Andrew Yang in 2019-2021 Town Halls
On Budget & Economy:
Our winner take all economy causes social problems
If we get the economics right, many social problems that we care so deeply about will actually change along with our balancing out an economy that's become the most extreme winner- take-all economy in the history of the world.
Many Americans do not feel like they're being included in the gains. Terrible social ills are at record highs now because even as the companies do better, we do not feel those gains in our own families.
My flagship proposal is a freedom dividend of $1,000 a month for every American starting at age 18. So imagine your 18th birthday, and you're getting a thousand bucks a month.
Your senior year, you have a financial literacy class to help you decide how you're going to make use of this income. This would actually make our economy works for young people.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Drugs:
Jail for dealers; treatment for addicts
If they're a dealer; if they're profiting, they go straight to jail. But if they are struggling with addiction, they should not be heading to jail.
They should be heading to counseling and treatment. And we should have safe injection sites so that, if someone actually is trying to recover, they have some place they can go.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Education:
Giving families money will improve educational outcomes
When you look at the data, you find that two-thirds of kids' educational outcomes are based on non-school factors, like parental income, parental time spent with them at home, stress levels in the household. So if you put money into that family, you
would be enhancing that child's ability to learn. Social goals often are related to economic goals, where if you put more money into family's hands, you can do things like improve graduation rates, improve mental health, decrease domestic violence.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Energy & Oil:
Move subsidies from fossil fuel to wind and solar
I would zero out the billions and billions of dollars of subsidies that are going to these fossil fuel companies that are way, way past their sell-by date.
I would take those subsidies, move them to wind and solar. And then I would put a price on carbon immediately so that polluters actually have to pay into a system that will help reduce emissions.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Families & Children:
More therapists in schools; kids very anxious these days
We need to invest in therapists at the high school level. The mental health crisis we're seeing among young people spiked when we got smart phones and social media apps.
Today, if you're 12, you close the door, you feel like your classmates are still in the room with you because you can take out your phone and see what they're talking about every moment.
We have to stop pretending that there's normal and then there are people in this category of special needs and autistic because it's the new normal. If you intervene with the right resources at the right stage
of development of many of these children, you can actually make a world of difference. And this is the kind of thing where this investment can yield dividends for decades. We should making those investments in our kids right now.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Government Reform:
Banning Electoral College non-starter; reform system
Candidates who say we should abolish the Electoral College, one, it would require a dozen states to shoot themselves in the foot and say they don't want that kind of power anymore, which is a nonstarter.
But, two, it would end up disadvantaging rural areas, because you would just campaign in major media markets, and that's not what the framers of the Constitution intended. We have to work with the system we have and reform it.
[On delays in election tallies]:This was an avoidable error that shot the party in the foot. And it's going to be harder to convince
Americans that we can entrust massive systems with government if we can't count votes on the same night in a way that's clear, transparent, and reliable.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Gun Control:
Break stranglehold of NRA on Congress
We need to attack the gun violence problem at every level, from our families, our schools, our mental health infrastructure, the supply of guns. But you're 100 percent right it needs to start at the top.
We need to break the stranglehold of the NRA on our legislators and get them to vote along with the will of the American people.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Jobs:
Help youth get access to trade and technical training
I would invest in technical, vocational, and apprenticeship training at the high school levels. Only 6 percent of American high school students are in technical or trade programs in the U.S.
Think how many unfilled jobs would be filled if young people steered towards college would be better served by heading into the trades and technical and apprenticeship programs.
Technology is ramping up faster and faster. It has already eliminated 4 million manufacturing jobs in the Midwest and is in the process of transforming economies right here in New Hampshire and around the country, as
Amazon alone closes 30 percent of your stores and malls. Retail clerks, the most common job in the economy, and 30 percent of those jobs are disappearing as we speak.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On Technology:
Hold Facebook accountable and invest in local news
I would hold Facebook to the same standard as cable news networks where they have verify the truth of a political ad on their network. It's unfathomable that they don't realize that they are the largest disseminator of information to the
American people. We need to rebuild local journalism. Almost 2,000 local papers have gone out of business over the last number of years because all of their advertising revenue went up to the cloud and you can't run a newspaper on that.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
On War & Peace:
Declaring war is an act of Congress
If we're going to declare war, it has to be an act of Congress. Clearly, if there is some event overseas that requires some small-scale retaliation that's not a full-fledged act of war, then that's within the scope of the executive branch.
But if it's going to be a multi- year commitment or an act that is going to bring us towards a significant commitment, it should be an act of Congress and the American people.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
Feb 5, 2020
Page last updated: Apr 07, 2021