Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang calls himself the "opposite of Donald Trump . . . an Asian guy who likes math" — but the numbers are off when it comes to his signature Universal Basic Income plan, The Federalist reported.
According to Yang's website, the UBI would mean every U.S. citizen over the age of 18 would receive $1,000 a month, regardless of income or employment status, free and clear.
But John Cogan, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, if 230 million adults receive the cash handout and did not take any other form or welfare benefit, it would cost $2.8 trillion.
"Expenditures on the programs the plan would potentially replace account for a mere 6% of this total," Cogan told The Federalist. "So, 94% of [Yang's] plan would be financed by higher taxes. These taxes would be on top of the higher taxes required to finance existing entitlement programs."
Yang argues the only additional taxes would be on the highest earners and on pollution, plus a Value Added Tax, basing his math on the revenue a VAT would create on a European model, The Federalist reported.
Hoover Institution fellow Tim Kane contends European economies are not good role models.
"Numerous studies confirm that high tax European countries are not economically able to catch up to our levels of prosperity. If we adopt higher taxes, especially no capital gains and uncapped payrolls, then we will see much slower growth and lower quality of life," Kane contends, The Federalist reported.
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