Who is Andrew Yang?
A Look at the Democratic Presidential Hopeful’s Policy Positions.
Andrew Yang is a different breed of politician. He’s not running for president on sound-bites. He has more than 100 detailed policy points on his website. Who is the “no tie guy” from the second Democratic presidential debate, and what does he want to get accomplished if he is able to win the White House?
Andrew Yang is a 44-year-old New York native. He’s married and has two children. He believes his wife’s work as a stay-at-home mother is more important than any job he’s done. Yang is an author, a public speaker, and an entrepreneur. He’s a millionaire. He has a law degree but hasn’t worked as a lawyer. Instead, he has poured himself into helping people get into and graduate from college, find jobs and start their own businesses. He was the CEO of Manhattan Prep, a test preparation company that sold for tens of millions of dollars to Kaplan University. He then founded Venture For America, a company that helps people manage start-ups and cultivates entrepreneurship.
So what does Andrew Yang want to accomplish if he wins the White House next November? Quite a lot actually. Yang has 107 different detailed policy proposals listed on his campaign web site. His ideas span a host of topics, Medicare for all, legalization of marijuana, stopping the manufacturing and distribution of the penny, 18- year congressional term limits, free mental health and financial counseling for everyone, equal pay, campaign finance reform, paying college athletes, making DC a state, and 98 other interesting things.
“Mr. Yang has the most detailed and comprehensive set of policy proposals we have ever seen at this stage in the campaign.”
-Democratic Party Leadership in Iowa
Yang may have 107 policies detailed, but there is one that makes his heart sing louder than the others. Universal basic income. Andrew Yang has dubbed it “The Freedom Dividend.” He believes giving every adult in America $1,000 a month as a universal basic income would solve a bevy of problems many Americans face from unhealthy lifestyles to the increasing personal revenue streams. In last week’s Democratic presidential debate, he used all of his time to discuss the groundbreaking legislative proposal.
Yang argues that we are at the precipice of financial disaster because we are automating jobs away at an unprecedented pace. Yang says that giving everyone a universal basic income will allow people to generate more revenue streams, start their own businesses, continue their education, and/or make ends meet. The dividend would be given to everyone across the board, regardless of income, and paid for with a value-added tax (essentially, a consumption tax). Currently, large companies like Amazon and Google generate billions of dollars in revenue a year but don’t pay taxes.
“Big companies and rich people are excellent at moving things around to avoid taxes — Amazon, Google, and other companies funnel hundreds of billions in earnings overseas. A VAT makes it impossible for them to benefit from the American people and infrastructure without paying their fair share.”
-Andrew Yang
Yang believes a UBI would spur the economy and result in millions of new jobs.
Healthcare is another hot-button issue in this election cycle. Yang supports Medicare-for-All. His proposal calls for doctors to be salaried, price caps for medical procedures, and proper mental healthcare for all Americans.
He does not detail how he would pay for the plan that is estimated to cost up to $35 trillion over a ten year period, however Vermont senator Bernie Sanders did admit when pressed in last week’s Democratic primary debate that it would have to be paid for with tax increases, including middle and lower class citizens.
Yang has a detailed gun reform policy, advocating for universal background checks, restricting gun ownership for the violent and mentally ill, and prohibiting the manufacture and sale of bump stocks, high capacity magazines, suppressors, incendiary/exploding ammunition, and grenade launcher attachments. He also wants to institute an optional federal buyback, invest in smart gun technology, require all gun owners pass a gun safety class, and own a gun locker or trigger locks for all firearms. Yang’s plan would require those with semi-automatic rifles to pass a more advanced gun safety class. Anyone wanting to own automatic weapons must submit their fingerprints and DNA to the FBI and allow a home inspection of their gun safe(s).
Some have criticized the former tech executive as being inexperienced in matters of foreign policy. While Yang does have a policy proposal concerning interventionist wars, it’s one of his most vague proposals and he doesn’t go into detail about Syria, Venezuela, North Korea, or Iran. He wants to invest the trillions of dollars at home that America currently spends on these “military engagements that have accomplished so little.”
Yang dedicates at least three policy proposals to immigration reform, supporting a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, increasing border funding, legal status for DREAMers, and increasing the number of asylum judges. Unlike the rest of his Democratic counterparts, Yang does not advocate for “open borders.” He explains, “A large number of people are entering the United States illegally, causing economic hardship in certain areas while also preventing us from knowing who, exactly, is in our country.” Yang, however, raised his hand during the second Democratic debate when asked if he would provide healthcare for illegal immigrants.
Andrew Yang’s biggest hurdle in the race has been media time and name recognition. Although both of those things may be changing. In a snap poll by the Drudge Report, Yang was declared the winner of the second debate by a landslide, despite talking the least of any candidate of both nights. With the debate having larger viewership than any previous democratic primary debate, Yang will likely get a name recognition boost as well. After hovering at 0% for months, Yang is rising in the polls as well. Now he sits at a steady 1–2%, precisely where President Trump was polling at this time in the 2016 election cycle. He’s also already met the benchmark for the next debate, which likely means more media time is coming— And while he is still considered a “third-tier candidate,” by some DC pollsters, he’s far from out of the race.
Andrew Yang is an important contender regardless of whether or not he wins the nomination because his platform (in a 2016 Bernie-eque way) could push the eventual nominee’s policies more in line with his own. That’s not to say his best hope is to influence the race just by policy — If we’ve learned any lessons in American elections of late, it would be anything is possible — so don’t dismiss the idea of a president Andrew Yang.
Secret Coran-Stacy is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and a senior contributor to CitizenSource, writing with a focus on U.S. elections and politics, media criticism, and illegal immigration. She hails from Little Rock, Arkansas.
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