneapolis despite it being the center of Black Lives Matter’s defund the police movement.
All of the money, of course, comes from Los Angeles taxpayers. While it resembles a lottery, most are not eligible to win. The city effectively takes about $20 per taxpayer and redistributes it, through what is assured to be a “random” draw, to others.
To be eligible to win this lottery, there is nothing you must do but meet the qualifications established by the city and fill out a lengthy questionnaire. You must have at least one child, thus making it yet another government program that has the effect of encouraging the poor to have children. You also must have income below the federal poverty line.
So, for instance, a single mother with two children making over $22,000 per year would not qualify. Thus, the program acts as yet another that discourages work, since merely by working less, a person can qualify to make a free $12,000.
Also, to qualify you must check a box indicating that you were adversely impacted by Covid-19. This allows the program to fit squarely within the “never let a tragedy go waste” strategy for progressives. Just like government subsidies, handouts, loan forgiveness, eviction protections, and rent forgiveness, this program disguises itself as a COVID-19 relief program when in fact it is intended to be the first step toward yet another, more radical government assistance program.
The final requirement to qualify is filling out an extensive survey replete with highly personal questions about physical and mental health, finances, and lifestyle. It asks numerous unusual questions like, “In the last month how often have you been angered by things that were outside your control?” It appears Los Angeles seeks to turn its residents into lab rats. Indeed, the program is being done in concert with the “Center of Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania” to use as a model to “reform current policies, guide future programs, and aid in the expansion of our social safety net.”
Naturally, it also asks for ethnicity, gender (i.e., male, female, “non-binary,” “agender,” or “gender fluid”), and sexual orientation. The program is clear in its objective:
“While no single program can reverse decades of economic and racial inequality that marginalize low-income people of color, BIG:LEAP can point the way towards a more equitable and prosperous future.”
Considering the application questions and the purported justification for the program, one must wonder how “random” the selection will be.
Since it’s a city program, it sits on top of the myriad of other state and federal benefit programs already in place, such as CalWORKs (aid program for adults with children), Cal Fresh (food stamps), WIC (women, infants, and children) benefits, MediCal, and the federal earned income tax credit and Medicare. The program proudly boasts however, that unlike other California programs, there are “no restrictions on how the money can be spent.” In other words, using other peoples’ money to support your alcohol, cigarette, or drug habit: totally fine.
Mayor Eric Garcetti is part of a network of “Mayors for Guaranteed Income,” a national network of mayors “interested in determining how cash—with no strings attached—can assist households in need.” Garcetti, however, will not be around to evaluate the program. He has chosen instead to leave his post midterm as mayor of America’s second largest city in favor of an ambassadorship. So, if this defund the police and redistribution experiment causes more crime in your neighborhood, you may have to address your complaints to New Delhi, India.
'Follow-Home' Robberies So Bad In Los Angeles, That Police Now Issue 'Cooperate and Comply' Alert
Gee, I wonder what will happen.........
Now where have I heard “Big Leap” before.............this one won’t work any better than the fat Chinese guy’s.
Hopefully they will record the data from this experiment accurately so it can be scientifically determined if people will take free money.
Looks like it is time to up my investments in tacky jewelry and spinny rims
Also, if you get robbed, just comply and be a good citizen and a good witness. Oh, and if someone rapes you, just lie back and enjoy it.
When you defund the police, you end up with Kyle Rittenhouses patrolling the street. And every act of bad behavior, let alone crime, carries a potential death penalty. Common sense isn’t anymore.
‘Follow-Home’ Robberies So Bad In Los Angeles, That Police Now Issue ‘Cooperate and Comply’ Alert
FORBES -At Least 13 Cities Are Defunding Their Police Departments:
At least 13 U.S. cities have cut funding from police department budgets or decreased officer numbers with several more in the process.
Austin, Texas, is the latest city to announce a police defunding effort, with the City Council on Thursday voting unanimously to cut $150 million (roughly one third) from the police budget
Austin’s announcement closely follows the sweeping budget change approved by Seattle—a $3.5 million budget cut . The country’s two largest cities, New York and LosAngeles, approved budget cuts weeks after protests began—New York slashed $1 billion from its $5.6 billion operating budget while Los Angeles approved a $150 million budget cut from its budget. Also in California, San Francisco approved a $120 million cut to the police and sheriff’s department.
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Democrats are making everyone’s families less safe except for their Dem elites with their own protection forces.
What will the Super Rich Elites, do when their blue city mayors replace their city cops with Sharia Muslims and other social workers with BLMers/Antifas?
Those Super Rich Elites will hire our unemployed and well trained former Special Ops people. Who are no longer wanted in our worthless SJW/PC military.
These former SpecOps, when hired, will handle any protection issues their super rich Elites might need 24/7. That will include special preventive action as well as ‘neutralizing’, when needed.
These former special ops in their new areas of action, will operate, react and control/end any issues without any problems from so called local cops/DA’s, mayors and the local mediots in the local media.
The blue city mayors and blue city council members will welcome these Special Ops People, while slashing their city budgets and eliminating their regular police. Their security costs will be minimized and their budgets will be balanced.
How many mayors/governors in Blue States/Cities would get rid of their police forces in a New York minute, if they were not opposed by their elites, who control them????
These former special ops guys might even protect members of Congress from Deploreables if they are needed like on 6 January, this year in our capitol building in DC.
After the cops are defunded, the bloated school budgets will be defunded by the blue cities. Teaching online will be the new standard for KOC* in blue cities. KOC* = Kids of Color.
Taxes were collected for the purpose of providing police protection. Require the city to refund the money. They can’t graudulently divert the funds to another use. That requires voter approval.
They would have a better result just using the dollar bills as toilet paper and flushing them down the toilet.
Funny enough all the cities surrounding los Angeles are increasing their police funding
They’ll screw it up. One of the LA City Ghouls will get the notion that the ‘winners’ will also have to get ‘vaccinated.’ But we won’t hear how many of them didn’t survive....
What could possibly go wrong.....
Good luck with that, Mr. Mayor and LA City Council.
Selectively providing a guaranteed basic income to certain citizens is not a basic government function to be funded by taxpayers. Enforcing the law is.
By the way, it won’t do a thing to end poverty or lawlessness. Criminals gonna criminal.
You’ll be Sor-Ry!
Paying people to be good won’t work. I was always good. very respectful. Did my work. My brother was nothing but trouble. Stealing and lying. My parents even tried paying him to be good to see if that worked. But not me. I was good for nothing.
WOW! Not one ‘They Voted for IT’ post.
Groan
This will be interesting to see how it all plays out!
Why don’t we just go ahead and expel Kalifornia from the Union? What good are they?
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