The lady who drove a Mercedes to pick up food vouchers.

[Heywood]

Just for the record I don't think the amount of the universal basic income should be predicated on what people need, but rather on what the government can afford. People might still need to work or starve/freeze. You can't tax too much lest you disincentive production.

People who are dead from a lack of basic necessities typically don't have a lot of incentive to work. People who are suffering because they have to choose between necessities are naturally less productive.

My wife is from a 3rd world country. When she came to this country at 16 as a legal immigrant her needs were met by her parents. When she turned 18 she moved out and there were consecutive days when she had nothing to eat and no money to buy food. Today she looks back an realizes she didn't have to suffer because she knows she would have qualified for scholarships and government assistance.....but she didn't know that at the time. That's another problem with a hodgepodge of government programs....you have to know they exist and that you qualify for them.....and then you have to go out wade thru a bureaucracy to apply for each one of them. A universal basic income makes it so much easier as you just get it....no need to qualify....and if you know about paying taxes....you will know about the universal basic income.

There really is no good reason to oppose a universal basic income in lieu of a hodgepodge of government programs except for the ideal that you and/or the government know better how people should spend money then people themselves. This is a notion I whole-heartedly reject. I hope you do too. A universal basic income is inevitable. The only question is will it be the government dictating how you spend that money or you.