Booker backs universal basic income as he runs left of McGrath in U.S. Senate race
State Rep. Charles Booker, D-Louisville, has made clear he thinks the only way a Democrat can beat U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this November is to take clear, bold, unapologetic stances on policy issues.
Booker did just that on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in a newspaper column that supported establishing a basic universal income. Tying his support of the policy to King’s work with the Poor People’s Campaign, Booker called the idea an investment in Kentuckians.
“I believe it is time for Kentucky and the country to commit to a universal basic income,” Booker wrote in the Courier-Journal. “We must do this with the full understanding that by investing in people and ensuring they have financial means to make decisions in their lives, it would tangibly benefit Black Kentuckians in the most marginalized communities, who have been hard hit by decades of oppression and discrimination.”
Booker did not offer specific details about what type of basic universal income plan he would support, but told the Herald-Leader he would want the money to come on top of any public assistance people currently receive.
“My belief is that it should be in addition to and not in replacement of the support that families need now,” Booker said Tuesday. “Whether it’s $1,000 or whatever that amount can be, I mean it’s going to have a real impact and that kind of disposable income can be transformative.”
The concept of the government giving money to every American is still a fringe idea, but has been slowly gathering steam.
In 2018, former President Barack Obama made a speech in which he indicated he was open to a universal basic income. This past year, a plan championed by Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang that would give $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 drew attention on the campaign trail. Yang has said he would pay for it by consolidating welfare programs and imposing a 10 percent value added tax (a tax on a product at each stage of production where value is added).
“It’s the type of idea that’s getting lots of attention thanks to Andrew Yang,” said Tres Watson, a Republican political consultant. “Is it an idea that will draw a lot of voters of either party? Absolutely not.”
Yang is currently polling in the single digits in the presidential race and was left out of the most recent Democratic presidential debate.
Booker, who entered the race for U.S. Senate relatively late and faces former Marine Amy McGrath and eight other Democratic candidates, is embracing progressive causes to differentiate himself from the pack and said he supported universal basic income before Yang made it a topic brought up at Democratic debates. He has already endorsed Medicare for All and the Green New Deal — two policy positions that Republicans have used against Democratic candidates to tie them to the national Democratic Party and paint them as out of touch with Kentucky values.
By embracing a universal basic income, Booker is distancing himself from McGrath, who is attempting to run as a moderate despite an audio clip of her saying “I am further left, more progressive than anyone in Kentucky” that was used against her in her failed 2018 bid for U.S. Congress.
McGrath’s campaign did not immediately respond when asked is she supports a universal basic income.
Watson said Booker is putting pressure on McGrath just by creating a conversation about a universal basic income.
“It will force Amy McGrath to have to talk about the issue, which will either hurt her with her liberal base or give McConnell ammo to go after her in the fall,” Watson said.
The idea hasn’t completely caught on with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. The two leading progressive candidates in the Democratic presidential race, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, haven’t openly embraced a universal basic income, according to the Washington Post (Warren says she’s open to it).
But it is the type of idea that can help attract attention to a campaign, said Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky. That is important for Booker as he tries to keep up financially with the cash-rich McGrath.
“This is the sort of policy position that gets people to look into a candidate,” Voss said. “Anything that gets him attention right now is a good thing.”
Voss also said the universal basic income doesn’t just appeal to progressives — it also has an appeal to libertarians and people who don’t like the current public assistance programs.
“The universal basic income has gotten some interest across the ideological spectrum in a way that other ideological positions don’t,” Voss said.
It is unlikely, however, that Booker’s version of universal basic income would appeal to conservatives, as it would build on current public assistance.
Booker extolled the virtues of the idea, saying it would help Appalachian Kentuckians, where coal jobs have dried up, and will allow people to have more disposable income to “invest, start a business or advance their education.”
“Our value as human beings should not be based on whether or not we have a job, or what some employer is willing to pay us to do it,” Booker said.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 3:03 PM.
