Welfare Reform in NYC

[roseba]

Originally Posted by HomelessLoser

I believe in progressive taxation but that doesn't mean sliding scales are the best tool for dealing with all situations. When it comes to making sure people have enough to live on, I think we necessarily are dealing in absolutes, not that which is relative.

Hence why UBI misses the mark because it is flat.

[HomelessLoser]

Originally Posted by roseba

Hence why UBI misses the mark because it is flat.

Again, just because it's "flat" or "across-the-board" doesn't mean it's wrong. Public policy -- life in general -- is often a choice between the lesser of two evils.

The "sliding scale" we have now is obviously broken -- too many policies with layers of administrative oversight and still the "gamers" game the system...in the case of taxes, the greater evil would be to have a flat tax that really lets the rich off the hook but in the case of making sure a minimally decent living standard is available to all, "flat" is the only way to go.

Think about it..."available to all" by definition means "flat," "across the board"....

[roseba]

Originally Posted by HomelessLoser

Again, just because it's "flat" or "across-the-board" doesn't mean it's wrong. Public policy -- life in general -- is often a choice between the lesser of two evils.

The "sliding scale" we have now is obviously broken -- too many policies with layers of administrative oversight and still the "gamers" game the system...in the case of taxes, the greater evil would be to have a flat tax that really lets the rich off the hook but in the case of making sure a minimally decent living standard is available to all, "flat" is the only way to go.

Think about it..."available to all" by definition means "flat," "across the board"....

You're missing the point. I'm not sure how else to express it, so I will give you an example from my own life that happened about a decade ago.

I was restarting a new career so my salary was lowish. I made around $43,000 a year. I had my first child and the most inexpensive daycare was $200 a week out of pocket.

I applied for a special grant that was considered a middle class childcare grant based on a certain percentage above the poverty rate. I did not qualify because I made a small sum of money too much, over the threshold, around $500. Mind you, daycare was $800 a month.

So rather than being able to pay out of pocket for only one month and receive help that I needed, I had to pay all of it. This is what I mean by lack of sliding scale and huge cliff. Do you mean to tell me that someone who made $500 less than I did was unable to pay and that small amount more I'm suddenly able to?

So any UBI that has an absolute cut off is going to cause a problem. This is why MANY people don't get off the system, because in order to do so, they have to have a drastic decline in resources in order to climb out of it. Things like this should be phased out, not just cut off at a particular dollar amount.