# The Andrew Yang Presidential Campaign thread
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [February 14, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555 "2019-02-14T21:16:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 18
### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/341 "2019-04-01T03:41:17Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#):
>
> … he realizes that the US only makes up 15% of emissions. …
“Only”???
You do realize that such places us far far above most of the rest of the world in per capita emissions? Pretty much only Saudi Arabia and a few other Middle Eastern kingdoms are worse. The only way to spin our emissions as not horrific is to look at it normed to GDP - which places us in the middle but not great (both about 15% of the world’s GDP and 15% of the world’s emissions). Yes China has more total emissions but on a per capita basis they produce less than half of what we do.
There is no “only” here and trying to argue that we can skip bothering trying to decrease the emissions and go directly to concentrating on dealing with the damage that our emissions are causing to the world is simply wrong. No question that we need to do that as well (and he is far from the first to be aware of that), but diminishing our culpability and our need to decrease the risk of greater damage by reducing emissions now by spinning our huge contributions as “only” is … immoral.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/342 "2019-04-01T04:17:07Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> There is no “only” here and trying to argue that we can skip bothering trying to decrease the emissions and go directly to concentrating on dealing with the damage that our emissions are causing to the world is simply wrong. No question that we need to do that as well (and he is far from the first to be aware of that), but diminishing our culpability and our need to decrease the risk of greater damage by reducing emissions now by spinning our huge contributions as “only” is … immoral.
Alrighty. I’ll retract the word “only” in that sentence.
I don’t think Yang (or anyone) is arguing that the US can skip trying to decrease emissions.
Could you give some examples of what ideas other candidates have given to deal with the damage?
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2019, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/343 "2019-04-01T05:07:44Z")
Sure. The concept is usually referred to adaptation strategies and the EPA has a section devoted to it but Inslee’s camp uses the phrase “[resilience](http://http://sdg.iisd.org/news/pacific-coast--launches-climate-resilience-effort/)”
It is nothing more than beginning to prepare for what are increasingly more likely adverse changes. Pretty much everyone who is not a denier realizes that such is prudent.
Inslee also discusses the opportunities that these responses can create.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/344 "2019-04-01T12:28:55Z")
Oh. As for other politicians who are specifically taking the angle that the U.S. is “only” responsible for 15% of the world’s emissions and that geoengineering solutions are the way forward … well you won’t find that much on the D side. That has been more the take of people like [Lamar Smith](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-on-energy-did-lamar-smith-just-outline-a-republican-climate-plan) -
> [@](#):
>
> House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a noted skeptic of climate change, on Wednesday outlined what he sees as a climate change solution “worth exploring,” called geo-engineering. … “Instead of forcing unworkable and costly government mandates on the American people, we should look to technology and innovation to lead the way to address climate change.” …
Randy Weber (R-TX), another long time climate change denier also states “The future is bright for geoengineering” … it is a current go-to for those who want to diminish the importance of mitigation and to argue against regulation.
Yang though does them one better and scaremongers with a geoengineering arms race:
> [@Yang](#):
>
> If we don’t adopt and lead in geoengineering, China will wind up making decisions for us when it decides to modify the climate in about 20 years.
Democrats on the same committee, like [Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)](https://votesmart.org/public-statement/1204909/hearing-of-the-environment-and-energy-subcommittee-of-the-house#.XKH_llNKglI), are not against researching geoengineering but warn against those who like Yang apparently are willing to see it as some technological magic bullet, and advise moving forward with great caution.
> [@](#):
>
> … Geoengineering is an option our country should look into. The state of current geoengineering research makes clear that we are decades away from potential deployment and the risks of such a deployment are not well understood.
>
> In fact, a key finding in the US Global Change Research Program’s Climate Science Special Report, which was published last Friday, determined that “[f]urther assessments of the technical feasibilities, costs, risks, co-benefits, and governance challenges of climate intervention or geoengineering strategies, which are as yet unproven at scale, are a necessary step before judgments about the benefits and risks of these approaches can be made with high confidence.”
>
> This is because of a lack of technical maturity and understanding of the risks associated with geoengineering. We do not currently have enough evidence to determine whether any of the various proposals for geoengineering can provide long-term solutions to address the impacts of climate change, or that they would not pose any adverse consequences on our environment. …
>
> … Before I close, I would like to ask the Subcommittee Chairman for unanimous consent to include this letter, addressed to him and Chairman Smith, in the record. This letter has been signed by many prominent members of the geoengineering research community. It highlights the urgency of the threat that climate change poses and reemphasizes that geoengineering is not a magic fix to addressing the impacts of climate change. …
Yang proposes that we now “Invest in any idea that has the potential to reverse the damage done to the environment, for example cloud-seeding technology to increase the atmosphere’s reflectivity.” That is not “less combative” and it is not bold; it is reckless.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/345 "2019-04-01T20:14:36Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Sure. The concept is usually referred to adaptation strategies and the EPA has a section devoted to it but Inslee’s camp uses the phrase “[resilience](http://http://sdg.iisd.org/news/pacific-coast--launches-climate-resilience-effort/)”
Thanks. For anyone else interested, here’s the [link](http://sdg.iisd.org/news/pacific-coast-collaborative-launches-climate-resilience-effort/). Here are some of the strategies.
> [@](#):
>
> natural disaster preparedness and response coordination;
> fire prevention and management strategies;
> coastal adaptation measures;
> water management and drought preparedness strategies;
> enhancing the resilience of natural and working lands; and
> the development of reliable, resilient and affordable energy and transportation systems and infrastructure in the context of climate change.
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Oh. As for other politicians who are specifically taking the angle that the U.S. is “only” responsible for 15% of the world’s emissions and that geoengineering solutions are the way forward … well you won’t find that much on the D side. That has been more the take of people like [Lamar Smith](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-on-energy-did-lamar-smith-just-outline-a-republican-climate-plan)
To give some context, the title of the article is “DID LAMAR SMITH JUST OUTLINE A REPUBLICAN CLIMATE PLAN?” (the title was in caps)
It’s basically an article of surprise that a climate change denier is getting onboard, admitting that climate change is a problem.
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Democrats on the same committee, like [Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)](https://votesmart.org/public-statement/1204909/hearing-of-the-environment-and-energy-subcommittee-of-the-house#.XKH_llNKglI), are not against researching geoengineering but warn against those who like Yang apparently are willing to see it as some technological magic bullet, and advise moving forward with great caution.
The sentence before the part you quoted here was:
> [@](#):
>
> The time is now. It is critical that we support scientific research about climate, and that we build on rather than break down decades worth of progress on this issue. I encourage this Committee to hold hearings specifically on climate mitigation and adaption strategies to help communities grapple with this dire situation.
She’s urging that there needs to be more support for scientific research for technologies like geoengineering. That’s what Yang is proposing.
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Yang proposes that we now “Invest in any idea that has the potential to reverse the damage done to the environment, for example cloud-seeding technology to increase the atmosphere’s reflectivity.” That is not “less combative” and it is not bold; it is reckless.
Although it’s a great goal to eliminate all carbon emissions, [there are some](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/11/whats-actually-green-new-deal-democrats/?noredirect=on) who believe it’s an unrealistic goal.
> [@](#):
>
> Climate change is a critical issue, but some experts say the Green New Deal is overambitious and unworkable. “I’m afraid I just cannot see how we could possibly go to zero carbon in the 10-year time frame,” Ernest Moniz, a nuclear physicist and secretary of energy under President Barack Obama, told NPR. “It’s just impractical. And if we start putting out impractical targets, we may lose a lot of key constituencies who we need to bring along to have a real low-carbon solution on the most rapid time frame that we can achieve,” such as labor unions, Moniz said.
Still Yang is advocating for looking for new technologies while eliminating emissions to the extent technologically possible, which is the standard in the Green New Deal.
From a recent [interview on Wired.com](https://www.wired.com/story/andrew-yangs-presidential-bid-is-so-very-21st-century/), Yang is very clear that exploring geoengineering is NOT a replacement for eliminating carbon emissions. Both eliminating emissions and investing in future technologies can happen simultaneously. Yang also is advocating for renewable energy and looking for innovative approaches to dealing with climate damage to buildings and houses. There’s more in that article about Yang’s stance on climate change.
> [@](#):
>
> MS: What about the moral hazard here? That if we do something as drastic as geoengineering people will think, Well we’re in the clear, now we can keep emitting as we have.
>
> AY: We’re in a crisis where we need to do everything at once. It’s clearly not that we should explore geoengineering so that people can just keep emitting. We need to reduce emissions, we need to advance more renewable sources of energy, and we need to explore geoengineering. They’re not mutually exclusive—they’re conjunctive.
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/346 "2019-04-03T00:05:20Z")
Andrew Yang, Democratic Long Shot, Raised $1.7 Million in the First Quarter from [The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/andrew-yangs-2020-campaign-raised-dollar17-million-in-the-first-quarter)[Reddit discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/b8ol7m/andrew_yang_democratic_longshot_raised_17_million/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=YangForPresidentHQ&utm_content=t1_ejz7is5)
> [@](#):
>
> An aide to Yang said that 80,000 individual donors had given to the campaign for an average contribution of $17.92. That number is smaller than the average contribution for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign, which has been the gold standard for small dollar giving, averaging around $20 per donation—albeit from a much larger pool of donors.
[Andrew Yang](https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1113191207180615680) CNN Town Hall April 14 8 pm ET
Quote of the day from [Yang’s twitter](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1113040174617976833):
> [@](#):
>
> Sometimes in an airport you think you’re seeing a cross section of Americans. In truth it is probably more like the top 30%.
Yearbook pictures of the 2020 candidates in [New York magazine](http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/the-yearbook-photos-of-the-2020-presidential-candidates.html?utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=nym&utm_medium=s1). The article includes Biden even though Biden hasn’t declared his candidacy. Most of the people look the same except for Bernie Sanders.
Jimmy Dore, Progressive youtuber and comedian, did an interview with Andrew Yang that he cut up into multiple videos.
[Give People Free Money! Says Andrew Yang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S43Aluf1sz8)
[Why Andrew Yang Opposes Minimum Wage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ixoO3pMM0)
[Cut Pentagon By $200B Says Andrew Yang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lpux5u-puM)
[Breaking Up Google & Amazon Is Possible! w/Andrew Yang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv98GgnqxEs)
I enjoyed the entire interview. Yang and Jimmy Dore seemed to appreciate each other. The one piece where Jimmy Dore disagreed with Yang is on minimum wage. I agreed with Jimmy Dore there. I don’t buy the idea that small businesses will hire less if the minimum wage is raised. The studies don’t support that. But maybe the point is moot since 6 States have already raised the minimum wage. If the rest follow, the Federal minimum wage might not be necessary. Or as Yang contends, the Freedom Dividend will put enough money into people’s hands that they’re getting an effective raise.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/347 "2019-04-05T03:09:20Z")
Yang [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czi6iGXEXQo&app=desktop) on Ali Velshi on MSNBC [youtube]
Yang looked pretty nervous and missed Ali’s lead on a couple questions, but this was a nice interview. Ali Velshi did a nice job of helping Yang to showcase his policies. There were no hardball questions.
[Andrew Yang proposes lowering voting age to 16](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/437249-andrew-yang-proposes-lowering-voting-age-to-16) The Hill
Yang’s tweet on lowering the voting age got some attention and quite a bit of debate.
Yang’s [twitter quote](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1113830955049988097)of the day:
> [@](#):
>
> I have many friends who recently lost their jobs and are now in professional limbo. Highly educated types whom you would never worry about. There is an undercurrent to this economy that is stealthily pushing people to the sidelines - and these are supposed to be the good times.
I’ve been pondering the UBI vs. minimum wage question and why not both as well. The comments on this Reddit thread have some good discussion on both sides.
[Bernie/Yang supporter here that’s kind of leaning more towards Yang nowadays. Quick question. When it comes to UBI vs Minimum Wage increases, why is it always framed as an either/or instead of getting both?](https://reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9ftlr/bernieyang_supporter_here_thats_kind_of_leaning/)
Amazon paying $0 Federal income tax is one of Yang’s major talking points. CNBC did a nice piece on why Amazon does not pay Federal tax and what effect that has on the economy.
Yang uses the fact that big tech. giants pay no Federal income tax as the reason for his VAT. While companies can get around income tax, it’s more difficult to get out of paying a VAT.
[How Amazon Paid $0 Federal Income Tax in 2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNg55JDMDHM)
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/348 "2019-04-07T21:46:59Z")
Andrew Yang has been busy on MSM this weekend. On Friday night (4/5), he was on Chris Hayes, [All In](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/andrew-yang-wants-to-give-americans-dollar1000-a-month-no-questions-asked/vi-BBVFlQP). On Saturday (4/6), he was on Joy Reid, [AM Joy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKcdKT8lPv4). On Sunday (4/7), he was on [ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/presidential-candidate-andrew-yang-taxes-tech-companies-pay/story?id=62210018) with George Stephanopoulos.
Chris Hayes gave him the hardest time, asking him why _he_ should be President. He didn’t ask other candidates that question that I can recall. Stephanopoulos asked the usual stuff. Reid talked super fast, but it was a pretty routine interview.
Also on Sunday, Ben Shapiro released [an interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DHuRTvzMFw&feature=youtu.be) he did with Yang. I don’t care for Shapiro, so I wasn’t going to watch this interview. I started watching to get a sense of it, but I was soon mesmerized. I found it to be really interesting. Shapiro had done his homework. The MSM interviews have become ho hum. Superficial stuff that is mostly the same. Shapiro actually made a comment on whether Yang was surprised at how the MSM was handling his candidacy. Yang was upbeat about it as usual.
But Shapiro had read Yang’s book and quoted from it. He asked some of the questions I’ve been wondering about and gave Yang the time to answer them. They both had a lot in common, both having gone to law school and then only practicing law for months before getting out. They both had some of the same concerns but differed in the way they handled the solution. But the amount of agreement was surprising. I’m still not a fan of Ben Shapiro, but that turned out to be an interesting interview.
Also over the weekend, one of the guys on the subreddit created a wiki on the videos of Yang in interviews, town halls, speeches, etc. It’s a [nice list](https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/wiki/media?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=YangForPresidentHQ&utm_content=t3_ba6qgu). I’m often amazed at people on Reddit. That wiki went up in a day, powered by several people chipping in to find the sources, but the guy creating it was precise, thorough and fast.
Politifact rated Andrew Yang’s statements as [mostly true](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/andrew-yang/statements/by/).
Today starts Yang’s [Humanity First tour](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1114930704465506309). He’s going to 15 States in 50 days. His calendar is packed with events, including the CNN town Hall on April 14 at 8 pm. Maybe Yang is thinking about that hologram right about now. It’s like he’s in two places at the same time sometimes.
Yang says he qualified for both Democratic debates in June and July.
[Right now](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1114670100802691072), Lawrence Lessig is [interviewing](https://twitter.com/drkateharris/status/1115004779514748929) Yang in Concord, NH in a town hall style format. I’m looking forward to watching that.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/349 "2019-04-09T20:16:47Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#):
>
> Lawrence Lessig is [interviewing](https://twitter.com/drkateharris/status/1115004779514748929) Yang in Concord, NH in a town hall style format. I’m looking forward to watching that.
I was not disappointed. [This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UaoZRbQVag) was amazingly great to me. I’ve been a fan of Lawrence Lessig for years. He was awesome.
The main topics were getting money out of politics, rank choice voting, the electoral college, gerrymandering, voter suppression, H.R.1 (anti-corruption bill), mass shootings, revolving door of politicians becoming lobbyists, not vilifying politicians but instead questioning the system.
Some of Yang’s policies that touch on these topics - not taking PAC money, he’s for rank choice voting, making election day a national holiday, automatic voter registration, making the voting age 16, earmarking, electoral votes allocated proportionally, commit to POTUS1 to push for H.R.1, federal background checks for guns, mental health initiative with mental health professionals in the White House to help destigmatize mental health issues. term limits to Supreme Court justices of 18 years, open to increasing the number of Supreme Court justices.
NBC News put up a [6 part tweet](https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1115279520020480000) on Yang’s Freedom Dividend (UBI). In it, an Alaska State rep. is quoted:
> [@](#):
>
> Alaska state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat, says he could see a plan like Yang’s being instituted nationally if the political will existed, adding that it would possibly be one of “the most major societal and political shifts in U.S. history.”
Bernie Sanders [stated](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu6Gg4tvwJw) that he’s for guaranteed jobs with the implication that he’s not for UBI.
Yang [tweeted](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1115459067881848833) a [blog-type post](https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/05/16/basic-income-not-basic-jobs-against-hijacking-utopia) on Slate Star Codex on a comparison between UBI and a jobs guarantee. Obviously, it’s a pro-UBI stance.
> [@Yang's tweet](#):
>
> For a great discussion of a jobs guarantee vs. a Universal Basic Income see [Basic Income, Not Basic Jobs: Against Hijacking Utopia | Slate Star Codex](https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/05/16/basic-income-not-basic-jobs-against-hijacking-utopia/) … @slatestarcodex I obviously agree that a Universal Basic Income is a better way to go though I also like infrastructure jobs
Lots of arguments there that I hadn’t considered that no one seems to mention. For example, the guaranteed job would likely be in a place where there’s a concentration of jobs. That would likely increase housing and transportation costs to the point where there might not be an appreciable difference to having a job. Add to that, the employers would have so much leverage since that’s your last chance. . . or is it?
Another argument I’ve read a lot, even from UBI proponents is that if people get money, they’d lose a sense of purpose that comes with a job. With something like 67% of people who don’t like their jobs, that seems improbable to me. Here’s a tiny portion of the counter-argument in the piece:
> [@](#):
>
> Social responsibility. Sense of purpose. Community. Meaningful ways to spend your time. This is some big talk for promoting jobs that in real life are probably going to involve a lot of “Do you want fries with that?” Getting a sense of purpose from your job is a crapshoot at best. Getting a sense of purpose outside your job is a natural part of the human condition. The old joke goes that nobody says on their deathbed “I wish I’d spent more time at the office”, but the basic jobs argument seems to worry about exactly that.
People are [setting up](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1115407752396931072) watch parties for the CNN town hall. The town hall is an hour before the Game of Thrones premiere, so they’re billing it as a double feature.
Yang met with Trae Crowder to [discuss UBI](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1115278900131704833) for a documentary Trae Crowder is doing called Inherent Good. The documentary is slated for a fall release. I’m a fan of Crowder too. Ever since Trump got elected, he’s been coming out with some funny stuff.
Even if this campaign goes nowhere, I feel like Yang has gotten people talking more about some basic issues that hopefully people will continue talking about.
Yang has a letter out on his website, calling the next part of his campaign [Phase Two](https://www.yang2020.com/blog/phase-two/), realizing that the future of the campaign hinges on whether they can use the internet success they’ve garnered to translate that into something “serious”.
> [@](#):
>
> Legitimacy. Being the ‘Internet candidate’ is a great starting point, but it will not be enough to win. The danger is that our campaign is marginalized as being interesting but non-serious. We must become serious. The more popular support we get, the harder it will be to sideline us. The more we win the war of ideas, the more legitimate we will become.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/350 "2019-04-09T21:00:45Z")
the UBI he proposes does that replace things like food stamps or other current government payments? I have heard people talk about that type of payment going away with UBI but I don’t know if Yang says that in his proposal.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/351 "2019-04-09T21:13:11Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> the UBI he proposes does that replace things like food stamps or other current government payments? I have heard people talk about that type of payment going away with UBI but I don’t know if Yang says that in his proposal.
Yang’s UBI is opt-in, so if you’re liking the benefits you’re getting or they’re higher than the $1,000/mo, then you get to keep the current benefit. But you don’t get the $1,000/mo on top of the benefits.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/352 "2019-04-09T21:25:13Z")
If you like your benefits, you can keep your benefits. Sounds familiar. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/353 "2019-04-14T01:14:45Z")
[Yang’s CNN town hall](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1117088720082100226) got moved to 7 pm tomorrow April 14, 2019. It was originally scheduled for 8 pm. He says there are 150 watch parties organized around the country.
CNN and several other outlets are reporting about [Yang’s hologram demo](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1116142461817110529) that TMZ found out about. I like the reaction of the TMZ guys when Yang explained what it was they found. They couldn’t figure out why Yang was dancing with a hologram of Tupac. It was actually a hologram of Yang dancing with a hologram of Tupac. He’s planning on using the hologram on the campaign trail to be in 2 or 3 places at the same time.
After a rally in Boston that drew a crowd (estimated at a thousand), Yang did an [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=199&v=gU-D6vIEqbA) [youtube] with Jon Lovett, from Crooked Media, the Obama camp that got together to form a news media outlet. It was on the Lovett or Leave it platform which is supposed to be comedy, but this wasn’t very funny. The crowd was behind Yang and not behind Lovett even though it was his show. That seemed to annoy Lovett. His questions were slightly condescending, not anything like the deference that AOC or Elizabeth Warren got. But that was to be expected probably. They were MSM type questions. Still, the crowd was behind Yang. Not sure if they followed him in from the rally earlier in the night. Lovett was admonishing the crowd a couple times. The more I watch it, the more I like it.
Elon Musk [responded](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1116092380753436672) to Yang’s tweet:
> [@Yang](#):
>
> An AI system defeated elite Chinese doctors in a two-round brain tumor diagnosis competition on both speed and accuracy. This could do incredible good but is another example of areas in which new technology is capable of beating humans. We have to evolve quickly.
Elon Musk responded:
> [@Elon Musk](#):
>
> I hope a cybernetic interface is ready in time. Symbiosis, irrelevance (hopefully blissful) or doom seem to be the three most likely paths.
An article by The Guardian noted that welfare reform or some variant should be in candidates’ platforms. [US presidential candidates can’t afford to ignore welfare reform](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/11/2020-presidential-candidates-welfare-reform-universal-basic-income)
> [@](#):
>
> Among 2020 Democratic candidates, it is entrepreneur Andrew Yang who has proposed the largest cash transfer program that would benefit the poor: the universal basic income (UBI). Under Yang’s UBI, every American adult would get $1,000 monthly, with no strings attached. While the idea may seem utopian on first glance, cash transfer programs have been implemented all over the world, with some success.
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/354 "2019-04-16T22:21:14Z")
The CNN town hall on 4/14/19 went great. There were over [150 watch parties](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1117857732760092672) in 48 states. That’s the most energy I’ve seen from Yang yet.
The next day, Yang held a rally in DC that was estimated at [2,000 people](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1117969627072667648). I love [the picture](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1117934815351902209). It looks so pretty.
Pre-town hall, Yang was polling at 3% in the Emerson [poll](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1117823609953759232). Hopefully that will increase even further after the town hall.
[Some](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1118162976387813377) celebrity donors. “I will put our celebrity donor list of Nicolas Cage, Rivers Cuomo, Noah Centineo and Sam Altman up against anyone’s.” Jack Dorsey, CEO of twitter/Squarespace, donated [$1,000](https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1118197776221863939). Dorsey mentioned in an [interview](https://twitter.com/BaseIncomeQuote/status/1094092880682106881) separately that he’s been looking into Basic Income to redistribute his wealth. I took a quick scan of the [list of donors](http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00659938/1326379/sa/ALL) over $200. It looked like a lot of software developers, engineers and generally tech people donated. There were quite a number of professors as well.
CNN showed a [list](https://reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/bdvvhk/surprised_cnn_even_made_this_let_alone_showed_it/) of the percentage of donors with contributions of less than $200 for each candidate. Yang was second at 81% to Bernie’s 84%. Bernie’s number of $18M with 84% donating less than $200 each is really impressive.
Someone made Yang a [definition](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Andrew+Yang) in Urban Dictionary. There was also a [silly piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbehApmXmSU) to the Lovett or Leave It interview that I missed earlier. Yang would go to Panda Express (obviously!) at the food court of a mall, would wait for CPK for 20 minutes before going to the food court and gave the right answer on how many spaces after a period – 2. He’s a Spiderman fan.
Time magazine published an article about basic income that mentioned Yang. The gist of the [article](http://time.com/5571472/basic-income-society-problems/?xid=tcoshare#0e3bc275-fd0c-4675-9a34-1d012af032c3?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-article) was:
> [@](#):
>
> Critics dismiss it as unaffordable, that it would be un-American to giving something for nothing, that would be silly to give to the rich as well as to the poor, or that it would reduce work and make people lazy. Such reactions are unfair. There are sensible ways of funding it; the wealthy already obtain a lot of something for nothing (they just call it inheritance); it would be more efficient to pay to everybody and tax back from the wealthy rather than rely on inefficient, expensive means-testing; and the evidence from pilots shows that it would not make us work less.
It would be nice if more of the proponents of UBI came out of the woodwork to either support or critique Yang’s UBI plan. There are a lot of UBI proponents out there who have been championing the cause for years and decades. It would be nice to hear from more of them. Scott Santens, a big proponent, has been championing Yang big time. His twitter feed is all about UBI and Yang. I’ve read a lot of professors talking about UBI. Maybe those are the same professors contributing to Yang’s campaign.
[Next stops](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1117973133212958721) on the Humanity Tour are Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Des Moines/Iowa. Yang’s non-stop schedule is impressive.
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2019, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/355 "2019-04-19T03:59:36Z")
The [Atlanta rally](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TeTo00WJqg) was livestreamed. I happened to be online at the time and saw it live on Facebook. It felt oddly more “live”. It ws a nice sized crowd. It also looked like a pretty diverse crowd. By the cheers, there were Trump supporters, Libertarians, Independents, Democrats, Progressives, far-left Liberals. Conservatives were silent.
Yang has been doing a lot of interviews. He was on [PBS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFBO98fxr-I), [Fox News](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvHyoQebbKU) and [Velshi and Ruhle](https://www.msnbc.com/stephanie-ruhle/watch/dem-pres-candidate-yang-makes-case-for-universal-basic-income-1496725571643) with Stephanie Ruhle. Ruhle seemed to be intrigued and asked him to come back for a round 2.
Stephanie Ruhle also interviewed Anand Giridharadas separately about wealth inequality. [Is Taxing The Ultra-Wealthy ‘Punishing Success?’ | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muxJxNl0IK0) A lot of Anand’s point is mirrored in Yang’s platform. At the end of the interview, Ruhle said ‘humanity first’, which is Yang’s slogan. It wasn’t related, but it was an interesting bit of serendipity.
Tucker Carlson was [speaking positively](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Oh5LNGM7g) about Yang’s position on paying President’s a high salary while they’re President and then forbidding them from making money on the speaker circuit or as a lobbyist.
Richard Ojeda did a video [commentary](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1118324350502019072) of Yang.
Steve Marchand is [endorsing](https://www.wmur.com/article/former-democratic-gubernatorial-candidate-steve-marchand-endorses-andrew-yang/27172864) Yang.
Obama recently [spoke](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1118898002473705473?s=19) on the need for UBI. “We’re going to have to re-imagine economic security in the time of rising automation, we’re going to have to consider Universal Basic Income”
Yang is [scheduled](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1118592046997094402) to be on the Bill Maher show in June.
Two publications covered the DC rally. One for the _American Conservative_ on the right and one for the _Verge_ on the left. Their description of the same event couldn’t be more different. But it does seem to mirror how media is seeing these events.
The American Conservative: [What I Saw at the Andrew Yang Rally in Washington
From “math” hats to former Bernie Bros, the rogue Democrat is anything but ordinary.](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/what-i-saw-at-the-andrew-yang-rally-in-washington/)
> [@](#):
>
> From students to senior citizens, it was hard to get a firm grasp on the age of the average attendee—which is exactly what every candidate wants… . .
> . . .
> the crowd was very typical of what you would find at a political rally inside the Beltway, a combination of whites, blacks, and those of Middle Eastern descent. Yang also managed to draw a large number from perhaps the most underrepresented ethnic group in America today: Asian-Americans.
> . . .
> Identity politics aside, Yang’s crowd was very polished, with most in attendance wearing ties and slacks, unlike the Bernie rallies of pink hair and stained shirts that seem more typical of today’s left-wing activist base.
> . . .
> The Yang supporters I spoke with ranged from high school students in Fairfax (one of the richest counties in America) to employees for Fortune 500 companies to former Teamsters. It was difficult to imagine that they were all backing the same candidate for president.
The Verge: [Andrew Yang is the candidate for the end of the world
He’s a fringe presidential hopeful who thinks automation is the country’s greatest threat — and the answer is to give every American human $1,000 a month](https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/17/18408685/andrew-yang-2020-president-democrat-candidate-policies-universal-basic-income-reddit-twitter)
> [@](#):
>
> The Boston crowd is mostly techies and earnest college kids. I catch a few whiffs of weed but nothing unreasonable given the venue. An iRobot engineer is holding up a “Humanity First” sign.
> . . .
> In the eastern corner, a group of four visibly libertarian stragglers is gathered by a green, vaguely fascist Kekistan flag, one of 4chan’s many in-jokes. One holds up a Shepard Fairey-style portrait of Thomas Jefferson bearing the caption “I want YOU to end the Fed.”
Kyle Kulinski on Secular Talk, a Progressive youtube channel, did a [piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21DSegFs3-k&feature=youtu.be) on how mainstream media covered Yang’s CNN town hall.
After the CNN townhall, there has been an increase in interest and donations, based on [Yang’s website](https://www.yang2020.com/blog/3-dc-rally/). “Our website traffic has spiked, press asks have been streaming in, and we’ve raised over $250k in donations and swag sales since Sunday.”
---
### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2019, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/356 "2019-04-19T11:33:39Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#):
>
> .Someone made Yang a [definition](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Andrew+Yang) in Urban Dictionary. […] He’s a Spiderman fan.
So what you’re saying is, there’s literally nothing too trivial for you to report on.
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/357 "2019-04-24T00:57:59Z")
Yesterday (4/22/19) was a [rally](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T42ngBZFTqA) in LA. There were approx. 7,400 people getting a ticket on Facebook. On a local news report, the reporter said that they were expecting 3-4,000 for the event. It looks like a [sizeable](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1120719506530131968) crowd. The campaign staff claimed it was 2,000+.
The guy who organized the SoCal YangGang says he was a Trump supporter. He gave a talk as a warm up to Yang at that event. It was a riled up crowd. They were cheering for pretty much the whole speech. There were more women than the Chicago rally but still not half. The crowd looked relatively young.
Some Yang memes:
[YangGang](https://twitter.com/YangTrainCo/status/1120452730986872832)
[Yangbill](https://i.redd.it/z9fk7uxsz0u21.png)
[Lil](https://twitter.com/AtlantaYang/status/1119080947586977795) [Yang](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1119258647425630208)
[The Claw](https://reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/bgal5k/yang_claw_in_la/) Amazon sucking up $20B from the economy
[Math](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1120498621697417216) [and](https://reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/bgmwup/got_my_math_hat_signed_by_the_man_himself/) [math hat](https://imgur.com/Jh0NkMB)
Secure the bag
Chant my name
The guy who [created the Yangbill](https://reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/bghaq6/i_created_the_yang_bill_w_zak_socal_yang_gang/) said it cost him around $73.
Brett Baier from Fox News did a [podcast](https://radio.foxnews.com/2019/04/23/andrew-yang/) with a roundtable of guests talking about Yang’s candidacy. It was a pretty neutral piece, IMO.
Joy Reid from MSNBC [admitted](https://mobile.twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1120316893150285827) that the MSNBC graphic didn’t include Yang’s name even as he was interviewing with several hosts on the network. [In this, she’s not talking to Andrew Yang, it’s another Andrew on twitter]
> [@](#):
>
> Very good point Andrew! I didn’t notice that on set but we will make sure going forward that the graphics on the show are accurate and inclusive. Thank you for the heads up!!
It’s eye-opening to see how much the media leaves out when they’re supposedly stating facts. The people registered to run for President in 2020 is not an opinion.
Just about every day, Yang puts up an example of automation that can take jobs. Today’s headline was:
[Tesla is taking direct aim at Uber and Lyft with claims it plans to roll out 1 million robo-taxis by next year](https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-takes-direct-aim-uber-lyft-with-robotaxi-plan-2019-4)
> [@](#):
>
> Musk said that by “next year for sure, we will have over 1 million robo-taxis on the road.”
> . . .
> Musk also predicted rides via robo-taxis will cost significantly less. The average cost for a trip from a ride-hailing service today is about $2 to $3 per mile, he said, whereas Tesla’s program will likely come out to be less than $0.18 a mile.
> . . .
> Musk acknowledged the regulatory limitations and that not all regions will openly approve the company’s futuristic tech right away. Still, Tesla’s chief exec said he’s “very confident” in predicting the launch of the robo-taxi program by next year in certain parts of the US.
If Elon Musk is right, there are some people who underestimated the arrival of self-driving cars.
A [nice note](https://www.yang2020.com/blog/rally-in-la-2020/) on the Yang2020 website about the Democratic voting process and the timing of the votes. He explains how superdelegates will not be voting in the first round like last year, so that could change the playing field for how long candidates might last.
Yang is in Las Vegas doing another rally there tonight.
---
### Author:  [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/358 "2019-04-24T06:06:10Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> So what you’re saying is, there’s literally nothing too trivial for you to report on.
Hey, nobody’s making you read it. I am skimming this thread big time, myself, but I’m grateful to H&R for collating this exhaustive information for those who are interested.
---
### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2019, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/359 "2019-04-24T06:31:53Z")
A morbid curiosity compels me to read it. As the campaign begins to wind down, I eagerly expect H&R to sink to chronicling ongoing wikipedia edits.
---
### Author:  [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/360 "2019-04-24T21:23:51Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> A morbid curiosity compels me to read it. As the campaign begins to wind down, I eagerly expect H&R to sink to chronicling ongoing wikipedia edits.
Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll do the same to that empty vessel you love, Buttigieg.
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