One of the lesser known Democratic presidential hopefuls has come up with a new way to get his vision out there — hand out cold, hard cash.
Andrew Yang, a wealthy entrepreneur from New York, said this week that he plans to give an Iowa resident $1,000 every month to show the benefits of his “Freedom Dividend” platform.
He is running, in part, on a campaign promise to give every American over the age of 18 a $1,000-a-month stipend from the federal government.
Yang is already providing money to a family in New Hampshire, and he said Monday that he’ll start doing the same for someone in Iowa.
“I’m going to be giving a Freedom Dividend to a person or family in Iowa. That’s $1,000 a month for 12 months out of my own pocket,” Yang told the Des Moines Register. Iowans can sign up for the giveaway on his campaign website.
“More than ever, Americans need unconditional cash payments that will help them seek new opportunities, handle student debts, start new businesses and care for loved ones,” a statement on his website said.
According to the report in the Register, Yang has said his Freedom Dividend would grow the Iowa economy by 15 percent.
“Iowa has lost 40,000 manual labor jobs and 12,000 retail jobs, and 30 percent of your malls and stores are closing,” he has said at campaign rallies in Iowa, according to the report. “Call center jobs and trucking jobs are going away. The biggest truck stop in the country is here in Iowa. What happens when all of the trucking jobs are gone when the trucks are automated?”
Yang is polling at about 1 percent in a crowded Democratic field, with former Vice President Joe Biden way out in front of the pack, according to the latest polling data from FiveThirtyEight.
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