Anthony Scaramucci On Andrew Yang’s UBI: ‘I Can’t Think Of A Better Way To Create Opportunity’
During an appearance on The Hardy Report podcast that was released on Sunday and available on Anchor.fm, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci spoke about Humanity Forward founder Andrew Yang‘s universal basic income (UBI) proposal of $1,000 per month for every American adult.
“I can’t think of a better way to create opportunity than do what Andrew Yang is saying,” Scaramucci said, noting that he is a lifelong conservative and Republican.
The 56-year-old political consultant pointed to the current economy, which has been virtually halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, and suggested that a UBI would be an appropriate measure to push the economy forward.
“I just think you have to stop at this moment in history and you have to look at where things are going, and then you have to adapt and pivot to that moment in history,” he said.
Scaramucci added that he believes Yang’s UBI — which was the center of the businessman’s suspended Democratic presidential campaign — is a “very, very good idea” and would “love” to see it implemented.
In an interview for New York Magazine‘s Intelligencer, Yang revealed that he spoke with Scaramucci about the White House’s stimulus, which includes a one-time check of $1,200 for many Americans. He added that Scaramucci compared the current crisis to being at war.
“And Anthony’s plan, which I think has the right idea, is large cash transfers to people, yes,” said Yang, who also expressed his belief that the Donald Trump administration should be thinking bigger than the recent stimulus package.
Yang is speaking of the proposal Scaramucci outlined in a piece for CNN — $3,000 per adult and an additional $1,500 per child over the course of three months. On top of the UBI-like stimulus, Scaramucci pushed for the federal government to be the “buyer of last resort” for all of the industries devastated by the pandemic, further arguing against “selective” bailouts, which have also been criticized by Independent Justin Amash.
There’s so much self-deceptive rationalization coming from the right regarding the corporate welfare fund. “Businesses were told to close!” Okay, then those businesses should be treated equally. Having government pick a group of winners and losers is not a remedy; it’s cronyism.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 26, 2020
The former Trump administration official also pushed for an elimination of federal income taxes for Americans that are either in the bottom 75 percent of earners or in a household making less than $85,000.
Outside of his New York Magazine interview, Yang also praised Scaramucci plan’s on Twitter, calling it a “historic $3.2 trillion ‘wartime’ stimulus.”
“I agree that this is the right scale. Cheaper than a depression,” he tweeted.
Many of the former Democratic presidential candidate’s supporters are now focusing on getting UBI advocates into Congress. As The Inquisitr previously reported, one such candidate is Mitch McConnell challenger Mike Broihier.
