Andrew Yang

**Andrew Yang** (born January 13, 1975) is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author who is the founder of **Venture for America** (VFA), a nonprofit organization that focuses on creating jobs in struggling American cities, primarily in the Midwest. For his work on VFA Yang has been awarded a "*Champion of Change*" title in 2012 by then-president Barack Obama. In 2015 he was named as a **Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship**. Yang contained the majority of his policy platform in his 2018 book "*The War on Normal People:
The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future*" where he emphasizes the need for implementing UBI and evolving to a new stage of capitalism called "*human-centric capitalism*" which incorporates "*goals and measurements like childhood success rate, mental health, levels of engagement with work, [and] freedom from substance abuse.*"

## Beliefs

### **Universal Basic Income**

One of the main points of Andrew Yang's presidential campaign is to implement a form of universal basic income (UBI) called **The Freedom Dividend**. UBI is a type of social security that guarantees a certain amount of money to every citizen within a given governed population, without having to pass a test or fulfill a work requirement. This form of basic income that he is proposing for the United States is a set of guaranteed payments of **$1,000 per month**, or $12,000 per year, to all U.S. citizens over the age of 18.

### **Immigration**

Andrew Yang states he wants to return to the levels of legal immigration in the U.S. that were permitted under President Barack Obama’s administration, saying that immigration promotes economic and social “dynamism,” while noting the U.S. needs to continue to be economically competitive. “Almost half of Fortune 500 companies were founded by either immigrants or children of immigrants – and rates of business formation are much higher in immigrant communities,” Yang said during the third Democratic debate in Texas.

    Yang’s website also reveals his take on the issue of border security: "we need to work with border security experts, immigrant advocates, and the Mexican government to provide effective, secure, humane border security." He states he is opposed to deportations and favors creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying: ”Rounding up and deporting that many people is a nonstarter—it would be prohibitively expensive, disruptive, and inhumane to many communities, so a pathway to citizenship must be provided (after securing our southern border, so that we don’t end up right back where we started). However, this pathway must reflect the fact that these individuals tried to circumvent our legal immigration system. It’s even more important to get this right when citizenship guarantees a Freedom Dividend."

### **Healthcare**

Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang's health care plan breaks with both the "Medicare for All" bill endorsed by his progressive rivals and a public option favored by more moderate candidates. He proposes six reforms to the current system he calls a more “productive” approach to lowering health care costs for people who are struggling, billing his plan as a “new way forward for health care in America.”:

* Lowering prescription drug prices
* Investing in technology
* Expanding health care in rural areas
* Expanding mental health care
* Offering flexibility to providers
* Diminishing the influence of lobbyists

### **Abortion**

Andrew Yang supports a women's right to choose. Speaking on the issue he said: "Whether to have a child is an immense personal decision. In my view, it is solely up to the woman what course to take. As a society, we should support mothers in ways big and small if they do decide to have children. I respect the feelings that many Americans have on this issue and appreciate the values one brings to bear. But it should always be up to the woman what to do." He believes that men shouldn't be so involved in the public discourse surrounding the issue of abortion and let women determine their reproductive rights. On his website, he states that the two most effective ways to decrease the number of such procedures is to provide every woman with access to contraceptives and to provide financial, emotional, and structural support to individuals who are financially struggling and become pregnant. In his view, Universal Basic Income would accomplish this for many prospective parents.
As a president Yang pledges he will:

* Appoint judges who support a woman's right to choose.
* Support a woman's right to choose in every circumstance and provide resources for planning and contraception.

### **Gun Laws**

Yang’s campaign website includes a gun safety plan. He supports universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, gun licensing, closing loopholes in existing laws, repealing special legal protections for gun companies, federally funded research on gun violence, and creating financial incentives for firearm owners to obtain smart guns. Because Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur who has never held elected office before, he has less of a legislative record on gun violence prevention than some of his fellow presidential candidates. But like almost all Americans, Yang is horrified by the gun violence crisis in the country.

The democratic presidential candidate once became visibly emotional when discussing gun violence prevention with a woman who said she lost her daughter to a stray bullet (see the video below). He pointed to his proposal to personalize guns, such that they could only be used by the authorized owner, as a way to address unintentional shootings by children.

### **Religion**

Yang speaks about his faith rather candidly, especially in a Democratic Party where fewer candidates are open about being religious. He appeared on a meeting of Christian entrepreneurs in upstate New York, noting that he and his family attend church each week with Pastor Mark Mast, who preaches at a Reformed Church in New Paltz, New York. Although Yang differs markedly from the Church on some social issues, his broader policies pair well with Christian values.

Yang himself doesn’t seem to feel compelled to use much religious language on the campaign, which may help him among the atheist and secular communities. Yang fairly points out, religious nonbelievers are not “less moral or less worthy” than anyone.

### **LGBT Rights**

Andrew Yang claims that, as a president, he will:

* Promote any legislation extending protected status to individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
* Increase funding for programs directed at educating the public on LGBTQ issues.
* Increase funding for programs meant to help LGBTQ individuals who are facing discrimination because of their identity.
* Appoint LGBTQ individuals to senior posts in his administration

Under the LGBTQ rights section of his website, he says that he has “always been pro-gay marriage.” “Why should straight people have all of the fun?” he asks. “People are people and all love is beautiful.”

### **Campaign Finance Reform**

Yang wants to reform the Campaign Finance system by implementing one of his key policies called **Democracy Dollars**, very similar to the one called "**Democracy vouchers**" already in place in municipal elections in Seattle, Washington.
Yangs idea is to give every American a $100 a year voucher to give to candidates, which would expire if not used. As there are over 220 million American adults, the scale of the giveaway would drown out the influence of mega-donors.

### **Tax Reform**

Yang puts a strong emphasis on making tax payments easier and enjoyable, he is longing to simplify the complex rules of the tax code that looms over the American taxpayer. Because 75% of Americans receive tax refunds, Yang proposes to allow those individuals access to their money at the time they earn it, as well as removing the **additional tax balance payments** for the other 25% of Americans that could cause unnecessary stress to their lives. He also proposes eliminating the **IRS** **random audit selection process** stating that the **IRS** has almost all the information they need to calculate your taxes within a fair degree of accuracy. That would abolish the need to spend money on expensive tax-preparation services or audit-protection insurance.

After introducing these reforms, the Entrepreneur proposes to make the 15 April **Tax Date** a Federal holiday called the **Revenue Day** during which the work of the **Federal Government** for American citizens will be celebrated.

Another change will be allowing each American to direct 1% of their taxes to a specific project, some of whom will be highlighted during the **Revenue Day**, showing what, exactly, America’s money was able to accomplish during the previous year. Initial profiles of the next year’s projects will also be announced to create excitement for them.

### **Wall Street Regulations**

To discourage speculation that has led to the creation of bubbles causing great damage to the world’s economy, Yang is proposing a financial transaction tax on financial trades. This includes sales of stocks, bonds, and derivatives. The amount of tax levied on a single trade will be 0.1%. Yang hopes to raise about $50 billion from the tax.

The entrepreneur also promised to lead the change in financial regulator employment by making sure that regulators are paid competitively with jobs in the private sector, and prohibiting them from going to private industry afterward.

He also wants to toughen the judicial treatment of white-collar crimes committed by Wall Street firms and pharmaceutical companies. His proposed **Public Protection Against Market Abuse Act** would institute mandatory minimum jail sentences based on the size and scale of financial crimes, which would be served by the company's CEO and largest individual domestic shareholder.

He plans to end the favorable tax treatment for capital gains and carried interest profits and tax all of the corporate relocation incentives at 100%.

### **Wealth Tax**

Yang disagrees with Elizabeth Warren's and Bernie Sanders's wealth tax proposals, saying “*I understand the spirit of it and the intent of*” the wealth tax idea, "*But I agree that it would be somewhere between problematic and a disaster in practice.*”. Instead, Yang proposes a **Value-Added Tax (VAT)** at a rate of 10% which would be levied on corporations, taxing automatically all of their transactions. This way the IRS will be taking a slice at each point that value switches hands in the supply chain, making big corporations pay into the system to bring their products to market. By taxing the corporations more, 2020 hopeful plans to redistribute parts of their earnings from the hands of wealthy shareholders.

An entrepreneur also pointed to the fact that **VAT** is currently used by 160 out of 193 countries on Earth, including every developed nation except the US. He plans to raise about $800 Billion from the tax, which will go to fund his Freedom Dividend program.

### **Income and Corporate Taxes**

The entrepreneur from the state of New York wants to remove the wage cap on the Social Security payroll tax from the current level of $137,700, and tax capital gains and carried interest at ordinary income rates, which now stand at rates of 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%, with falling into a bracket depending on the number of spouses employed and someone's marital status.

### **Social Security**

Yang believes that **Freedom Dividend** would be the biggest expansion of **Social Security** in history. In his plan, **Social Security** retirement benefits stack with **UBI**. Since it is a benefit that people pay into throughout their lives, that money is properly viewed as belonging to them.

The program would not interfere with **Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)** which is based on earned work credits or **Supplemental Security Income (SSI)** which is a means-tested program. It would allow collecting both **SSDI** and $1,000 a month. People who are legally disabled would be eligible to receive both **SSDI** and **SSI**. Under the universal basic income, those who are legally disabled would have a choice between collecting SSDI and the $1,000, or collecting **SSDI** and **SSI**, whichever is more generous.

Yang’s website FAQ notes: “*some people who receive more than $1,000 a month in **SSI** would choose to take the **Freedom Dividend** because it has no preconditions.*” However, many states require people to qualify for **SSI** in order to receive government-funded long-term services and supports through **Medicaid**. Those people would be faced with a choice between taking **Freedom Dividend** and paying their **Medicare** expenses out of pocket — an incredibly expensive proposition or refusing to take it at all. To this day the candidate didn't clarify this issue

### **Justice System Reform**

Yang's website says "While individuals should be punished for committing crimes, the end goal should be to prevent people from committing crimes and to lower recidivism rates for those who are convicted. Outside of my social policies such as Universal Basic Income, which will eliminate poverty and thus reduce one common driver of crime, there are many things we can do to ensure the safety of Americans by preventing people from becoming criminals."

Reform plans:

- Yang would work to end the use of private prison facilities for federal inmates.

- He promises to shift drug policy away from punishment and treatment.
- Yang would push to reconsider harsh felony laws that prevent those who have served their prison term from reintegrating into society.

- Andrew would implement Universal Basic Income which will dramatically decrease incentives for criminality and improve the functioning of individuals and communities

- He would work to implement a federal program of pre-trial services that would be made available to states, such as a text message system to remind individuals of their upcoming court dates.

- Yang would invest money to fund innovative prison programs that decrease recidivism and increase reintegration.

- Yang would invest money to support businesses that hire felons who have served their prison term.

- The candidate would identify non-violent drug offenders for probation and potential early release.

- He would work with states to decrease their reliance on cash bail, providing assistance and grants for various programs to increase trial attendance without the need to incarcerate people ahead of a conviction.

### **Global warming**

Yang has proposed investing $4.9 trillion over 20 years to deal with climate change. He's largest single investment*—*$400 billion*—*would go to "Democracy Dollars," essentially a proposal for public funding of federal campaigns to reduce the influence of Big Money interests like fossil fuel companies. It would let citizens direct federal money to candidates "to wash out the influence of lobbyists," he says. Yang has pledged not to take fossil fuel industry donations. To meet his goal of net zero emissions across the economy by 2050, Yang would issue aggressive new federal rules that would require all new buildings to be net-zero emissions by 2025, and all-new car models to be zero emissions by 2030. He would aim to get the country to 100 percent zero-emissions electricity by 2035, while also requiring all transportation sectors*—*trucking, rail, transit, and aviation*—*to be net-zero by 2040. But he doesn't think this can be done without a big investment in cutting-edge technology. Yang would both raise money for his program and create an incentive for consumers and investors to choose cleaner energy through a carbon fee-and-dividend system. The proposed tax of $40 a ton, escalating by $5 a year at first, then $10 a year*,* is relatively robust compared to other proposals floating on Capitol Hill, although he would cap the fee at $100 a ton. Yang says he would return at least half of the money raised to citizens as dividends*—*but there would be strings attached: the funds would be "specifically designed" to subsidize their purchases of clean energy and vehicles. That's in addition to the centerpiece of Yang's campaign, his proposal for a Universal Basic Income of $1,000 per month, no strings attached, for every American over 18. Yang is alone among the Democrats in backing investment in new nuclear technologies. Andrew says he would stop new leases for oil and gas development on public lands and end all existing leases*.* He also says he would "fight against any new pipeline or similar infrastructure, especially any that would cut across contested land."

On his website, he writes "The right time to deal with this crisis was decades ago. We’ve waited too long, so we need to act fast and recognize that all options need to be on the table in order to adapt to the changing world we live in while mitigating behaviors that make it worse and reversing the damage we’ve already done."

    Complete Yang's Climate Change plan > https://www.yang2020.com/blog/climate-change/

## *Sources*

1. ↑ https://merionwest.com/2019/06/27/then-a-long-shot-now-a-contender-our-2018-interview-with-andrew-yang/
2. ↑ https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/andrew-yang-immigration-economic-dynamism
3. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/southern-border-security/
4. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/pathway-to-citizenship-2/
5. ↑ https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/16/andrew-yang-2020-election-health-care-plan-085881
6. ↑ https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/2020-candidate-andrew-yang-introduces-health-care-plan-to-lower-costs.html
7. ↑ https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Andrew\_Yang\_Abortion.htm
8. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/us/politics/democratic-candidates-abortion-survey.html
9. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/right-privacy-abortion-contraception/
10. ↑ https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Andrew\_Yang\_Abortion.htm
11. ↑ https://www.vox.com/2019/8/7/20756698/democratic-presidential-candidates-gun-violence-mass-shootings
12. ↑ https://giffords.org/blog/2019/08/countdown-to-2020-andrew-yang-on-gun-safety-blog/
13. ↑ https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/10/politics/andrew-yang-gun-violence/index.html
14. ↑ https://www.ayfaq.com/q/108/christian-case-for-andrew-yang/
15. ↑ https://auburnseminary.org/voices/faith-religion-democratic-candidates/
16. ↑ https://www.patheos.com/blogs/godzooks/2019/07/atheism-andrew-yang-religion/
17. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/lgbtq-rights/
18. ↑ https://splinternews.com/heres-every-2020-democrats-history-on-lgbtq-rights-1833721959
19. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy\_voucher
20. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/democracydollars/
21. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics\_of\_the\_United\_States#Religions\_of\_American\_adults
22. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/making-taxes-fun/
23. ↑ https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/tax-reform/wall-street-taxes/
24. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/financial-transaction-tax/
25. ↑ https://www.usnews.com/elections/andrew-yang
26. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/economic-crime/
27. ↑ https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/02/andrew-yang-wealth-tax-plans-from-sanders-warren-could-be-disaster.html
28. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/value-added-tax/
29. ↑ https://taxfoundation.org/andrew-yang-value-added-tax-universal-basic-income/
30. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income\_tax\_in\_the\_United\_States
31. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/what-is-freedom-dividend-faq/
32. ↑ https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/12/19/21026925/andrew-yang-disability-policy
33. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reduce-mass-incarceration/
34. ↑ https://www.iowaharmreductioncoalition.org/andrew-yang-on-criminal-justice-reform/
35. ↑ https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30082019/andrew-yang-climate-change-where-candidate-stands
36. ↑ https://www.yang2020.com/policies/climate-change/