[blam]

LBJ's Great Society is a good example.

People would rather sit on the porch, just above the poverty level, and wait for the government check than work.
(Then, we have to import aliens to do the work that the porch sitters should be doing)

Money For Nothing

[gaijin]

Drugs, booze, lotto tickets.

what could possibly go wrong..?

[Mears]

What,exactly,is “free money”?

It makes to sense-——to me.

.

[nascarnation]

I could see Canada trying this folly back when oil was expensive and the money was rolling in. Now not so much.

[needmorePaine]

Folks at the Basic Income Canada Network, the national organization promoting basic income, have high hopes.

"We need it rolled out across Canada, and Quebec, too, is in the game," said chair of BICN, Sheila Regehr, in a statement. "So there's no reason why people and governments in other parts of this country need sit on the sidelines – it's time for us all to get to work."

Interesting choice of words.

[ichabod1]

gimmedat

[ichabod1]

gimmedat

[4buttons]

send ‘em to- CANADA!!!!

[KarlInOhio]

At what income level do the increased taxes needed to pay for this program exactly balance the “free” money, so you get a check from the government and then mail it right back?

[aquila48]

“So there’s no reason why people and governments in other parts of this country need sit on the sidelines – it’s time for us all to get to work.”

That is funny!

Time to get to work really hard at paying people not to work!

I’m sure the irony is lost on these fools.

[lowbridge]

You hear that all you illegal aliens from Mexico? Free money in Ontario! Go! We’ll help you pack! :-)

[RegulatorCountry]

There’s an apparent wave of dislocation and unemployment coming due to rapid advancements in robotics, and I suspect that is behind renewed interest in UBI or Universal Basic Income. I’d say it’s coming here eventually, too. There are pitfalls, no doubt. Idle people who are supported regardless of behavior have shown a tendency to become disruptive and destructive.

[stevem]

First, what is free money?

Second, yeah this'll work.

[PIF]

How to spend other people’s money big time

or

Get those printing presses rolling now!

or

Quantitative easing writ large

[butlerweave]

Just put it in the Bank because they’ll want it back

[bigbob]

That would make a great export product - where can we sign up?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

...it's time for us all to get to work.

If that's what you believe, Sheila, then there's no reason to give away OPM. Stupid twit.

[free_life]

Doesn’t this already exist, welfare?

[grey_whiskers]

First it was "just doing the jobs Americans won't"

That will morph into "just collecting the checks Americans can't"...

Yes, I *know* this is Canada. But how far is Canada from Vermont (Sanders) anyway, both geographically and politically, hint hint?

[Tucker39]

“....it’s time for us all to get to work.”

Get to work?!

If this scheme isn’t an invitation for most Canadians to sit on their haunches and do nothing, I’m a Martian brain surgeon!

[Fiji Hill]

Early in his administration, Richard Nixon rolled out something similar called the Family Assistance Plan, which was essentially a guaranteed annual income. One of its most vocal opponents was California governor Ronald Reagan. Toward the end of Nixon’s first term, the scheme died in Congress.