Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) is breaking with President Joe Biden by making reparations and universal basic income focal points of his campaign.
Phillips is challenging Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination and has been gradually rolling out his campaign platform. He expressed openness to UBI programs in an interview published Monday in which he also touted his support for reparations for black Americans to make amends for slavery.
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“I believe that reparations have to start with acknowledging the injustice that was done to black Americans,” Phillips said. “To me, the answer is to invest in every community that is underrepresented, disenfranchised, has been segregated or has been subject to horrors.”
“That means outstanding education for everybody, that means outstanding healthcare for everyone,” he continued. “That means childcare and pre-K education, it also means housing for everybody. That’s to me the best way we can make reparations, is to do so by raising the foundations for everybody. That certainly includes black Americans because the injustice is horrifying.”
Biden has upset progressive lawmakers within his own party by not discussing reparations enough, with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) warning the president that is a reason he is losing support from black voters.
Phillips added that he believes reparations should be delivered in the form of investments in all disadvantaged communities to allow affected people to raise their standard of living. He also included federal marijuana legalization and criminal justice reform as part of his reparations plan.
On the UBI front, Phillips said he would be open to experimenting with pilot programs to combat the onset of artificial intelligence, which is expected to lead to job losses in the service and manufacturing industries.
“I do believe a UBI pilot should be initiated,” Phillips said. “There have been some. I think it’s time to do more, because we are going to lose millions of jobs to artificial intelligence, and right now we do not have any plan to address it.”
“If you entrust people with resources, they usually figure out how to [take] care of themselves,” he added. “But if they don’t have any resources, they have to rely on the public system or the private sector.”
Phillips said he thought initial dry runs of UBI programs “have been really promising,” pointing to a recent initiative in Harris County, Texas, that gives each resident $500 per month for up to 18 months.
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“I think it’s worthy of exploring,” he explained. “But that doesn’t mean that just money alone fixes it. We need to raise the entire foundation of support, along with ensuring that people have a little money in their pockets.”
Biden has also been relatively silent on UBI programs, lending the Minnesota representative an opportunity to contrast himself with the incumbent president.
Original Location: Dean Phillips breaks with Biden to support reparations plans
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