# 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:** 19
**Page:** 32
### Author:  [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/621 "2020-02-13T01:22:15Z")
I think Yang made an enormous contribution to normalising and making more visible the Asian American communitys voice in the political sphere and setting an example for future Asian American candidates.
---
### Author:  [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/622 "2020-02-13T02:13:31Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#):
>
> If Yang really wants to make a difference he would run for a local office, something in his state, maybe even for the US House.
>
> But thing is he (and others who make splash runs at the presidency) don’t really care about getting experience and moving up like everyone else. They want to be Jesus without the suffering.
You were instructed, three days ago, to not be in GD or Elections.
Enjoy your upcoming suspension.
---
### Author:  [@iguanas.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iguanas.com)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/623 "2020-02-15T20:09:22Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> I would also argue that he wore out his welcome many months ago. I don’t think Democrats are terribly interested in non-politicians who take it into their heads to run for president, for one. I’m curious to know what “important issues” he increased awareness of–seemed to me that every time he spoke during the debates he brought the conversation back to UBI. Is that an important issue? Maybe, though most Americans, even most Democrats, don’t seem to think so, but maybe it was. What other issues was he brining up that other candidates weren’t?
apart from discussing UBI and automation, Yang brought up/brings up the necessity of talking about the non-material dimension of American life: happiness, sense of purpose, the value of work that does not have economic value. does that not seem obvious now that I say so? yet, it took an outsider candidate to even bring that into the discussion. (Williamson touched on this as well but did not last as long or get as far.)
---
### Author:  [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/624 "2020-02-15T22:51:54Z")
> [@iguanas.com](#):
>
> apart from discussing UBI and automation, Yang brought up/brings up the necessity of talking about the non-material dimension of American life: happiness, sense of purpose, the value of work that does not have economic value. does that not seem obvious now that I say so? yet, it took an outsider candidate to even bring that into the discussion. (Williamson touched on this as well but did not last as long or get as far.)
Gosh, I dunno–I hear this sort of thing from pretty much all candidates. Obama, for one, certainly talked about the non-material dimensions of life and the need for a sense of purpose a heck of a lot. This does not seem like anything Yang-specific to me.
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/625 "2020-02-16T03:57:57Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> Do you have a cite that support for UBI has risen in any meaningful way, BTW? I haven’t gotten that impression, but I could be wrong.
There’s some discussion on that topic in [post #600](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22102617&postcount=600) and more in the [UBI thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=881881) that is redirected in [post #606](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22110847&postcount=606)
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> I actually knew that. But thanks. More to my point, he is an excellent ambassador for STEM fields. It’s not a coincidence that his acronym is MATH rather than say ENGLISH LIT or MUSIC.
The history of the acronym is from a joke that Yang used to tell that “the opposite of Donald Trump is an asian man who likes math.” That turned into the MATH hat, which was a play on the MAGA hats. The acronym Make America Think Harder evolved from that.
[Yang’s tweet on STEM jobs.](https://twitter.com/andrewyang/status/1130486501517778945)
> [@Andrew Yang](#):
>
> 8% of US jobs are in STEM fields. 92% are not. If someone thinks they can train 92% of workers for roles presently occupied by 8% of workers they have a rather fanciful view of both people and work.
One of his key points is that pushing people into college to go into STEM fields when only 8% of the jobs reside there is not useful. There is already an underemployment rate for college graduates topping 40%. Adding more college graduates from STEM fields to vie for 8% of jobs would not help the economy as much as some other propositions, like apprenticeships and trade schools.
Some talk has been had about Yang joining an administration in some capacity to help with technology, but that’s not the same as STEM education.
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> Gosh, I dunno–I hear this sort of thing from pretty much all candidates. Obama, for one, certainly talked about the non-material dimensions of life and the need for a sense of purpose a heck of a lot. This does not seem like anything Yang-specific to me.
**[iguanas.com](http://iguanas.com)** might have been referencing [Yang’s American Scorecard policy](https://www.yang2020.com/policies/measuring-the-economy/).
> [@](#):
>
> When you measure something, you implicitly set your policy goals. By focusing our measurement on GDP, we’ve promoted production over all else. It’s time to start measuring economic prosperity using a wider index that measures human as well as monetary indicators, such as (but not limited to):
>
> ```
> Quality of life and health-adjusted life expectancy
> Happiness/Well-Being and Mental Health
> Environmental quality
> Affordability
> Childhood success rates
> Underemployment
> Income Inequality
> Consumer and Student Debt
> Work and civic engagement levels
> Volunteerism
> Infant mortality
> Quality of infrastructure
> Access to education
> Marriage and divorce rates
> Substance abuse and related deaths
> National optimism
> Personal dynamism/economic mobility
>
> ```
>
> In short, why use GDP as a proxy for how Americans are doing when we can easily measure that well-being directly? Let’s start an American Scorecard, directly measuring the things we should be focusing on.
Past Presidents and most of the other candidates have been using GDP, the unemployment rate and the stock market as indicators of their success. But that success doesn’t always reflect how the country as a whole is doing in some important ways. Yang wanted to change the measurements of success of the country by using other indicators of success.
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/626 "2020-02-19T21:18:33Z")
Even though the 2020 campaign is officially suspended, I’m posting this here because I think it still fits into the campaign.
[Andrew Yang joins CNN as a political commentator](https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1230133369750654977)
The cynical think this is him selling out. The faithful think this is him elevating the message in another form. We’ll see.
Yang also [says](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1230139872406536192) he’ll be live tweeting during the debate. I’ve seen him do that before. It was awesome, so I’m looking forward to that.
> [@Andrew Yang](#):
>
> Will likely live tweet the debate tonight.
After Yang suspended his campaign, he went to a last rally that was planned. In that rally, he was interviewed by Daniel Negreanu, a professional poker player who is OG Yang Gang and was holding an event as a fundraiser. In that interview, Yang said that there was something big planned that would happen in about 2-6 weeks’ time.
When Zach Graumann was asked today if the CNN announcement was the big news, [he replied](https://twitter.com/Zach_Graumann/status/1230145659585646593?s=19):
> [@Zach Graumann](#):
>
> Lol no
So supposedly, there’s something else in the works.
In other news, an [Emerson poll](http://emersonpolling.com/2020/02/19/february-national-poll-sanders-takes-the-lead-for-democratic-nomination-bloomberg-on-the-rise/) released on 2/18/20 showed Democratic voter picks for VP had Yang in 2nd place at 18% and 1st place for Bernie Sanders’ VP at 31%. Interestingly to me, in that poll, Abrams was at 8%. Given how much her name has been thrown around on the media, I thought that would be higher.
> [@](#):
>
> Democratic primary voters are also split on who they see as the best pick for Vice President with California Senator Kamala Harris as the top choice among 20% of Democratic primary voters, Entrepreneur Andrew Yang followed at 18% and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was third at 16%. Stacey Abrams was picked by 8% of respondents, Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke got 6%, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown received 5%, Andrew Gillum was chosen by 3% and Rep. Ilhan Omar was selected by 1% of respondents. A plurality of voters, 23%, said they would like to see someone other than the eight candidates listed in the question to be Vice President.
> . . .
> Among Sanders supporters, 31% said Yang would be the best pick for Vice President, 13% said Harris, 13% said Clinton; 23% said someone else.
Yang is also in double digits for Biden and Warrren supporters as VP pick.
> [@](#):
>
> Among Biden supporters, 24% said Clinton would be the best pick for VP, 23% said Harris, 13% said Yang, and 14% said someone else. Among Bloomberg supporters, 22% picked Clinton, 19% picked Harris, 8% picked Yang and 35% said someone else. And among Warren supporters, 27% chose Harris, 14% chose Yang and Abrams, 9% chose Clinton and 17% chose someone else.
To me, this shows 2 things. First, people do know his name for him to be in double digits for anything. And second, people generally are favorable to him. If the polls are to be believed, it also shows that his support is not solely online as some media claim.
As for the Yang Gang, it’s been a rough ride. The second that Yang suspended, there was a flood of mostly Bernie supporters showing great support for Yang, despite those same people having smeared him relentlessly for weeks. One of those people was AOC.
When some of the Yang Gang showed resistance to jump onboard the Bernie train, some of the Bernie supporters were trash talking the Yang Gang. A verified account called People for Bernie put out a tweet saying that Scott Santens was a grifter, compared to Stephanie Kelton, the Bernie economist. Scott Santens is a UBI advocate and one of the pillars of the Yang Gang. The tweet was later deleted, but I saw it live.
When the Yang Gang saw that, many of them turned around and decided to still vote for Yang. They trended the hashtag #stillvotingYang. This got a lot of people angry.
On the night of the suspension, it was reported that the subReddit had 95K people online at one time. The sub only has 105K subs, so there were a lot of people there to ??. For the next weeks, the mods shut down the sub to only things about Yang because the sub was getting flooded with posts about the other candidates. That slowed things down. The sub is still active and growing again.
Yang’s twitter actually grew from the night of the suspension. And oddly enough, there are people just now hopping on the Yang Gang and announcing on twitter.
The media took a friendly turn immediately after the suspension was announced. Vanity Fair wrote a piece on it. [The Media Suddenly Can’t Get Enough of Andrew Yang](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/02/media-suddenly-cant-get-enough-andrew-yang?utm_social-type=owned&utm_brand=vf&utm_medium=social&mbid=social_twitter&utm_source=twitter)
> [@](#):
>
> All it took for Andrew Yang to receive gushing media attention in the 2020 race was to drop out.
Hopefully the positive press continues for the issues in Yang’s campaign, especially now that he has a voice in the media.
---
### Author:  [@ccamp92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccamp92)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/627 "2020-02-24T20:41:55Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#):
>
> The Yang rally in Portland went [great](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1150161727859781632). The energy was great. I enjoyed watching it.
>
> Yang was on Recode Decode ([podcast](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/vox/recode-decode/e/62665829)) with Kara Swisher. There was a Facebook video live that was fun to watch.
>
> Yang did an [AARP forum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXQ3DEFI1eg) with 3 other Presidential candidates (they were all on separately but on the same day). IMO, he nailed it at that one. He differentiated the benefits of the Freedom Dividend over $15/hr min wage.
>
> Yesterday, there was an [AMA with Yang](https://old.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/ch8gph/iama_andrew_yang_candidate_for_president_of_the/) on the subReddit. There had been a contest last month between Facebook and Reddit to see who could get to $10K donations to the campaign faster. As a reward, Reddit got the AMA hosted there.
>
> The AMA was crossposted on r/politics and r/AMA and made the front page of Reddit. Because of that, over 2K people (close to 3K) joined the sub in a day. The sub went from 29K to 32K in a day and a half. At the time of the AMA, there were 10K visiting the sub. Some of the questions that Yang didn’t answer were answered by the Yang Gang.
>
> Here’s a [graph](https://old.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/ce0sij/subreddit_growth_since_january_1st_2019_for_dem/) of the other candidates’ subs’ growth taken before the AMA.
>
> The campaign needs 4 qualifying polls to hit 2% or higher to qualify for the September debates. There was one earlier in the month. A new [Fox News poll](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html) also counts. There’s still a tiny bit of dispute over whether the NBCNews/Survey Monkey poll counts. If it does, they’re at 3 out of 4 polls. If not, 2 more polls to go. Yang [says](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1154541514040549376) (from the green room of The Daily Show) that the 3rd counts, so hopefully it does.
>
> The Yang Gangers are phonebanking and canvassing to try to reach more people. The phonebankers say that the people they talk with are all 50 years or older. They’re trying to find ways to reach that demographic. There’s a [Boomers for Andrews Yang youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FvaDb-aR7Y&feature=youtu.be), but the viewcount is still very small.
>
> Tonight, 7/25/19, Yang appears on _The Daily Show with Trevor Noah_. Then on July 31, it’s the second debate on CNN.
Sorry, I posted at the bottom liket his, (new to this forum) It’s crazy that Andrew had to drop out after these stellar performances. I think alot of his plans could be picked up by Bernie though. Here’s hoping that Bernie wins the nomination and UBI makes it through. I’m a small biz owner in TX and could definitely use the money to grow the business. How are you guys processing him pulling out?
-Chris
[http://myhoustonbooth.com](http://myhoustonbooth.com)
---
### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/628 "2020-03-05T02:17:18Z")
Yang might run for NYC mayor next year. The current mayor is a Dem so he would have to win a primary first.
[Andrew Yang Says He’s ‘Looking’ at Running for New York City Mayor](https://www.thedailybeast.com/andrew-yang-says-hes-looking-at-running-for-new-york-city-mayor)
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/629 "2020-03-05T05:06:58Z")
Haha. I thought you beat me to the announcement tomorrow. The cat is mostly out of the bag, but I’ll wait until it’s revealed tomorrow on [The View on 3/5/20](https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1235290513059741696). The rumblings I’ve seen/heard don’t have to do with the mayor’s race, but you never know.
> [@](#):
>
> TOMORROW: Former presidential candidate @AndrewYang
> hits the #HotTopics table to guest co-host — and he’s making making a big announcement LIVE on @TheView
.
---
### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/630 "2020-03-05T20:19:04Z")
this is his new idea
[https://www.movehumanityforward.com/](https://www.movehumanityforward.com/)
---
### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/631 "2020-03-11T01:40:48Z")
Yang just endorsed Biden. I would think many of his fans are not happy.
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### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/632 "2020-03-11T01:48:52Z")
Though Yang was clear that he said he would support the nominee and the math makes it clear Biden will win. And if anyone knows math, it’s Yang.
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/633 "2020-03-11T01:55:21Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> Yang just endorsed Biden. I would think many of his fans are not happy.
Paget Kagy, Yang Gang youtuber, did a poll a couple weeks ago on who the Yang Gang support. The result out of 1K people was literally 50/50.
[From](https://twitter.com/Zach_Graumann/status/1237555203525595140) Zach Graumann, Yang’s campaign manager and Humanity Forward leader:
> [@](#):
>
> BREAKING: @AndrewYang makes his endorsement of @JoeBiden.
>
> For the #YangGang who don’t love this, please know. There was no horse-trading, back-room dealings, or political calculations.
>
> I just texted Yang the logic and he made the decision on air. We must unite the country.
---
### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/634 "2020-03-11T05:09:48Z")
Andrew Yang’s [tweet](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1237596738526928896)on his endorsement of Biden. He was live on-air when he made the decision to endorse, so there was no tweet at the time. He’s endorsing Biden as President. The video clip of the endorsement with a fuller explanation is in the tweet.
> [@](#):
>
> Since I started running, I always said I would support the Democratic nominee. The math is clear - @joebiden
> will be the nominee and I am glad to endorse him for President. Joe knows how serious the fourth industrial revolution is. He and I have spoken about it at length.
Bill de Blasio, who is a Bernie endorser, [agreed](https://twitter.com/BilldeBlasio/status/1237571490276470784) with at least a portion, if not all, of Yang’s endorsement.
> [@](#):
>
> @AndrewYang
> makes a powerful point: the Democratic Party CANNOT just aspire to take us back to Nov 7, 2016 if we expect to win this election. “There are so many Americans who just don’t think our institutions are working for them AT ALL.” Word! BE the Party of CHANGE, or lose
---
### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/635 "2020-03-16T22:20:39Z")
Mitt Romney and others are saying every adult should get $1000 now to help the economy due to the virus.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/636 "2020-03-29T19:06:46Z")
If this virus hit last year UBI probably would have been a lot more popular and maybe Yang gets more votes.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2020, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/637 "2020-05-17T06:35:06Z")
Some Andrew Yang political updates.
Yang has been doing a lot since he suspended his campaign.
As noted previously in the thread, he created [Humanity Forward](https://movehumanityforward.com/). He was gong to use it to fund UBI trials, but as it turned out, it was helpful in giving people some money as aid for Covid. In the early days of lockdown and maybe even before, lots of people were getting laid off quickly without the CARES Act in place. People needed money to tide them over. Yang’s organization was giving people $500-1000 to help out with the immediate need. They gave out over $1M when I last checked, which was a while ago.
Yang was consulted by the White House for his expertise in UBI before the stimulus package went out. Popular sentiment about UBI has risen since coronavirus and the stimulus payment.
Yang also sued the State of New York and won. They had taken him off the ballot, along with all the other Democratic nominees for President except for Biden, effectively cancelling the Primary in New York. Yang sued to get his name back on the ballot along with all the other nominees. I think the case is getting appealed to a higher level court. Part of his reasoning for suing was to help down-ballot candidates. Many of the people he’s supporting in lower races support UBI.
He started a podcast called [YangSpeaks](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjLcmTHbVigXBb1ul0m5sw). I haven’t listened to any of them yet, but it looks like the guests have been Ken Jeong, Krystal Ball, Sam Harris and Ian Bremmer. Just heard a minute of a trailer with Ian Bremmer where Bremmer says that China wants Trump to win a second term because they see how messed up the relations are with the other countries that they have a better chance with Trump than with Biden.
I did see a conversation that [Yang had with Pete Buttigieg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXEIAECEVFs). He also had a [conversation with Biden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrdzvmIpPss).
Biden has a podcast called _Here’s the Deal_. Biden and Yang talk about the 4th Industrial Revolution. I just listened to it. I liked Biden’s interest and knowledge about Yang’s ideas, for the most part. But Biden wants to return to better times. Yang wants to go forward to a better time. As Yang has said, if people wanted to go backwards, they would have voted for Hillary, not Trump. Many people don’t want to go back. That said, Biden does consider the plight of small business and banking loans to them, the need for more vocational training and the idea that big ideas will be required to get the country past the coronavirus. In the interview, [Yang says](https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1261085055839076358) “Economists project that 42% of the jobs we are losing right now are gone for good. That’s 15 million jobs. That’s the size of the hole we have to fill.” Biden says he’s more optimistic than Yang that those jobs will come back.
As the coronavirus has accelerated Yang’s predictions of joblessness and growing economic inequality, his ideas have become more relevant with every passing day.
---
### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/638 "2020-05-21T20:51:50Z")
Jack Dorsey from twitter is giving $5 mil to Humanity Forward
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-andrew-yang-presidential-campaign-thread/829555/639 "2020-05-21T21:08:46Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> Jack Dorsey from twitter is giving $5 mil to Humanity Forward
Nice! That’s awesome! Thanks for posting that.
[Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives Andrew Yang $5M to fund microgrants for those who recently lost jobs](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-gives-andrew-yang-5m-to-fund-microgrants-for-those-who-recently-lost-jobs)
The article says that Humanity Forward has already given away $2M in microgrants before the Jack Dorsey money. They will be giving away this money in $250 increments.
> [@](#):
>
> Dorsey has been a supporter of universal basic income, calling the policy “long overdue.” He said he supports the mission of Humanity Forward because "the only way we can change policy is by experimenting and showing case studies of why this works.” The CEO called it a “tragedy” that most of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act did not go directly into the hands of citizens, though the package did include $1,200 payments to most citizens and a $600 boost to state-issued unemployment checks.
>
> Since the pandemic hit, several politicians, including Yang’s former competitor Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, have floated a universal basic income of $2,000 to help those out of work and to stimulate the economy.
I listened to Yang’s first podcast on YangSpeaks. In it, he says that he now thinks that $1K mo. might be insufficient and is leaning toward Bernie Sanders’ higher amount of $2K/mo. Yang says that when he proposed the $1K, he thought that people could supplement that income with gig jobs but is realizing that gig jobs might not be as readily available with so many people unemployed as he was originally thinking.
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