L.A. County Goes Full Socialist as it Begins Universal Income Pilot With No Spending Restrictions

Los Angeles residents will experience a taste of communist living as officials announce the launch of a pilot scheme that will provide 1,000 residents with a $1,000 income for the next three years.

The group was chosen at random out of 180,000 who applied to be part of the scheme which aims to allow individuals who are struggling financially to reset their lives.

Each participant must be at least 18 years old and live in a household earning $96,000 or less in total or $56,000 for an individual’s sole income. They must have also experienced some kind of financial crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sheila Kuehl who supervises the scheme said she believes it will work to encourage those who have fallen on hard times to sort their lives out and will give them a second chance to succeed:

“I’m confident that we will see what other pilots have already shown,” said Kuehl to Fox LA.

“That a guaranteed basic income, by giving people a bit of financial breathing room, allows them to stabilize their lives and that of their family.”

The program was developed by Strength Based Community Change and was based on a similar model being used in Stockton, California which has been deemed a successful mechanism in tackling poverty in deprived areas.

The BIG:LEAP scheme website states that two in ten LA residents are currently living in poverty, “most of them people of color”.

The website goes on to explain that the recipients of the scheme can spend the money, which is transferred directly into their bank accounts each month, on anything they want because, according to the website, “people enduring financial instability or poverty are best positioned to make informed financial decisions that efficiently address their household’s needs”.

Upon the announcement of the scheme last year, the Council District’s Councilman, Curren Price said BIG:LEAP had “gained momentum’ after his office had “witnessed our country examine the racial disparities and social injustices during the COVID pandemic.”

He went on to say that he hopes similar handout systems with no limit on how the cash is spent will be installed across the United States.

But taxpayer associations have raised concerns that these socialist ideals will lead to a slippery slope, decreasing work ethic and encouraging the reliance on state handouts.

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said the scheme amounts to woke Democrats in LA playing “pure politics”:

“There’s an old saying, ‘If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the vote of Paul,” he told the Epoch Times.

He went on to say that there should be some state control as to how the money can be spent similar to other welfare state schemes such as food vouchers:

“If it’s the government’s money, they should absolutely be able to control how it’s spent. You don’t want people going out and buying cigarettes and booze with this,” he said.

“It would be more consistent with existing programs, for example the SNAP program, the food stamp program, you get vouchers to buy food. Same with Section Eight housing, you get vouchers to purchase housing.”