Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg supports an idea called universal basic income.

welfare spending: 1.084t
social security spending: 1.054t
total funding: 2.138t

total number of adult Americans: 240.4m

2.138t/240.4m=$8893.51.

Note that this would also save tens of billions in administrative costs currently taken by the appropriate agencies. Also, I don't think your figure includes medicare/medicaid, so this would still leave such programs in place.

So $9,000/yr - that's tight, but that plus a minimum wage job at 20hrs/wk, with 4 weeks off/year, brings someone's annual income to 15k/yr. It might be hard to meet all your needs on 9k/yr, might require you to move, but 15k/yr? Unless you're living an expensive area, 15k/yr is livable.

And the problem with the "living wage" is that it is self-defeating. If you make it illegal to pay workers less than x, when they're not worth that much, then they will be unemployed. The CBO did analysis a few years ago on a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $12/hr - it found that for every 2 people who would see their incomes rise from it, it'd put 1 out of work. That's why a program like the UBI is better for achieving what is ultimately the same goal. The government can't just mandate education and medical costs go down - in fact, throwing government money at such programs makes the problem worse.

To you other proposals: I can see reducing foreign aid to help our own poor, but as of 2014, we only gave 32b/yr in economic assistance through foreign aid. Cutting 500b from the DoD budget is pure crazy. We spend 597b as it is. 97b/yr isn't even enough for a token defense force. We spend more just on military personnel - and even South Korea has more soldiers than we do. And you can't just "end outsourcing". Outsourcing occurs because jobs can be done cheaper - if it costs 3x as much to make a widget in the U.S., can you guess how much more it would cost the consumer to purchase a U.S.-made widget? About 3x as much.

 

If they were those types of parents to begin with, the children would be neglected w/o this program and should be taken away.

 

Yet you were complaining that the proposal didn't do that...

 

So the proposal is bad because [straw man].

 

It isn't a strawman. Subsidies drive up prices. I am sorry you don't understand how inflation works. I am also sorry you don't understand how finance works either because a country with $20T in debt can't pay the bills it has let alone run up giant new ones.

 

It's a lot to cover, but lets start here; "the cost of living" is by definition the "cost" of living. The Federal poverty line is supposed to be the Federal bar for this.For each individual that's currently set at $11,880 this year. So if the US is truly the land of milk and honey, you would expect that everyone in it should at least be able to afford living in it at a bare minimum. I'm not saying everyone should be entitled to a yacht and a summer home (those are luxuries) but they should all have shelter with functioning utilities, food, clothing, education, and healthcare. Social security spending is a self-pay investment, it just happens to be a mandated investment. If a job is not worth paying a minimum wage that is a living-wage then that job should be eliminated. Employers are still free to cut back hours to 300 a year instead of 2080 if they like, I'm sure those earning minimum wage would love it. Hell the ambitious ones could pick up six jobs if they like and still be working less than 40 hours a week.

Regarding that $500 billion in DoD cuts I was talking specifically about the yearly cost of maintaining our nuclear weapons program that we never use. I have a "turn-key" guy in my neighborhood getting paid six figures a year just for showing up at work and being "ready." It's ridiculous, all he does is drink coffee and read hunting magazines all day. Most nations are not nuclear and they are under no threat of emanate attack.

 

Your right, but it was a pipe dream while it lasted. Since when do leftist care about math? I kept waiting to see the news headlines "Mob pulls Zuckerburg from his mansion demanding their fair share."

 

Oh, I'm very aware that you're proud of your desire to use the government to initiate violence against otherwise innocent people. It makes perfect sense that one who has the lust to dominate others would be proud of that. They think they're doing the lords work, so it doesn't matter how many witches one needs to burn at the stake.

 

Yep very proud. Thanks

 

Yes, I would think that you would be proud of hurting other people, given your political predilections.

 

Super proud. Thanks

 

Yeah, I know. Super-proud of hurting other people. I wouldn't be proud of that. I'd be ashamed, but I do understand that there are people in the world who get their jollies from hurting other people.

 

You should be ashamed. You help no one.

 

What should I be ashamed of, exactly?

False.

 

Your failure to help anyone. But this is pointless

 

Hm. What failure?

 

Personal battles are pointless

 

Okay, I acknowledge your surrender.

 

And I could care less about you personally

 

That's nice. I still acknowledge your surrender.

PS - I could care less about your too. How fun is that?!?!

 

Super fun. Super duper fun. Lol

 

It IS!!! I mean, even though you're super-proud of hurting other people, I can see how cool you are. I mean, those people who are killed or kidnapped, that's their problem. You're still cool, even though you want to kill or imprison my neighbor's kids.

 

Let's talk personally. Let's start with your service to your country

 

Okay. I'm not sure what you mean by "your country"? Is that another one of your collectivist constructs?

 

What is it