Is Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) ready to join the Yang Gang?
Romney is out with a proposal that should make entrepreneur and former 2020 Democratic candidate Andrew Yang proud, on Monday saying every American adult should receive a check for $1,000 amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
This step, Romney said, will "help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy." Romney added that "expansions of paid leave, unemployment insurance, and SNAP benefits" are also "crucial," but the $1,000 check "will help fill the gaps for Americans that may not quickly navigate different government options."
The Utah senator offered numerous other proposals for responding to the coronavirus crisis, including providing grants to small businesses impacted by the pandemic and deferring student loan payments "for a period of time to ease the burden for those who are just graduating now, in an economy suffering because of the COVID-19 outbreak."
Yang's central proposal during his 2020 campaign was to provide Americans with a universal basic income of $1,000 a month, an idea that some Democrats have been re-upping in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Like Romney, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is also backing the $1,000 payment idea, saying a check in that amount should go to all middle class and low-income adults because "we can't leave the hardest-hit Americans behind."
Romney's proposal is for a one-time check and not a monthly payment as Democrats like Yang have called for. But Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted Monday, "GOP & Democrats are both coming to the same conclusion: Universal Basic Income is going to have to play a role in helping Americans weather this crisis."
Meanwhile, Yang himself on Monday retweeted Romney's proposal after writing earlier in the day, "What exactly is the political downside of putting money into people’s hands? Get your sh-t together Congress and do the right thing."