Politics

Yang’s Democracy Dollars: Everyone Gets $100 For Candidates, Causes They Support

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Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang proposed Thursday that “we give Americans 100 democracy dollars” to give to their preferred candidates.

The entrepreneur and 2020 White House candidate outlined a plan intended to “wash out the lobbyist cash” saying, “that is the only way we will win.”

“So, what is the answer? The answer is to wash the money out with people-powered money,” Yang said at the debate in Houston.

“My proposal is that we give every American 100 democracy dollars that you can only give to candidates and causes that you like. This would wash out the lobbyist cash by a factor of 8-1. That is the only way we will win.”

Yang’s democracy dollars appear on his 2020 campaign website, stating the strategy has been used in Seattle “to great effect.”

“Every American gets $100 a year to give to candidates, use it or lose it,” Yang’s campaign website reads. “These Democracy Dollars would, by the sheer volume of the US population, drown out the influence of mega-donors.”

“Imagine running for office when every American has $100 Democracy Dollars to give to their favorite candidate,” the campaign page continues. “Just 10,000 supporters could mean $1 million for your campaign. Once elected, you could act primarily in the interest of the people you represent instead of appeasing wealthy donors and corporations.”

Yang’s campaign website added that calling donors for money is “soul-crushing.”

“We’d all be better off if politicians only needed to worry about representing the people that elected them.”