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Yang: ‘Rise of Machines’ will displace workers

By Casey Junkins - City Editor | Dec 5, 2019

Telegraph file photo Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang of New York speaks with reporters and editors at The Telegraph earlier this year. Yang hopes to provide every American a direct payment of $1,000 per month, a program he said would cost about $2.4 trillion per year.

NASHUA – $1,000 per month: Yes, Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang of New York wants to pay each American this amount at a price tag he estimates at $2.4 trillion per year.

Some national polls show Yang leading the Democratic presidential race with voters under age 30, yet he continues to trail top-tier candidates such as Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg by clear margins when all age groups are counted.

According to Yang, however, baby boomers (generally, those born from 1946 to 1964) and Generation-Xers (those born from 1965 to 1980) are starting to realize that machines and computers are taking over the world through automation. It is not difficult to see. One only needs to go to a typical fast food restaurant to see that cashiers are gradually being replaced by order kiosks.

Yang’s answer to automation and the displacement of human workers is to pay each and every American $1,000 per month, no questions asked.

“We think we are going to see a bump from Thanksgiving. We are very optimistic that our base is going to continue to grow,” Yang told The Telegraph on Thursday, adding that he believes young people who support him had the opportunity to tell their parents and grandparents about him.

Earlier this year, when many Democrats blamed “racism” for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory, Yang gave The Telegraph his view of the matter.

“Our politicians are ignoring the reason why Donald Trump is president today. The reason why Donald Trump is our president is that we automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa – all of the swing states he needed to win,” Yang said.

Yang said his plan to pay all Americans $1,000 per month would cost approximately $2.4 trillion per year.

Although this is a considerable sum, it is as high as the price tag for some of the programs Sanders and Warren are proposing.

Yang would partially fund the $1,000 payments with a planned 10 percent value-added tax, which is a tax on the goods or services businesses produce. On his website, Yang estimates his 10 percent value-added tax could generate as much as “$800 billion in new revenue.”

“People in New Hampshire would spend that $1,000 per month, pumping money into the New Hampshire economy,” Yang said.

When asked which nation he saw as the biggest threat to American national security – Russia, China, North Korea or Iran – Yang said there should be a short-term view and a long-term view.

“How many of us are confident that the Russian hacking that occurred in 2016 will not happen again next year?” Yang said of the first concern.

“Longer term, our biggest rival is China. Their government has put billions of dollars to work furthering artificial intelligence,” he added.

The 1992 graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy said he knows a strong performance in New Hampshire is vital to his presidential hopes. However, given so the complex nature and the sheer number of problems America faces, The Telegraph asked Yang why he wanted to be president.

“If there were another way to solve the problems facing the American people, I would support that. I am a parent and a patriot. I believe I can contribute to solving these problems,” Yang said.

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