WASHINGTON, Sept 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang took
the stage at the third debate of Democratic presidential candidates with a
promise to give a “freedom dividend” of $1,000 per month to 10 American
families for a year.
“When you donate money to a presidential campaign, what happens? The
politician spends the money on TV ads and consultants and you hope it works
out. It’s time to trust ourselves more than our politicians,” Yang said in
his opening statement in the three-hour debate.
Calling for interested families to apply at his campaign website, Yang
said, “This is how we will get our country working for us again, the American
people.”
Yang has made establishing a universal basic income to offset job losses
caused by automation a key part of his campaign, in contrast to the other
nine Democratic frontrunners at the debate held in Houston.
“It’s original, I’ll give you that,” fellow candidate Pete Buttigieg
remarked after Yang’s announcement.
Originally seen as a novelty candidate with no political experience, Yang
has mounted a surprisingly vigorous bid for the Democratic nomination to
challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Yang has warned automation could cause one third of all Americans to lose
their jobs in the next 12 years, and said anger over jobs already replaced by
technology was key in Trump’s 2016 election win.