Quote:
Originally Posted by Poster
Is this still the UBI thread?
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To expand upon this response and bring more context into play:
Yes, because education and other components of our social systems play directly into the UBI discussion. Say we abandoned public education because we needed the money to pay for UBI. Education then becomes a cost passed onto the recipient of UBI who then have increased costs to take into consideration. Same with healthcare and every other aspect of the social safety net. UBI then shifts from being a discussion of a supplemental income adjustment, it then becomes a discussion of the living wage and how that is determined and provided.
Here are some of the main programs that are part of the social safety net and allow for support or upward mobility in our society.
Head Start
Social Security Disability
Social Security Retirement and Survivors Benefits
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Medicaid
Medicare
Welfare (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or T.A.N.F.)
G.I. Bill
Veterans’ benefits
Pell Grants
Unemployment Insurance
Food Stamps
Government Subsidized Housing
Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
Hope and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
529 accounts (qualified tuition programs) or Coverdell education savings account (Education I.R.A.’s)
Earned-income tax credit
Employer subsidized health insurance
Employer subsidized retirement benefits
Federal student loans
Family Planning
Consolidated Health Centers
Transitional Cash and Medical Services for Refugees
State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Voluntary Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit — Low Income Subsidy
Medicaid
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
Breast/Cervical Cancer Early Detection
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant
Indian Health Service
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Additional Child Tax Credit
Earned Income Tax Credit (refundable component)
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
School Breakfast Program (free/reduced price components)
National School Lunch Program (free/reduced price components)
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
Early Reading First
Rural Education Achievement Program
Mathematics and Science Partnerships
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants
Academic Competitiveness and Smart Grant Program
Single-Family Rural Housing Loans
Rural Rental Assistance Program
Water and Waste Disposal for Rural Communities
Public Works and Economic Development
Supportive Housing for the Elderly
Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities
Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance
Community Development Block Grants
Homeless Assistance Grants
Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
Public Housing
Indian Housing Block Grants
Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers
Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Weatherization Assistance Program
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Food Program Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
Nutrition Program for the Elderly
Indian Education
Adult Basic Education Grants to States
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
Education for the Disadvantaged
Grants to Local Educational Agencies (Title I-A)
Title I Migrant Education Program
Higher Education — Institutional Aid and Developing Institutions
Federal Work-Study
Federal TRIO Programs
Federal Pell Grants
Education for Homeless Children and Youth
21st Century Community Learning Centers
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP)
Child Support Enforcement
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (social services)
Community Services Block Grant
Child Care and Development Fund
Head Start HHS
Developmental Disabilities Support and Advocacy Grants
Foster Care
Adoption Assistance
Social Services Block Grant
Chafee Foster Care Independence Program
Emergency Food and Shelter Program
Legal Services Corporation
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (employment and training component)
Senior Community Service Employment Program
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult Activities
Social Services and Targeted Assistance for Refugees
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (employment and training)
Foster Grandparents
Job Corps
Grants to States for Low-Income Housing in Lieu of Low-Income Housing Credit Allocations
Tax Credit Assistance Program
Older Americans Act Grants for Supportive Services and Senior Centers
Older Americans Act Family Caregiver Program
Indian Human Services
Support services is an extremely complex beast to take on, and many of these programs keep families, and most importantly children and the elderly, from experiencing crippling poverty or loss of essential services. A number of these programs have dedicated accounts behind them where tax collection is to only fund these initiatives. To support culling these programs would require a massive change in our tax code and law. I'm sure the same exists in Canada. I think there is a lack of understanding of the importance of many social programs that people believe the government could just raid to create a comprehensive UBI.