{"id":562326,"date":"2022-03-18T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T13:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basicincometoday.com\/?p=13013"},"modified":"2022-03-18T13:23:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T13:23:00","slug":"400-universal-tax-rebate-to-afford-higher-gas-prices-proposed-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/03\/18\/400-universal-tax-rebate-to-afford-higher-gas-prices-proposed-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"$400 universal tax rebate to afford higher gas prices proposed in California"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A group of Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday called for sending a $400 rebate to every California taxpayer to help soften the blow of the recent surge in gasoline prices.<\/em> | <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By: Matthew Fleischer<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original Post: https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/opinion\/openforum\/article\/California-wants-to-include-rich-people-in-its-17009761.php?t=9c75f76adf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, a group of Democratic state lawmakers unveiled a plan to give Californians a $400 tax rebate check<\/a>. Their stated intention was to help consumers defray the rising costs of gas. But, unlike the gas tax vacation proposals being floated across the country, or Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s recently proposed stimmy<\/a> just for car owners, this check will go to every Californian, including those who don\u2019t own cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a good thing. Gasoline isn\u2019t the only consumer item impacted by inflation, the war in Ukraine and other global chaos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If adopted, bus and bike riders will also have some change in their pockets to spend on food or rent or whatever else they need help with.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And yet this idea isn\u2019t without controversy. Grumbling is already starting to rise that the rebate includes checks for wealthiest among us \u2014 who clearly don\u2019t need the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Save the rage, however. A universal check is also a good and progressive thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Means testing to ensure that only the neediest people get access to government benefits is flawed for a variety of reasons. Mainly because it\u2019s an expensive and time-consuming waste of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2011 Center for Economic Policy and Research<\/a> study found that means testing of a federal disability program constituted 1.7% of the cost of the program. Using that metric, implementing a means test on California\u2019s $9 billion rebate would cost nearly $153 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For context, that\u2019s about how much the state spends to ensure\u00a0safe drinking water quality<\/a>\u00a0each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, means testing sets arbitrary thresholds of need. Consider last year\u2019s Golden State Stimulus program<\/a>, which gave checks to individuals earning less than $75,000 per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does someone who makes $75,000 deserve a check while someone who makes $75,001 does not? There\u2019s clearly no legitimate rationale for government intervention to elevate one middle-class person\u2019s income above the other. And doing so anyway is hardly fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, a $400 universal rebate might seem like it\u2019s giving rich people a handout they don\u2019t need. But, let\u2019s be clear, the wealthy people who receive said $400 check pay far more in taxes then they\u2019re getting back from this program. In aggregate, in cutting this check, the state would be taking money from wealthier people and giving it to those who earn less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, means testing sets arbitrary thresholds of need. Consider last year\u2019s\u00a0Golden State Stimulus program<\/a>, which gave checks to individuals earning less than $75,000 per year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Why does someone who makes $75,000 deserve a check while someone who makes $75,001 does not? There\u2019s clearly no legitimate rationale for government intervention to elevate one middle-class person\u2019s income above the other. And doing so anyway is hardly fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, a $400 universal rebate might seem like it\u2019s giving rich people a handout they don\u2019t need. But, let\u2019s be clear, the wealthy people who receive said $400 check pay far more in taxes then they\u2019re getting back from this program. In aggregate, in cutting this check, the state would be taking money from wealthier people and giving it to those who earn less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, a $400 rebate check for all Californians would almost certainly be the biggest experiment yet this country has seen toward universal basic income. Let\u2019s hope we see more attempts like it.<\/p>\n

The post $400 universal tax rebate to afford higher gas prices proposed in California<\/a> appeared first on Basic Income Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Basic Income Today<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday called for sending a $400 rebate to every California taxpayer to help soften the blow of the recent surge in gasoline prices. | By: Matthew Fleischer. Original Post: https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/opinion\/openforum\/article\/California-wants-to-include-rich-people-in-its-17009761.php?t=9c75f76adf On Wednesday, a group of Democratic state lawmakers unveiled a plan to give Californians a\u00a0$400 tax rebate check. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post $400 universal tax rebate to afford higher gas prices proposed in California<\/a> appeared first on Basic Income Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1529,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26854,5554,5559],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562326"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1529"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":562327,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562326\/revisions\/562327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}