Presidential candidate Andrew Yang (D) announced on Stephen Colbert’s show on Monday evening that he will give his third freedom dividend of $1,000/month to a Twitter follower who re-tweets his announcement and follows him before July 4.
Yang has already awarded “freedom dividends” to two families, one in Iowa and one in New Hampshire, out of his own pocket to demonstrate how his signature policy issue would work.
In January, Yang announced that the Fassi family in New Hampshire would receive a freedom dividend, saying that “the goal is to illustrate the impact a thousand dollars a month can have on a family or a household here in New Hampshire and putting my money where my mouth is.”
Earlier this month, Yang announced that the Christensen family in Iowa would receive a “freedom dividend” of $1,000/month. When he applied for the freedom dividend, Kyle Christensen reportedly wrote:
I’ve been taking care of my mom who is 2 years into remission from cancer. Insurance just called a bit ago to inform her that her new insurance copay will be $200 a month for her maintenance chemo which I am helping to pay for. She still needs a hip replacement and a kidney transplant, which I’m hoping to be a donor myself. I am always worried about losing our house. I do my best to help, but I’m struggling with student debt issues. Can’t seem to get my business to grow, just barely sustain.
Yang said that the country has plenty of resources, “but the benefits of living in the wealthiest and most advanced nation in the history of Earth are not being shared with most Americans.”
“We must build a new economy that puts people first,” Yang added. “If there’s one policy that would transform American lives for the better on day one, it’s the Freedom Dividend.”
Kyle Christensen said that when he first heard of Yang, he thought, “This guy gets it.” He also praised Yang for having “modern solutions for the world we are living in now and are becoming instead of the tried and antiquated solutions to the same problems we have been battling for decades no matter which party held office.”
“I can’t even begin to express how appreciative I am that Andrew has selected me for the Universal Basic Income trial. There are so many stories like my mom’s, and many more stories that have ended much worse,” Christensen continued. “This UBI trial will allow us both to feel some major stress relief. Everyone has a story on how they could use an extra $1000 a month, from the retail and factory workers that are being phased out today, to the truck drivers that soon will be, to the artists and musicians that are often asked to work uncompensated, to those like me that care for their children or family members in times of serious illness, to those with dreams of business ownership but feel stuck at a job without enough time or money to even try. Everyone has a story, and this is ours.”
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