[
{
"title": "The Freedom Dividend",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/the-freedom-dividend/",
"description": "Andrew would implement the Freedom Dividend, a universal basic income of $1,000/month, $12,000 a year, for every American adult over the age of 18. This is independent of one’s work status or any other factor. This would enable all Americans to pay their bills, educate themselves, start businesses, be more creative, stay healthy, relocate for work, spend time with their children, take care of loved ones, and have a real stake in the future.\nOther than regular increases to keep up the cost of living, any change to the Freedom Dividend would require a constitutional amendment.\n\n It will be illegal to lend or borrow against one’s Dividend.\nA Universal Basic Income at this level would permanently grow the economy by 12.56 to 13.10 percent—or about $2.5 trillion by 2025—and it would increase the labor force by 4.5 to 4.7 million people. Putting money into people’s hands and keeping it there would be a perpetual boost and support to job growth and the economy.\nLearn more about Universal Basic Income",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Approx. 40 million Americans live below the poverty line.",
"Technology is quickly displacing a large number of workers, and the pace will only increase as automation and other forms of artificial intelligence become more advanced. ⅓ of American workers will lose their jobs to automation by 2030 according to McKinsey. This has the potential to destabilize our economy and society if unaddressed.",
"Good jobs are becoming more and more scarce and Americans are already working harder and harder for less and less.",
"It is necessary to support and preserve a robust consumer economy.",
"Many Americans are stuck in the wrong jobs because of a need to survive.",
"There are many positive social activities that are currently impossible for many to do because they lack the financial resources to dedicate time to it, including taking care of a child or sick loved one, and volunteering in the community."
],
"main_quote": "The most direct and concrete way for the government to improve your life is to send you a check for $1,000 every month and let you spend it in whatever manner will benefit you the most. The government is not capable of a lot of things, but it is capable of sending large numbers of checks to large numbers of people promptly and reliably. We have plenty of resources, they’re just not being distributed to enough people right now. Let’s build a new kind of economy – one that puts people first. If there’s one policy that would transform American lives for the better, it is Universal Basic Income.",
"goals": [
"End poverty in the most direct manner possible: giving people money",
"Move our economy into its next stage of development – human capitalism – with a focus on improving everyone’s quality of living",
"Prevent the massive disruption that will accompany the rapid development and adoption of automation and other AI technologies",
"Allow people the freedom to switch jobs, move, innovate, and contribute to society",
"Turbo-charge the economy by providing income to those who are most likely to spend it"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Implement the Freedom Dividend, providing Universal Basic Income of $1,000/month to all American adults over the age of 18 so that we may all share in the prosperity we have contributed to and participate in the new economy.",
"excerpt": "Universal Basic Income, or UBI, is a version of Social Security where all citizens receive a set amount of money per month independent of their work status or income. Everyone from a hedge fund billionaire in New York to an impoverished single mom in West Virginia would receive a monthly check of $1,000. If someone is working as a waitress or construction worker making $18,000, he or she would essentially be making $30,000. UBI eliminates the disincentive to work that most people find troubling about traditional welfare programs – if you work you could actually start saving and get ahead. With the growing threat of automation, the concept has gained renewed attention, with trials being run in Oakland, Canada, and Finland as well as in India and other parts of the developing world.Today, people tend to associate Universal Basic Income with technology utopians. But a form of UBI almost became law in the United States in 1970 and 1971, passing the House of Representatives twice before stalling in the Senate. Versions of the idea have been championed by robust thinkers of every political persuasion for decades, including some of the most admired figures in American life. Here’s a sampling:",
"citations": [
{
"author": "Thomas Paine, 1796",
"quote": "“Out of a collected fund from landowners, “there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance,. . . to every person, rich or poor.”"
},
{
"author": "Martin Luther King Jr., 1967",
"quote": "“I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.”"
},
{
"author": "Richard Nixon, August 1969",
"quote": "“What I am proposing is that the Federal Government build a foundation under the income of every American family . . . that cannot care for itself–and wherever in America that family may live.”"
},
{
"author": "Milton Friedman (Nobel-winning economist), 1980",
"quote": "“We should replace the ragbag of specific welfare programs with a single comprehensive program of income supplements in cash — a negative income tax . . . which would do more efficiently and humanely what our present welfare system does so inefficiently and inhumanely.”"
},
{
"author": "Bernie Sanders, May 2014",
"quote": "“In my view, every American is entitled to at least a minimum standard of living . . .There are different ways to get to that goal, but that’s the goal that we should strive to reach.”"
},
{
"author": "Stephen Hawking, July 2015",
"quote": "“Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.”"
},
{
"author": "Barack Obama, June and October 2016",
"quote": "“The way I describe it is that, because of automation, because of globalization, we’re going to have to examine the social compact, the same way we did early in the 19th century and then again during and after the Great Depression. The notion of a 40-hour workweek, a minimum wage, child labor laws, etc. – those will have to be updated for these new realities. What is indisputable . . . is that as AI gets further incorporated, and the society potentially gets wealthier, the link between production and distribution, how much you work and how much you make, gets further and further attenuated . . . we’ll be debating unconditional free money over the next 10 or 20 years.”"
},
{
"author": "Warren Buffett, January 2017",
"quote": "“you have to figure out how to distribute it . . . people who fall by the wayside through no fault of their own as the goose lays more golden eggs should still get a chance to participate in that prosperity, and that’s where government comes in.”"
},
{
"author": "Bill Gates, January 2017",
"quote": "“A problem of excess [automation] forces us to look at the individuals affected and take those extra resources and make sure they’re directed to them in terms of re-education and income policies . . .” (Gates later suggested taxing robots.)”"
},
{
"author": "Elon Musk, February, 2017",
"quote": "“I think we’ll end up doing universal basic income . . . It’s going to be necessary . . .There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better. I want to be clear. These are not things I wish will happen; these are things I think probably will happen.”"
},
{
"author": "Mark Zuckerberg, May 2017",
"quote": "“We should explore . . . universal basic income so that everyone has a cushion to try new ideas.”"
},
{
"author": "Nicole Sallak-Anderson, June 2017",
"quote": "“Creating a world where UBI is our foundation would go a lot further towards equality between the sexes, for in doing so we acknowledge that the work of the home is real, and we free women from the economic constraints that childrearing has come to bear upon us, much more than our male counterparts.”"
}
]
},
{
"title": "Medicare for All",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/medicare-for-all/",
"description": "Access to quality healthcare is one of the most important factors in overall well being, and yet America is one of the few industrialized nations not to provide healthcare for all of its citizens. Instead, we have a private healthcare system that leaves millions uninsured and bankrupts even some of those who do have health insurance. At the same time, our cost of care is higher than in almost any other industrialized country while providing worse outcomes. The Affordable Care Act was a step in the right direction, providing funds to states to innovate while expanding Medicaid substantially. However, it didn’t address the fundamental issues plaguing our healthcare system:\n\n Access to medicine isn’t guaranteed to all citizens\nThe incentives for healthcare providers don’t align with providing quality, efficient care\n\n This must change.\nThrough a Medicare for All system, we can ensure that all Americans receive the healthcare they deserve. Not only will this raise the quality of life for all Americans, but, by increasing access to preventive care, it will also bring overall healthcare costs down.\nWith a shift to a Medicare for All system, costs can also be controlled directly by setting prices provided for medical services. The best approach is highlighted by the top-ranked Cleveland Clinic. There, doctors are paid a flat salary instead of by a price-for-service model. This shift has led to a hospital where costs are visible and under control. Redundant tests are at a minimum, and physician turnover is much lower than at comparable hospitals.\n\n Doctors also report being more involved with their patients. Since they’re salaried, there’s no need to churn through patient after patient. Instead, they can spend the proper amount of time to ensure that each patient receives their undivided attention and empathy.\nOutside of a shift to a Medicare for All system, we can look to the Southcentral Foundation for another important shift necessary in the way we treat patients: holistic approaches. At this treatment center for native Alaskans, mental and physical problems are both investigated, and, unsurprisingly, the two are often linked. By referring patients to psychologists during routine physicals, doctors are able to treat, for example, both the symptoms of obesity and the underlying mental health issue that often is related to the issue. The referral also leads people with issues they may otherwise try to bury – sexual abuse, addictions, or domestic violence issues – to bring them up with a doctor so that they can be addressed.\nBy providing holistic healthcare to all our citizens, we’ll drastically increase the average quality of life, extend life expectancy, and treat issues that often go untreated. We’ll also be able to bring costs under control and outcomes up, as most other industrialized nations have.\nFinally, being tied to an employer so that you don’t lose your healthcare prevents economic mobility. It’s important that people feel free to seek out new opportunities, and our current employer-provided healthcare system prevents that.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Millions of Americans live without healthcare.",
"Even those with healthcare are often bankrupted by healthcare costs.",
"Many Americans who have healthcare have policies that don’t afford them the opportunity to receive proper care.",
"Healthcare costs in this country are relatively high, and outcomes are relatively poor.",
"Doctors are incentivized to act as factory workers, churning through patients and prescribing redundant tests, rather than doing what they’d prefer—spending extra time with each patient to ensure overall health.",
"Many health issues fall through the cracks because doctors rely on patients to bring up issues rather than treating each one holistically.",
"Employees are tied to their employers because they receive the healthcare benefits through them."
],
"main_quote": "Healthcare should be a basic right for all Americans. Right now, if you get sick you have two things to worry about – how to get better and how to pay for it. Too many Americans are making terrible, impossible choices between paying for healthcare and other needs. We need to provide high-quality healthcare to all Americans and a Medicare for All system is the most efficient way to accomplish that. It will be a massive boost to our economy as people will be able to start businesses and change jobs without fear of losing their health insurance.",
"goals": [
"Holistic healthcare for all Americans",
"Bend the cost curve of healthcare down",
"Focus on preventive and holistic care",
"Change the incentive structure for doctors",
"Allow doctors and hospitals to innovate in treatment"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to create a Medicare for All system to provide healthcare to all Americans.\nShift the way doctors are compensated to promote holistic and empathic care.\nCreate incentives for and invest in innovative treatment methods and methodologies.",
"excerpt": "As jobs disappear and temporary employment becomes more prevalent, reforming our health care system will be more and more crucial. Right now, most of us rely upon our employers to pay for and provide health insurance. This will be increasingly difficult to sustain as jobs with benefits become harder and harder to come by. On the consumer side, spiraling health care costs have already become a crushing burden for Americans. Health care bills were the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in 2013 and a study that year found that 56 million Americans – over 20% of the adult population – struggled with health care expenses they couldn’t afford to pay. We’ve all seen and heard the horror stories of people coming back from the hospital with a bill for tens of thousands of dollars. For many Americans it’s a double whammy if you get sick – you not only have to deal with the illness or injury but you have to figure out how to pay for treatment.In general, the use of technology has not transformed health care the way that optimists would hope. Health care costs have continued to climb to a record 17.8% of the economy in 2016, up from 11.4% in 1989 and less than 6% in 1960. We spend about twice what other industrialized countries do on health care per capita to lesser results. According to a 2014 Commonwealth Fund report, we are last among major industrialized nations in efficiency, equity and health outcomes attributable to medical care despite spending much more than anyone else. Another study had the U.S. last among developed countries in basic measurements like the rate of women dying due to pregnancy or childbirth and rate of survival to age 5. To the extent that new technology is used, it tends to be expensive new devices and implants that drive costs ever higher. The basic practice of medicine, as well as the training, is the same as it’s been for decades.Our job-based health insurance system does the very thing we most want to avoid – it discourages businesses from hiring. For employers, company-subsidized health insurance costs are a major impediment to hiring and growth. The costs get very high for senior people with families – my last company was spending more than $2,500 a month on certain people’s insurance plans. If these costs weren’t on our books we definitely would have hired more people. Health insurance also pushes companies to make as many employees as possible into part-time gig workers or contractors.On the worker side, tons of people hang on to jobs that they do not want to be in just for the health insurance. Economists refer to this as “job lock;” it makes the labor market much less dynamic, which is bad in particular for young workers.As jobs disappear, having one’s health care linked to employment will become increasingly untenable. The need for a different approach is growing.Health care is not truly subject to market dynamics for a host of reasons. In a normal marketplace, companies compete for your business by presenting different value propositions and you make an informed choice. With health care, you typically only have a few options. You have no idea what the real differences are between different providers and doctors. Costs are high and extremely unpredictable, making it hard to budget for them. The complexity leaves many Americans overwhelmed and highly suggestible to experts or institutions. When you actually do get sick or injured, you become cost-insensitive trying to get well. Hospitals often employ opaque pricing, resulting in patient uncertainty over what their insurance will actually cover. Moreover, when you’re ill, it’s possible your faculties can be impaired because of illness, emotional distress or even unconsciousness.As Steven Brill wrote in his seminal Time magazine article on health care costs, “Unless you are protected by Medicare, the health care market is not a market at all. It’s a crapshoot.” The lack of real market discipline or cost control incentives has driven costs ever higher. Technology that should decrease costs has been kept at the door because for most actors in the system, the goal is to increase revenue and profitability. The more services, tests, appointments, procedures and expensive gadgets you use, the better. The system rewards activity and output over health improvements and outcomes.Changing these incentives is key.",
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Human-Centered Capitalism",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/human-capitalism/",
"description": "Capitalism as an economic system has led to unparalleled innovation and improvement in the human condition. Many consider it to have “won” the war of ideas against socialism, but that simplistic view ignores that there is no such thing as a pure Capitalist system. And our current version of institutional capitalism and corporatism is a relatively recent development.\nOur current emphasis on corporate profits isn’t working for the vast majority of Americans. This will only be made worse by the development of automation technology and AI.\nWe need to move to a new form of capitalism – Human Capitalism – that’s geared towards maximizing human well-being and fulfillment. The central tenets of Human Capitalism are:\n\n Humans are more important than money\nThe unit of a Human Capitalism economy is each person, not each dollar\nMarkets exist to serve our common goals and values\n\n The focus of our economy should be to maximize human welfare. Sometimes this aligns with a purely capitalist approach, where different entities compete for the best ideas. But there are plenty of times when a capitalist system leads to suboptimal outcomes. Think of an airline refusing to honor your ticket because they can get more money from a customer who purchases last-minute, or a pharmaceutical company charging extortionate rates for a life-saving drug because the customers are desperate.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"At present, the Market systematically tends to undervalue many things, activities, and people, many of which are core to the human experience."
],
"main_quote": "We need to make the markets serve us rather than the other way around. Profit-seeking companies are organized to maximize their bottom line at every turn which will naturally lead to extreme policies and outcomes. We need government leaders who are truly laser-focused on the public interest above all else and will lead companies to act accordingly.",
"goals": [
"Make the economy work for Americans, not the other way around",
"Direct capital to investments to improve human welfare, not to enrich the wealthiest Americans",
"Create measurements around people, not dollars"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Change the way we measure the economy, from GDP and the stock market to a more inclusive set of measurements that ensures humans are thriving, not barely making it by. New measurements like Median Income and Standard of Living, Health-adjusted Life Expectancy, Mental Health, Childhood Success Rates, Social and Economic Mobility, Absence of Substance Abuse, and others will give us a much clearer and more powerful sense of how we are doing both individually and as a society.\nRein in corporate excesses by appointing regulators who are paid a lot of money – competitive with senior jobs in the private sector – but then will be prohibited from going to private industry afterward. Regulators need to be focused on making the right decisions and policies for the public with zero concern for their next position.\nThe government’s goal should be to drive individuals and organizations to find new ways to improve the standards of living of individuals and families on these dimensions. In order to spur development, the government should issue a new currency – the Digital Social Credit – which can be converted into dollars and used to reward people and organizations who drive significant social value. This new currency would allow people to measure the amount of good that they have done through various programs and actions.",
"excerpt": "Imagine an AI life coach with the voice of Oprah or Tom Hanks trying to help parents stay together or raise kids. Or a new Legion of Builders and Demolishers that install millions of solar panels across the country, upgrade our infrastructure and remove derelict buildings while also employing tens of thousands of workers. Or a digital personalized education subscription that is constantly giving you new material and grouping you with a few other people who are studying the same thing. Or a wearable device that monitors your vital signs and sends data to your doctor while recommending occasional behavior changes. Or voting securely in your local elections via your smartphone without any worry of fraud.Each of these scenarios is possible right now with current technology. But the resources and market incentives for them do not exist. There is limited or no market reward at present for keeping families together or upgrading infrastructure or lifelong education or preventative care or improving democracy. While our smartphones get smarter each season propelled by tens of billions of dollars, our voting machines, bridges, and schools languish in the 1960s.This is what we must change.At present, the Market systematically tends to undervalue many things, activities, and people, many of which are core to the human experience. Consider:And now, increasingly,There were periods when the Market supported some of these things more than it does today. Today, it needs to be steered to do so. The U.S. has reached a point where its current form of capitalism is faltering in producing an increasing standard of living for the majority of its citizens. It’s time for an upgrade.The Next Stage of CapitalismAdam Smith, the Scottish Economist who wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776, is often regarded as the father of modern Capitalism. His ideas of the Invisible Hand that guides the market, division of labor, and that self-interest and competition lead to wealth creation have been so deeply internalized that today we take most of them for granted. Our general thinking today is to contrast ‘Capitalism’ with ‘Socialism,’ which arose in the 1800s and advocated social ownership or democratic control of industries. Karl Marx published Das Kapital in 1867 and argued that capitalism contained internal tensions that would oppress the working class who would eventually rise up and take control. Our perception is that Capitalism – embodied by the West and the United States – won the war of ideas by generating immense growth and wealth and elevating the standard of living of billions of people. Socialism – represented by the Soviet Union which collapsed in 1991 and China which moderated its approach in the 1980s – didn’t work in practice and was thoroughly discredited.This simplistic assessment misses a couple important points. First, there is no such thing as a pure Capitalist system. There have been many different forms of Western capitalist economies going back centuries ever since money was invented around seven thousand years ago. The market feudalism of the Middle Ages evolved into the expansionist Mercantilism of European trading companies, which evolved into the Industrial Capitalism of 20th century America, and into the Welfare Capitalism of the 1960s when the U.S. and many other advanced countries established safety net programs like Social Security and Medicaid. Our current form of institutional capitalism and corporatism is just the latest of many different versions.Similarly, there are many forms of capitalism in service around the world right now. Singapore is the 4th richest country in the world in terms of per capita GDP. It has had an unemployment rate of 2.2% or lower since 2009 and is regarded as one of the most free and open, pro-business economies in the world. Yet the government in Singapore regularly shapes investment policy and government-linked firms dominate telecommunications, finance, and media in ways that would be unthinkable in the U.S. Singapore’s system of capitalism is very different than Norway’s and Japan’s and Canada’s and ours. Many countries’ form of capitalism is steered not by an unseen hand, but by clear government policy.Now imagine a new type of capitalist economy that is geared toward maximizing human well-being and fulfillment. These goals and GDP would sometimes go hand-in-hand. But there would be times when they wouldn’t be aligned. For example, an airline removing passengers who had already boarded a plane to maximize its profitability would be good for capital but bad for people. So would a drug company charging extortionate rates for a life-saving drug. Most Americans would agree that the airline should simply accept the lost revenue and the drug company should accept a moderate profit margin. What if this idea was repeated over and over again throughout the economy?Call it Human-centered Capitalism, or Human Capitalism for short.Human Capitalism has a few core tenets:There’s a saying in business that “what gets measured gets managed for.” We need to start measuring different things.The concept of GDP and economic progress didn’t even exist until the Great Depression. It was invented so that the government could figure out how bad the economy was getting and how to make it better. Economist Simon Kuznets, upon introducing GDP to Congress in 1934 remarked that “Economic welfare cannot be adequately measured unless the personal distribution of income is known. And no income measurement undertakes to estimate the reverse side of income, that is, the intensity and unpleasantness of effort going into the earning of income. The welfare of a nation can, therefore, scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income as defined above.” It’s almost like he saw income inequality and bad jobs coming.Our economic system must shift to focus on bettering the lot of the average person. Capitalism has to be made to serve human ends and goals, rather than have our humanity subverted to serve the Marketplace. We shape the system. We own it, not the other way around.In addition to GDP and job statistics, the government should adopt measurements like:It would be straightforward to establish measurements for each of these and have them updated periodically, similar to what Steve Ballmer set up at USAFacts.org. Everyone could then see how we’re doing and be galvanized around improvement.Human Capitalism will reshape the way that we measure value and progress, and help us redefine why we do what we do. It’s time to build an economy that makes people’s lives better. The market must serve us, not the other way around.",
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Improve the American Scorecard",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/measuring-the-economy/",
"description": "Traditionally, the economy has been measured by looking at the gross domestic product (GDP) or the stock market. Employment rates and household income are also used to measure how the average worker is doing.\nHowever, even the creator of the GDP admits that it doesn’t really reflect the full story. And, as economic inequality rises and the fruits of society’s labors accrue to fewer individuals, it’s become obvious that we need to expand our definition of economic prosperity past a single number. The bottom 80% of Americans only own 8% of stocks and rising GDP has virtually no relationship with each citizen’s wellbeing.\nWhen you measure something, you implicitly set your policy goals. By focusing our measurement on GDP, we’ve promoted production over all else. It’s time to start measuring economic prosperity using a wider index that measures human as well as monetary indicators, such as (but not limited to):\n\n Quality of life and health-adjusted life expectancy\nHappiness/Well-Being and Mental Health\nEnvironmental quality\nAffordability\nChildhood success rates\nUnderemployment\nIncome Inequality\nConsumer and Student Debt\nWork and civic engagement levels\nVolunteerism\nInfant mortality\nQuality of infrastructure\nAccess to education\nMarriage and divorce rates\nSubstance abuse and related deaths\nNational optimism\nPersonal dynamism/economic mobility\n\n In short, why use GDP as a proxy for how Americans are doing when we can easily measure that well-being directly? Let’s start an American Scorecard, directly measuring the things we should be focusing on.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Focus on a single number skews policy directives.",
"GDP doesn’t take into account economic inequality."
],
"main_quote": "Our economic system needs to be updated for a new era. GDP and profitability are increasingly unrelated to how most of us are doing in real life. We need to implement a new set of measures like mental health, happiness, childhood success and quality-adjusted life expectancy that actually indicate our progress as a society and then channel resources to improving them. We don't exist to serve the market. The market exists to serve us.",
"goals": [
"Refocus our measuring tools to better capture the actual economic/well-being of the American people",
"Set policy goals against measurable indicators of well-being",
"Make an American Scorecard to measure progress on these goals"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create the American Scorecard to:\n\n Expand our measurement tools to account for other human factors that should be used to determine policy.\nLet these numbers set our policy focus and set goals against them.\nTask government departments with improving performance against various new measurements.\nEnsure that income and wealth inequality do not continue to grow in America by adopting Universal Basic Income of $1k/month per adult.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Reduce Student Loan Burden",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/student-loan-debt/",
"description": "Student debt levels have exploded relative to other forms of debt over the past decade in particular. Educational loan totals recently surpassed $1.4 trillion in the U.S., up from $550 billion in 2011 and only $90 billion in 1999. The average level of indebtedness upon graduation is up to $37,172 and there are 44 million student borrowers. Default rates have crept up steadily to 11.2%, and if you include delinquency rates it’s as high as 25%. This is limiting the growth of our economy and also crippling the advancement of millions of young people in their careers and in starting families. We need to create a clear path out of this crippling debt.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Education debt has exploded in recent years to unsupportable levels.",
"Millions of young Americans owe tens of thousands of dollars in debt and face an uncertain financial future. Entire generations will have difficulty advancing professionally, starting families, buying homes and vehicles, and fueling the next level of economic growth due to high debt loads.",
"There is low accountability for educational institutions that benefit from public financing while providing graduates little in the way of real opportunities.",
"Lenders have little incentive to work with those in debt since bankruptcy doesn't eliminate student loan debt."
],
"main_quote": "I understand student debt—I owed tens of thousands for years after graduating. It’s immoral how we have saddled so many of our young people with so many school loans, often for degrees that will not result in solid careers. It’s even worse if you don’t finish school - you still owe the money and don’t get the benefit of a degree. Too many of our young people have been sold false promises. We owe it to them to do all we can to reduce their burden and make it so that they will be able to move forward in gaining skills, building a career, starting a family and pursuing their ambitions. The future of our society depends on their success. As President I will see to it that the Federal government does not make one cent from providing educational loans to its citizens. I will make sure that students get the lowest possible interest rates and can refinance at those rates. I will explore a blanket partial reduction of outstanding student loans for recent graduates - call it the “Bailout for the People.” Indebted students deserve a bailout much more than the banks did. I will ask schools to forgive in part or in whole the debts of those who do not graduate. I will support a program that allows graduates to pay a percent of income instead of a fixed amount. I will establish a commission to reduce or forgive the loans of students who were induced to pursue a degree under false pretenses. I will make it easier to discharge school debt in bankruptcy. I will establish a grant program that forgives student debt for those who work in rural areas or with underprivileged populations. Last, I will gladly close schools that are essentially diploma mills preying upon the hopes and dreams of the vulnerable among us. There will be accountability for every dollar that the public is spending on school loans. We owe it to the next generation to get this right. We have to stop screwing young people and sticking them with the bill.",
"goals": [
"Reduce the burden on millions of young Americans for their education",
"Improve efficacy of funds invested in education",
"Increase accountability of educational institutions"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Immediately reduce the student loan payments for millions of Americans by ensuring that the American government does not profit one cent from its educational loan servicing and that students get the same interest rates as the wealthiest bank. Any profit that the government does realize will go into reducing rates the following year until profit is zero.\nExplore a blanket partial reduction in the principal of school loans, especially for recent graduates with the largest debt levels—the “Bailout for the People”—and forgiveness for debt beyond a certain period after graduation.\nPropose the 10×10 Student Loan Emancipation Act, a plan by which the federal government would buy student loan debt (negotiated rate with the private lenders) and allow students to opt into a plan to repay it through pledging 10% of their salary per year for ten years, after which the balance would be forgiven.\nAsk schools to forgive in part or in whole the debts of those who do not graduate.\nInitiate a program that allows graduates to pay a percent of income instead of a fixed amount. \nEstablish a commission that will explore debt forgiveness or reduction for students who sought degrees under false pretenses. \nChange bankruptcy laws to make it easier to discharge educational debt.\nExpand a program that forgives the debt of graduates who work in rural areas or with underprivileged populations. \nClose schools with high loan default rates and consistently low employment placement success.\nPolice and prosecute all marketing representations of schools that might induce enrollment under false pretenses. \nAllow student loan debt to be discharged through bankruptcy, thus forcing lenders to work with students in good faith to find workable repayment plans.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Powering a Sustainable World",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/powering-a-sustainable-world/",
"description": "The US is innovative and extremely capable of developing cutting edge green technology. The private sector will be more motivated to invest time and energy in developing this green technology if companies can trust that they will be able to sell their products and technological advancements oversees.\n\n When foreign governments want to buy goods from private US companies, the Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank) finances the loan that allows foreign governments to purchase those goods. The EXIM Bank can make certain goods appear more attractive to other countries, by offering better financing options for different goals, like lower interest rates. Let’s use its powers for good by making it cheaper for other countries to buy US sustainable energy technology.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our country does not have a plan to export cutting edge green technology."
],
"main_quote": "We can save the world for our children, make the environment healthier, and build a much stronger economy. We need to come together and get back to what America is all about - innovation, hard work, and solving the biggest problems the world is facing.",
"goals": [
"Use the EXIM Bank powers for good by making it cheaper for other countries to buy US sustainable energy technology."
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Use the EXIM Bank, or create a new, Green EXIM Bank, to aggressively export US green technology throughout the rest of the world.\nDirect the State Department to engage in climate diplomacy, forming relationships with developing nations that are looking for partners in building an energy infrastructure that’s sustainable.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Using Trade Deals to Fight Climate Change",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/using-trade-deals-to-fight-climate-change/",
"description": "Once we cut fossil fuel subsidies and employ strict environmental regulations for manufacturing here in the US, corporations will want to move their operations overseas. After moving their operations to countries that allow fossil fuel production, these corporations with then sell their products back to the US through various trade deals that protect the fossil fuel industry. This would render our efforts to stop fossil fuel production useless because corporations would literally be incentivized to take away American jobs while polluting the environment. \nAdditionally, the fossil fuel industries lobby to get trade deals to provide them with incentives for development, preferential treatment in trade, or carve outs to allow them to more aggressively combat the efforts of other countries to regulate their industry.\n\n We need to ensure that our trade deals with other countries match our values and environmental goals. We need to renegotiate our trade deals that protect the fossil fuel industry. Instead, our trade deals need to ensure that any goods manufactured using unsustainable methods are appropriately costed, and the fossil fuel industries don’t get unwarranted power in the deals.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Corporations have incentives to avoid our environmental standard regulations by moving their manufacturing overseas."
],
"main_quote": "We can make the United States the center of a new global, sustainable energy sector. This will bring money to the American people, and will create jobs in installation and maintenance that will be local and less likely to be automated. It will also reduce a primary source of income used by some of our biggest adversaries - Russia, Iran, Venezuela all rely on oil, and terrorist organizations utilize it as a primary fundraising mechanism.",
"goals": [
"Keeping jobs and sustainable manufacturing practices here in the US"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Ensure that any trade negotiation includes stringent environmental standards.\nEnsure that any trade deal doesn’t include carve-outs or exclusives for oil, gas, or coal.\nRenegotiate any trade deal that includes carve-outs for fossil fuel industries, including the ISDS exceptions in NAFTA/USMCA.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Implement Mandatory Paid Leave Policy",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/mandatory-vacation/",
"description": "The United States is the only industrialized nation without a mandatory minimum employee leave policy. While we don’t work more than every other industrialized country, we work more, on average, than most of them. This puts stress on families when they don’t spend time together and workers when they don’t get time to relax.\n\n We should join the rest of the industrialized world and institute a mandatory leave policy. All full-time workers should be guaranteed a minimum of four weeks. Contractors too should be given paid time off if they work for the same company consistently and reliably. This policy will help create jobs at the margins, decrease stress, and allow people to spend more time with their families.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Americans don’t have the freedom to take time away from their job for their family or other pursuits."
],
"main_quote": "I love to work; work is a calling. But studies have shown that Americans would be just as productive if they had more time off. Oftentimes we do our best thinking and reflection when we are away from the office. When I was CEO of a company, I took time off and everyone performed better for it. Strong organizations allow people to step away. Americans would be happier and healthier and have better relationships with more days off and would be just as productive. It's particularly important for contractors, who feel like they can't take a day off without losing earnings as a result.",
"goals": [
"Implement a minimum leave policy for full-time workers",
"Give contractors some paid time away from work"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Advocate for a minimum leave policy of four weeks each year for full-time workers, with exemptions for new companies less than 9 years old and small companies with fewer than 50 employees. \nContractors who work the equivalent of 40+ hours per week should be entitled to 1 paid week off for every 13 weeks they work for a given company.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Right to Privacy/Abortion and Contraception",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/right-privacy-abortion-contraception/",
"description": "In a perfect world, only those who are ready for and desire a child would become pregnant. But that’s not the world we live in. \nEveryone has a right to bodily integrity, and more needs to be done to ensure that women have and maintain that right.\nAccess to birth control should be provided to all Americans. It should be the decision of each individual whether she wants to use it, not a decision made for her by her doctor, family, or where she lives.\n\n Access to safe and affordable abortion services should also be provided to all Americans. Requirements placed by individual states on access should be subject to oversight by a board of doctors, not the whims of legislators who have no background on the procedure or even the basics of medicine.\nThe two most effective ways to decrease the number of abortions are to provide every woman with access to contraceptives and to provide financial, emotional, and structural support to individuals who are financially struggling and become pregnant—Universal Basic Income would accomplish this for many prospective parents.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The right of many American women to have control over their bodies is being unconstitutionally eroded by legislators with no medical background."
],
"main_quote": "Whether to have a child is an immense personal decision. In my view, it is solely up to the woman what course to take. As a society, we should support mothers in ways big and small if they do decide to have children. I respect the feelings that many Americans have on this issue, and appreciate the values one brings to bear. But it should always be up to the woman what to do. I have the feeling that if men became pregnant instead of women there would be absolutely no restriction on reproductive rights.",
"goals": [
"Protect the right to privacy of American women",
"Treat women equally"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Appoint judges who support a woman’s right to choose. \nSupport a woman’s right to choose in every circumstance and provide resources for planning and contraception.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Make it Easy for Americans to Move for Work",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/get-america-moving/",
"description": "Many Americans live in areas where there are few available jobs. However, they also don’t have the means to move to an area with better job prospects. And frequently, professional licenses don’t travel to different localities or states.\n\n In order to help people move to areas with more jobs, the federal government should subsidize the moving costs for Americans who are relocating for work. It should also work with state licensure boards to increase the mobility of individual licenses.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Americans often want to move for better job prospects but can’t afford the costs."
],
"main_quote": "Americans are moving less than ever, which is bad for our labor market, our economy and our culture. Moving is an act of optimism that leads to adaptability and positive change. We need to get America moving again for new opportunities.",
"goals": [
"Make it easier for Americans to move for work"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the IRS to create a program to refund up to $1,000 of moving expenses for any American relocating for work.\nPush to reevaluate which professional licenses are actually necessary, and remove the requirement that federal contracts go to people with those licenses when they are deemed to be unnecessary.\nWork with licensure boards to increase the mobility of professional licenses.\nUniversal Basic Income will help address this as well by giving more Americans the financial resources to move.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Promote Vocational Education",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/promoting-vocational-education/",
"description": "It seems we’re preparing our children for college earlier and earlier. College readiness is a driving force behind many educational decisions in this country. This has resulted in only 6% of American high school students being enrolled in a vocational program (in 2013), whereas comparable European nations have numbers closer to 50%.\nFor those that do start college, graduating isn’t a sure thing. 6 years after first enrolling, fewer than 60% of students have attained a degree. If you look at only open-admissions schools, the number drops to 32%. That represents a huge investment of money and time on the part of Americans that doesn’t lead them to a positive outcome.\nOn the other side, the underemployment rate for recent college grads is approaching 44%, and one-third end up in jobs that don’t require the degree they earned.\n\n College is being over-prescribed in this country. Not everyone has an interest in obtaining a college degree, and there are many jobs out there that don’t require it. Georgetown has estimated that there are 30 million good-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree. Most require some type of specialized training.\nAs a country, we need to dramatically increase our investment in vocational training, providing a viable career path for those students who are more interested in starting their careers immediately after high school instead of continuing with an education they don’t want but feel obligated to get.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Too many students invest in college when it’s not the right investment for them.",
"Too few students are aware of alternative career paths, or lack access to training for those paths.",
"Some feel there is a stigma attached to vocational jobs."
],
"main_quote": "There are tens of millions of jobs that will be with us for decades that don’t require a college degree: machinists, line repair, air-conditioning repair, exterminator, high-end manufacturing, and so on. We need to remove any stigma from vocational education and dramatically increase its visibility and availability. Apprenticeships should be a big part of the future of education for millions of Americans that would give them a runway to a fulfilling livelihood.",
"goals": [
"Increase vocational training options in public schools",
"Counsel students on the right path for them based on their interests and career goals"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Increase funding to vocational programs within public schools.\nDirect the Dept. of Education to provide materials to all public schools about career paths that don’t require a college degree.\nPrioritize career paths that students express interest in rather than giving blanket advice that college is the right/only option.\nBegin a public education campaign championing vocational jobs and education, “I Work With My Hands – And It’s Awesome.”",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Value-Added Tax",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/value-added-tax/",
"description": "A VAT is currently used by 160 out of 193 countries, including every developed nation except the US, because it is a more efficient way of generating revenue with no loopholes. 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.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Corporations move money around to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.",
"The burden of paying for social services falls disproportionately on those who earn the least.",
"The Freedom Dividend should be funded by those who benefit most from the structure and work of society."
],
"main_quote": "Taxing income is an increasingly ineffective and inefficient way to generate revenue over time. Take a company like Amazon—it can do tens of billions in business and pay no income tax in a given period while storing its income overseas. A Value-Added Tax is a much more efficient way to capture the true value of the American infrastructure and will be increasingly necessary over time as more and more work is done by software, robots and artificial intelligence. With a VAT of half the European level, we can pay for Universal Basic Income for all American adults of $1,000 per month.",
"goals": [
"Generate a revenue stream that can’t be avoided by corporations who are trying to circumvent our taxation system",
"Generate revenue that will be consistent with increasing automation"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Implement a Value-Added Tax at 10%, half the European level. Over time, the VAT will become more and more important to capture the value generated by automation in a way that income taxes would not.\n\n This VAT would vary based on the good to which it’s applied, with staples having a lower rate or being excluded, and luxury goods having a higher rate.\n\n Use the VAT revenue to pay for the Freedom Dividend of $1,000/month per adult, Universal Basic Income.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Make it Easier to Save for Retirement",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/telescoping-retirement-accounts/",
"description": "Most Americans want to do more to save for retirement, but they don’t know how. It’s also always easier to say, “I’ll start tomorrow,” when the expenses of today crop up.\nThe government should help people who want to do more to prepare for their future.\n\n There should be opt-in retirement accounts that have defined contributions that automatically increase with people’s incomes. By opting in, an individual could define a portion of their income to be dedicated to this tax-free account, and as their income increases, or at regular intervals, the amount could be automatically increased.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"People want to do more to save for retirement but don’t know how.",
"Saving immediately is hard, but defining a time in the future to automatically start and increase that saving is much easier."
],
"main_quote": "It’s very hard to save for retirement years from now, and accounts seem very complex. Yet the earlier you start, the better off you’ll be. We need to help Americans simplify their financial lives by making retirement savings self-activating. It’s a lot easier to save money if it’s automatically being done for you.",
"goals": [
"Help people save for their future",
"Use behavioral economics to build a retirement system for people to opt into"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a tax-free investment vehicle into which people can opt to automatically have a portion of their income directed, and allow them to define automatic increases to their contribution (either based on increases to their reported income, or at regular intervals).",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Zoning",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/zoning/",
"description": "Home ownership is a part of the American dream. However, over the past few decades, those who already own homes have made it significantly harder for those who don’t to recognize that dream. Through NIMBY (not in my backyard) and zoning laws, the ability of new housing to be built in certain areas has been impeded to the point where the vast majority of Americans can’t afford to live in the largest cities. You have to look no further than San Francisco or my hometown of New York City to see how true this is.\n\n We need to make it easier for people to afford housing – either renting or buying – in more localities. In order to do this, we need to recognize that homeowners in an area generally have more power with local legislators and start taking the needs of renters and those who would be interested in moving into areas into account.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Zoning laws have made the creation of affordable housing impossible in areas that are most in need of new housing, driving workers for those areas to multi-hour commutes."
],
"main_quote": "Housing is eating up more and more Americans’ budgets and making it impossible to get ahead. There are ways to provide much more affordable housing but they require new approaches to zoning and development. If we relaxed zoning laws in certain areas it would enhance productivity and allow us to create many more affordable housing options.",
"goals": [
"Make housing more affordable"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with localities to relax zoning ordinances for the purpose of increasing the development of affordable housing.\nEncourage the building of new innovative housing options like micro-apartments and communal living for people in high-density urban areas.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Free Financial Counseling for All",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/financial-counseling/",
"description": "The current level of financial literacy in America is shockingly low. Most people don’t understand how our banking system works, how to invest their money, or what’s the best financial vehicle for their retirement fund. And most Americans can’t afford, or don’t have enough money to warrant, a financial advisor.\n\n Since we want Americans to have some control over their retirement, it’s important to ensure Americans have the knowledge they need to save and invest properly. While educating people when they’re young adults is one avenue to achieve this, not everyone remembers everything they learned in high school (and, if we’re honest, almost all of us didn’t pay attention in at least one class). It’s important to continue to provide assistance to those who want to learn how to save for their future.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Most Americans have no idea how to save for their future, despite desperately wanting to."
],
"main_quote": "Financial literacy is lacking for many Americans, in part because it doesn’t seem relevant until too late, and then it seems needlessly complex. We need to make it easier to learn about investing and saving for Americans of every age and stage. Financially literate Americans are harder for companies to take advantage of and will pass good financial principles down to their children. This is good practice.",
"goals": [
"Make it easier for Americans to learn about personal finance",
"Assist Americans in saving for their future"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the IRS to invest in online courses and AI-based advisors to help people understand their options for personal finance.\nAllow all Americans to deduct the cost of a personal finance course at a community college from their taxes.\nCreate a division of the IRS to assist individuals who are looking for personal finance advice to contact them for that advice.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Decrease Pre-Trial Cash Bail",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/cashbail/",
"description": "In this country, you’re innocent until proven guilty. However, too many Americans are currently in jail before their day in court because they can’t afford to post bail.\nThis is problematic for many reasons.\nFirst, it costs the country almost $80b per year in incarceration costs and loss of productivity.\nSecond, it puts pressure on people to take plea agreements even when they may not have committed a crime, as awaiting trial while in jail can impose a longer incarceration period than the plea deal. The unconvicted jail population is two to three times the size of the convicted population.\n\n Third, bail determinations are highly subjective, with individuals receiving vastly different bail amounts for similar crimes.\nFinally, the inability to pay cash bail obviously falls more frequently on those with lower levels of income. This often results in them losing their jobs, causing immediate economic distress. This is another pressure towards accepting plea deals, as well as causing a long-term poverty cycle which can rob them of future opportunities.\nStates that have reformed their bail systems to minimize cash bail have seen very high levels of trial attendance with very low levels of crime by those released while awaiting trial.\nWe should be much more judicious in the use of cash bail, only employing it when necessary.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our cash bail system is costly and subjective, resulting in false plea agreements and economic insecurity."
],
"main_quote": "People should not be going to jail because they cannot afford to make bail. That’s not the sort of country we are. It should not be criminal to be poor in this country. We can do better by improving the process leading up to a trial date—we should reduce our reliance on bail, and focus on clearer communication and services pre-trial.",
"goals": [
"Reduce the use of cash bail",
"Increase pre-trial services"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with states to decrease their reliance on cash bail, providing assistance and grants for various programs to increase trial attendance without the need to incarcerate people ahead of conviction.\nImplement a federal program of pre-trial services that would be made available to states, such as a text message system to remind individuals of their upcoming court dates.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Reduce Mass Incarceration",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reduce-mass-incarceration/",
"description": "America imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens than almost any other country in the world, and minorities are disproportionately represented in this group. Incarceration doesn’t just set someone back for the time they’re imprisoned; with our current felony laws, they follow someone throughout their life.\nMandatory minimum laws, the war on drugs, and other misguided policy decisions over the years passed by politicians with an eye towards being “tough on crime” have resulted in a glut of Americans behind bars. Instead of focusing on what sounds or feels good, we should focus on results. While individuals should be punished for committing crimes, the end goal should be to prevent people from committing crimes, and to lower recidivism rates for those who are convicted.\n\n Outside of my social policies such as Universal Basic Income, which will eliminate poverty and thus reduce one common driver of crime, there are many things we can do to ensure the safety of Americans by preventing people from becoming criminals.\n\n Review the current mandatory minimum laws to bring them in line with what data shows us is effective\nShift federal drug policy away from punishment and towards treatment\nEnd the use of for-profit, private prisons\nFund programs targeted at reducing recidivism and increasing reintegration\nPush for a reconsideration of the harshness of our felony laws, including an investigation into any civil rights issues raised by the disproportionate amount of minorities convicted of these crimes",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Mass incarceration is one of the biggest civil rights issues of our time, and it needs to be addressed so that all have a fair shot at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
],
"main_quote": "Our rates of incarceration are 4 times higher than most other industrialized countries, and it’s a national disgrace. People on both sides of the aisle now recognize that our system is badly in need of reform. Our criminal justice system is particularly punitive toward blacks and other minorities. As President I will overhaul the treatment of drug offenses and reduce our rates of incarceration over time.",
"goals": [
"Reduce the incarceration rate in America",
"Increase treatment options for drug offenses",
"Reduce the rate of recidivism",
"Reduce overall crime rates"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work to end the use of private prison facilities for federal inmates.\nShift drug policy away from punishment and towards treatment.\nInvest money to fund innovative prison programs that decrease recidivism and increase reintegration.\nInvest money to support businesses that hire felons who have served their prison term.\nPush to reconsider harsh felony laws that prevent those who have served their prison term from reintegrating into society.\nIdentify non-violent drug offenders for probation and potential early release.\nImplement Universal Basic Income which will dramatically decrease incentives for criminality and improve the functioning of individuals and communities.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Paid Family Leave",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/paid-family-leave/",
"description": "America’s lack of mandated paid family leave is, quite frankly, stupid. Robust family leave plans have been shown to improve children’s health and increase women’s employment rates. We’re one of only a handful of countries to lack a federally mandated family leave policy and the others are Suriname, Papua New Guinea, and a few South Pacific Island Nations.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"America’s lack of a paid family leave policy results in negative impacts on health, women’s employment rate, and family cohesion.",
"A lack of a paid family leave policy forces many single parents—especially mothers—into poverty."
],
"main_quote": "It’s embarrassing and unconscionable that in the most advanced country in the world we don’t account for something as basic as needing to spend time with your child when he or she is born. This drives mothers out of the workforce prematurely and impedes healthy development of infants, which is something we all pay for. We need to catch up to the civilized world and mandate paid family leave.",
"goals": [
"Create a federally mandated paid family leave policy"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Propose and fight for a paid family leave policy, requiring employers to offer at least 9 months of paid family leave, distributed between parents however they see fit; or 6 months of paid leave for a single parent.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Fight for Equal Pay",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/fight-for-equal-pay/",
"description": "For most of this country’s history, marginalized groups were either not allowed to participate in certain jobs, or their opportunities in those professions were limited. This legacy persists today not only in the opportunities afforded to people, but also in the compensation people receive for performing the same work.\nThis is stupid. People should receive equal pay for doing equal work. While federal law requires this, we’re still far from achieving it in practice. There’s a lot of fuzziness around the $.80-to-the-dollar stat, especially once you take race as well as gender into account, but the simple fact remains that women—especially black, Hispanic, and Native American women—earn much less than their male coworkers.\n\n Laws that prevent employers from retaliating against workers who share salary data, and others that force employers to disclose that information, are band-aids that try to account for the issue on the back-end. The federal government must do more to ensure that anyone performing the same work in substantially similar situations should receive equal pay.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Women receive less pay for the same work men do",
"The discrepancy in pay faced by black, Hispanic, and Native American women is even more pronounced"
],
"main_quote": "Women are often under-compensated because their work is not properly valued by employers, who believe that they will accept less than they are worth. We need to empower women to get paid what they deserve by their employers and make the workplace fair to women. This includes, of course, women getting equal pay for the work that they do. In many of my companies, women have been the key leaders and team members making great things happen every day. This is the case in companies across the country and should be rewarded and recognized in the most direct manner possible—in what they get paid.",
"goals": [
"Promote equal pay for equal work",
"Work to alleviate the racial discrepancies in pay"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Pay all federal workers who are performing the same job the same salary.\nWork with states to implement salary disclosure laws.\nRefuse to hire outside contractors/companies that won’t disclose salary information for their employees and who don’t provide equal pay for all employees who are performing equivalent work.\nPilot studies to see if different policies result in more equitable hiring and pay in the federal workforce (e.g., blind hiring; 360-review promotion).",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Legalize Marijuana",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/legalization-of-marijuana/",
"description": "Marijuana is still considered a controlled substance by federal law. Thousands are in jail for marijuana-related offenses, particularly people of color. \nYet marijuana is now legal for adult use in 11 states and the District of Columbia, and 33 states have legalized medical marijuana in some form.\n\n We need to resolve the ambiguity and legalize marijuana at the federal level. This would improve safety, social equity, and generate tens of billions of dollars in new revenue based on legal cannabis businesses.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Thousands of Americans, many of them minorities, are in jail for non-violent marijuana-related offenses even as it is now legal in 9 states.",
"Federal treatment of marijuana is unclear as it remains a controlled substance under the law",
"Unregulated marijuana leads to safety issues and lack of oversight"
],
"main_quote": "I don’t love marijuana. I’d rather people not use it heavily. But it’s vastly safer than people becoming addicted to opiates like heroin. And our criminalization of it seems stupid and racist, particularly now that it’s legal in some states. We should proceed with full legalization of marijuana and pardon those in jail for non-violent marijuana-related offenses. It’s a safer, less addictive means to manage pain for many Americans.",
"goals": [
"Provide justice and equity for those convicted of marijuana use and possession",
"Provide regulation and oversight of the marijuana industry",
"Generate revenue"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Support the full legalization of marijuana at the federal level and remove it from the controlled substances list.\nExpunge the federal convictions of all marijuana-related use or possession offenses.\nIdentify non-violent drug offenders for probation and potential early release.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Provide Basic Banking Services through the Post Office",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/post-offices-provide-basic-banking-services/",
"description": "There are many communities that are underbanked throughout the U.S. that have to rely upon payday lenders. However, virtually every community has a post office, which are now looking for new sources of revenue and support. We should allow U.S. Postal Offices to provide check cashing, savings accounts, wiring money and other basic financial services.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Millions of Americans do not have access to basic, affordable financial services.",
"Post offices are community hubs that could use new activities and revenues."
],
"main_quote": "In other countries, you can get a lot done at the Post Office aside from mail. We should follow suit here in the U.S.—it would reduce costs for consumers, make Post Offices more vital, and provide financial services in rural areas.",
"goals": [
"Broaden access to quality, low-cost financial services",
"Support the operation of post offices around the country"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Enable the U.S. Postal Service to offer basic financial services at low rates in communities around the country.\nEncourage post offices to stay open until 8 pm on Tuesdays to accommodate customers.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Prosperity Grants",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/prosperity-grants/",
"description": "In order to foster investment in the community, the federal government should give each working-age American $100 per year to donate to a 501(c)3 non-profit. This would funnel approx. $20 billion to local non-profits, and it can easily be paid for by reducing the tax credit for itemized donations to a maximum of 22% with a floor of $500 for itemized deductions.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"People feel less invested in the goals of their local community",
"Philanthropy is regarded as the province of the wealthy",
"Causes that the wealthy prefer get more donations"
],
"main_quote": "Philanthropy right now favors interest areas that the wealthy like to support, and the itemized charitable deduction is enjoyed almost entirely by the richest Americans. Making every American a philanthropist would facilitate new interactions in the community and diversify the organizations that are supported. It would also make sure that non-profits could be rewarded more by the people that they serve, increasing their efficiency.",
"goals": [
"Get people to donate money locally",
"Make non-profits more responsive to constituent needs",
"Increase civic engagement",
"Shift non-profit interests toward broader goals"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the IRS to create a Prosperity Grant program.\nEach year at the beginning of the year Americans would receive $100 that could only be donated to a 501c3 institution through the same mechanism that they receive the Freedom Dividend/Universal Basic Income. \nWork with Congress to change the tax code to account for Prosperity Grants.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Increase Assistance for Single Parents",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/single-parent-assistance/",
"description": "Being a parent is the toughest job on the planet, even with a partner and strong extended family to rely on. It’s even tougher for the 13.6 million single parents out there, most of them mothers. The numbers are set to rise sharply – today, 40% of the children born in the United States are born to unmarried mothers, up from 15% in 1980. \nWe should be doing more to help them and the approx. 21 million children being raised in single-parent households.\nOutside of programs such as the Freedom Dividend to raise them out of poverty and support their ability to provide food and housing for their family, the best thing we can do for these parents is to help them find and build a support network.\n\n ![\"\"](\"http://yang2020.com/wp-content/uploads/Figure20_Percent-Babies-Unmarried-Mothers-1024x620.bmp\")
",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Single parents are trying to do the toughest job on the planet with very little support.",
"Often they must balance a full-time job or several jobs with raising children."
],
"main_quote": "Being a parent has been an experience like no other - I can’t imagine going through it alone. We need to do all we can to support the single parents out there, particularly single mothers, as they have to balance more demands than the rest of us can understand. As President, I will make helping single parents a key priority of the Federal government in ways big and small. It's vital to the future of our society that single parents get the support that they need. It takes a village to raise a child, and investing in children pays off in healthy, productive adults.",
"goals": [
"Support single parents in the raising of their children",
"Help form stronger communal bonds for single parents and their children"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Invest in programs that provide support for single parents, including but not limited to:\n\n Universal Basic Income of $1k/month for all adults\nMandatory family and maternity leave for full-time employees\nTax breaks for child-care services\nIncreased federal funding for pre-K programs\nThe creation of responsibility-sharing networks, allowing single parents to work with each other for childcare and other responsibilities, and allowing these children to socialize with other children\nInvestment in communal housing specifically for single parents to be able to pool resources and caregiving\n\n Initiate a campaign to assist single mothers and a national recruitment drive for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for male volunteers to spend time with children of single mothers who would like a positive male role model (the waiting list for little boys looking for a big brother is twice as long as the waiting list for little girls).",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "File Income Taxes",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/filing-income-taxes/",
"description": "At the beginning of each year, Americans dread the coming of tax season. The specter of needing to figure out the complex rules of the tax code hangs over each of us for the first third of the year, and most of us rush during April to come in under the deadline.\n75% of Americans receive refunds. For those Americans, they’ve been (essentially) giving the US Government an interest-free loan through most of the year. They’d be better off having access to that money at the time they earn it. For the other 25% of Americans, needing to find the money to pay their tax balance adds unnecessary stress to their lives.\n\n After taxes are filed, many Americans then spend weeks dreading an audit, hoping that the IRS doesn’t randomly select them. That process itself can add cost to the tax process, as most people don’t have the required expertise to deal with the IRS’s auditors.\nThis doesn’t have to be the case. The IRS has almost all the information they need to calculate your taxes within a fair degree of accuracy. They can do this automatically, guaranteeing that you hold on to more of your money throughout the year and will never need to spend money on expensive tax-preparation services or audit-protection insurance.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Preparing your taxes is a difficult process that requires hours of time, expensive software or paid specialists.",
"Going through an audit is stressful and expensive, and if you did anything wrong, it’s most likely unintentional."
],
"main_quote": "Right now most of us dread paying taxes for good reason. None of us has time to figure out where the receipts are and what we owe, and we’re constantly stressed that we’re screwing things up or leaving money on the table. Turning us into a nation of tax experts is a ridiculous waste of citizen time and energy. The IRS should be able to tell us how much we owe and automatically file our taxes for us. Every time we do something that we think is tax-relevant, we should just forward it to a particular email address or account and it gets added in. Taxes are a perfect candidate for automation and artificial intelligence because there are clear rules to follow. Let's use technology to simplify all of our lives and focus on more important things.",
"goals": [
"Remove the stress of filing taxes for the average American and get more money into the economy faster",
"Increase trust in government"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Instruct the IRS to implement a system whereby any American can opt into a program to have their taxes filed automatically.\nInstruct the IRS to coordinate with the Treasury to prepare a report on federal spending, and send each taxpayer a rundown of the actual amount of their taxes that went to each major spending area (e.g., domestic programs, foreign aid, military, etc).\nIncrease the budget of the IRS by 50% to $16.2 billion and modernize it with the latest technology. Money spent on the IRS will almost certainly pay for itself many times over via better tax compliance and less wasted time of citizens. Running the country like a business means both taking care of constituents and collecting revenue as seamlessly and efficiently as possible.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Crypto/Digital Asset Regulation and Consumer Protection",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/digital-asset-regulation/",
"description": "Cryptocurrencies and digital assets have quickly grown to represent a large amount of value and economic activity. This quick growth, however, has outstripped the government’s response. A national framework for regulating these assets has failed to emerge, with several federal agencies claiming conflicting jurisdictions. At the same time, states have come up with a patchwork of varying regulations that make it difficult for the US cryptocurrency markets to compete with those in other jurisdictions, especially China and Europe.\n\n Currently, different departments of the federal government consider digital assets as property, commodities, or securities. Some states have onerous regulations in the space, such as NY’s BitLicense. Navigating this has had a chilling effect on the US digital asset market.\nIt’s time for the federal government to create clear guidelines as to how cryptocurrencies/digital asset markets will be treated and regulated so that investment can proceed with all relevant information.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets have developed faster than regulations can keep up.",
"Several states have conflicting and varying regulations on digital asset markets.",
"Uncertainty in what regulatory framework will develop is causing US investment in the area to lag behind the investment of other countries."
],
"main_quote": "Investment in cryptocurrencies and digital assets has far outpaced our regulatory frameworks in the US. We should let investors, companies, and individuals know what the landscape and treatment will be moving forward to support innovation and development. The blockchain has vast potential.",
"goals": [
"Create clear guidelines in the digital asset world so that businesses and individuals can invest and innovate in the area without fear of a regulatory shift"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Promote legislation that provides clarity in the cryptocurrency/digital asset market space by:\n\n Defining what a token is, and when it is a security (e.g., recognizing “utility tokens”)\nDefine which federal agencies have regulatory power over the crypto/digital assets space\nProvide for consumer protections in the space\nClarify the tax implications of owning, selling, and trading digital assets\nPromote the nationwide adoption of recognition of protections afforded by a series LLC\nPreempt state regulations, when possible, to create one national framework\n\n Work with the sponsors of the Token Taxonomy Act and Wyoming legislators to promote the above, largely modeled after their work.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Timing of Payments for Small Businesses",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/payment-small-businesses/",
"description": "Small businesses are often surviving month to month, especially in their early years. They can’t afford to have a payment delayed, or go through a lengthy litigation process to collect on a contract. They are also often in a position where they are trying to build relationships with bigger clients. \nBig corporations on the other hand often play fast and loose with timing of payments because they know that the small business generally cannot resort to legal recourse. Big companies also have in-house legal counsel or lawyers on retainer in case there is a dispute.\n\n We should not be allowing big corporations to force small businesses to act as unofficial credit lines because of a difference in bargaining power. In some cases, it is literally the difference between staying in business and going out of business for the small shop. \nWe need to ensure that all businesses are playing fair so that our small business community can thrive.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Big companies can afford to stall payment to small businesses, sometimes spurring cashflow issues or forcing delays that the small companies can’t afford, or renegotiation of contracts in order to recover some payment."
],
"main_quote": "I have run a small business that has been stuck waiting forever for a giant client to get around to paying. They know you can’t really do anything about it. We should do what we can to ensure that big businesses don’t use small businesses as an unofficial credit line. It would be better for the growth of small businesses over time.",
"goals": [
"Prevent big companies from using stalling tactics to delay payment to smaller contractors"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to pass a law requiring any company with more than 1,000 employees or $50 million in annual revenue, if fulfillment is not in dispute, to pay any invoice from a company with less than $5 million in revenue or fewer than 100 employees within 60 days of the date agreed upon or pay a rate of 7% annualized interest per month on the overdue payment, which will continue during any period of litigation if the small business is successful in proving its claim.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Ease the Transition to Self-Driving Vehicles",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/trucking-czar/",
"description": "Over 3 million Americans work as truck drivers, and over 7 million are employed related to trucking activity. Self-driving truck technology is rapidly becoming sophisticated enough to replace these drivers, and the economy is not prepared to absorb the loss of so many jobs. Truck drivers are 94% male, average age 49, average education high school or one year of college – there are not necessarily other opportunities for them that will pay a comparable salary. Additionally, hundreds of communities are built around the trucking industry and those communities are also at risk from the coming automation.\n\n We need to implement a plan for how to handle the loss of these jobs, and we have to do it soon. Some estimates have the mass production of these vehicles as occurring within the decade. This has potential for serious unrest if not handled properly.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Over 7 million Americans’ jobs, including 3.5 million driving jobs, are at risk as self-driving trucks become more viable.",
"Alternative opportunities may not be feasible for a large number of truck drivers."
],
"main_quote": "Truck driving is the most common job in 29 states. As automation improves, millions of American workers’ livelihoods are at stake. We need to engineer a smooth transition for these millions of workers so that their contributions are recognized and that they benefit from some of the new efficiencies and cost-savings. Handled correctly, the automation of truck driving could be celebrated as a positive thing even by many of the workers involved.",
"goals": [
"Protect Americans who work in the trucking industry",
"Enable a smooth transition to autonomous vehicles",
"Preserve order and distribute gains equitably"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Appoint a Trucking Czar to oversee the successful transitioning of truck drivers as self-driving trucks become more commonplace. Ask Andy Stern to lead the commission. \nPropose a tax on profits derived from self-driving trucks to provide severance packages for the drivers whose jobs are replaced. The estimated cost-savings and efficiency gains of automated freight are $168 billion per year which is enough to pay the truckers significant sums and still save tens of billions per year.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Capital Gain/Carried Interest Tax",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/capital-gain-carried-interest-tax/",
"description": "Capital gains and carried interest currently receive favorable treatment by the tax code. This privileges investors over workers and promotes speculation.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Capital gains and carried interest are given favorable tax treatment relative to earned income from labor."
],
"main_quote": "It’s irrational that we privilege capital gains and investment income versus earned income. The top 20% own 92% of the stock market, and the bottom half of Americans own essentially zero. We should be encouraging and rewarding work first and foremost. An investor should not be paying a lower tax rate on gains than the person who is working hard every day. I’ve worked and invested and working is a lot harder.",
"goals": [
"Raise revenue"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Propose an end to favorable tax treatment for capital gains and carried interest. Ending the carried interest treatment loophole alone would generate $18 billion per year in revenue and ending favorable treatment of capital gains would generate tens of billions more.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Financial Transaction Tax",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/financial-transaction-tax/",
"description": "Financial markets have grown dramatically over the past decades. Speculation in them has also led to bubbles that, when popped, caused untold damage to the world’s economy.\n\n In order to raise revenue while also stymying some of the rampant speculation that can lead to financial collapse, a financial transaction tax should be levied on financial trades. This has been adopted by other countries quite successfully.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Financial transactions and speculation cause risk to the economy, and that risk isn’t covered by those who cause it."
],
"main_quote": "Investing has been transformed into speculation by computer-generated algorithms and trading platforms. The average holding time of a stock is now only 4 months. There is no real value being generated, just individual firms trying to squeeze value out of the system, often at the expense of the public.",
"goals": [
"Raise revenue",
"Limit speculation that has no real economic purpose"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Propose a 0.1% financial transaction tax that would raise as much as $50 billion per year that will be used to help fund Universal Basic Income.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Data as a Property Right",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/data-property-right/",
"description": "Each of us generates a significant amount of data each day during the normal course of our activities. Our phones and computers track our movement and actions, while our browsers and websites track our online activities. As we’ve seen, some of the largest tech companies can know more about us and our lives than our families and those closest to us.\nAs of now, that data is owned by the people who collect it, and they’re allowed to do anything they want with it. They’ve sold it, used it to target us with advertisements, and have analyzed the vast quantity of data to draw conclusions on whole populations, allowing them to monetize it.\nWe’ve also seen it abused. Some companies haven’t done enough to protect our data, resulting in breaches that have made our private information insecure. Others have sold it to disreputable companies, allowing them to target us for everything from marketing fraudulent services to influencing elections. Companies themselves have asked for better and clearer rules. \n\n This needs to stop. Data generated by each individual needs to be owned by them, with certain rights conveyed that will allow them to know how it’s used and protect it. These rights include:\n\n The right to be informed as to what data will be collected, and how it will be used\nThe right to opt out of data collection or sharing\nThe right to be told if a website has data on you, and what that data is\nThe right to be forgotten; to have all data related to you deleted upon request\nThe right to be informed if ownership of your data changes hands\nThe right to be informed of any data breaches including your information in a timely manner\nThe right to download all data in a standardized format to port to another platform\n\n Consent should be informed and active – companies are responsible for ensuring that they collect a positive opt-in from each user before collecting any data, and this opt-in should be accompanied by a clear and easy-to-understand statement about what data is being collected, and how it is going to be used. You can waive these rights and opt in to sharing your data if you wish for the companies’ benefit and your own convenience – but then you should receive a share of the economic value generated from your data.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Data generated by our activities, both in the real world and online, is increasingly collected and used by corporations, often without our knowledge or proper protections."
],
"main_quote": "Data is the new coin of the realm in many industries. In many settings, our data is being sold and resold for large sums without our knowledge. Our data is immensely valuable - we should be able to share in the economic value generated, which could be even higher with our buy-in.",
"goals": [
"Establish data as a property right for individuals, giving them the right to protect how it’s collected and used",
"Enhance the ability of individuals to keep their privacy intact while using modern devices and the internet",
"Enable individuals to share in the economic value generated as a result of their data"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to pass a law establishing data as a property right, as defined above.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Grid Modernization Race to the Top",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/grid-modernization/",
"description": "Much of our electrical energy infrastructure is old, outdated, insecure, and far too dependent on dirty fossil fuels. Without renewed investment in new, cleaner assets and innovative management practices, our energy costs will become increasingly high and environmentally destructive.\nWe need to create an economic drive for utilities to invest in updating their infrastructure while motivating innovation. We can do this with a “Race to the Top”-type competition where utilities compete to enact certain reforms and the winners receive federal monies to reduce the capital costs of their investment.\nInvestor-owned utilities and municipal utilities & co-operatives would compete in two separate categories for a pool of $5 billion dollars each. These utilities would be given two years to enact certain reforms or hit certain targets, with points being awarded for achieving the goals based on a schedule of points. Off-schedule points would be awarded by industry experts for innovation that achieves similar goals to the prescribed methods. A points floor would be set, and anyone above that floor would receive awards from the central pool proportional to their points.\n\n Reforms and criteria would include, but not be limited to:\n\n Installation of smart meters\nFree, easy access for account holders to interval data\nStreamlined interconnection processes\nShort interconnection processing turnarounds\nTariffs designed to encourage renewable systems of all sizes\nImplementation of active or passive control standards that enable real-time management of distributed assets not under direct utility ownership\nMethods of differentiating and optimizing the financial concerns of administration, transmission, production, and consumption, as separate grid-system functions\nNet de-carbonization from the installation and retirement of various assets\nStakeholder education and outreach, including account holders, developers, and contractors\nRobust IT security for metering and control systems\nDemonstrating a continued interest, past the end date of the Race to the Top, in continuing to implement these changes",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our electrical energy infrastructure is outdated and in need of modernization."
],
"main_quote": "Incentives work. By putting up a reward for a smarter electricity grid, we can create incentives for utilities to modernize quickly. This will save us money and lower our carbon footprint and emissions. The total investment in new infrastructure would greatly exceed the amount seeded by the federal government, and the public spending should pay for itself in a relatively short time period. People love a good competition.",
"goals": [
"Incentivize electric utilities to innovate and modernize their infrastructure to be more efficient and environmentally friendly"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a “Race to the Top”-style competition to drive innovation in our grid system by the private sector.\nInvest $50 billion in incentives for private companies and investment in new modern infrastructure\nInvest $150 billion in upgrading our current electric infrastructure systems.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "End Bidding Wars for Corporate Relocation",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/end-relocation-bidding/",
"description": "The recent circus surrounding Amazon’s HQ2 project should highlight how damaging the practice of allowing localities to “bid” for investment from corporations can be to our country, and how important it is for us to find a solution to this problem.\nYou can’t blame the corporation for trying to save money, and you can’t blame the localities for trying to attract investment and new jobs. Because no one has an incentive to stop this practice, it continues unabated.\nHowever, it amounts to up to $90b a year of tax breaks and cash grants. Since states and other localities can’t run a deficit or print money, these subsidies amount to money that could otherwise go to school, road repair, and other important functions. These incentives are meant to steal jobs and investment from other states, not from offshoring or to entice businesses to expand when they otherwise wouldn’t.\n\n There’s also evidence that corporations start with an idea of where they want to move and then use a public bidding war to get tax breaks from those locations. Considering Amazon’s business, DC and NY were likely locations for HQ2 even before they received 238 proposals from cities across the country.\nThis form of corporate welfare needs to stop, and only the federal government has an incentive to do so. We must end it by considering any financial benefit provided to a company to entice local investment, or relocation, to be special income that is taxed at 100%. General investment by a locality to be more business-friendly is fine, but no more bribing companies to do something they were already planning to do. The only ones who win are the companies.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Localities feel the need to ‘bid’ large amounts of corporate welfare in order to entice businesses to invest in their towns/states, when this provides no net job growth in the US. Many of the promised benefits often do not materialize as well."
],
"main_quote": "It makes no sense to have communities bidding against each other to have companies move within the country - from a national point of view we don’t care in which city or state a company is based. The only winners are the companies that get sweetheart deals to move places they were likely going to move anyway. Meanwhile communities break their backs trying to get companies to move there in a race to the bottom. Companies should make decisions based on their business and not which community they can hold over a barrel.",
"goals": [
"End corporate welfare provided by localities to entice specific corporate relocation and investment"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to pass a law that treats any incentive provided by a locality to a specific business already based in the US as special income to be taxed at a rate of 100%.\nPublicly call out any corporation that tries to entice tax breaks or other forms of corporate welfare from states.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Empowering MMA Fighters",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/empowering-mma-fighters/",
"description": "In the 90s, it became clear that boxing had a problem. The largely unregulated sport featured regular exploitation of the boxers, as well as scandals involving rigged matches and rankings. Congress stepped in and passed the Ali Act in order to combat the worst of these problems.\nToday, MMA fighters are largely in the same place as boxers were decades ago. The sport has quickly gained national prominence, but many of the problems that plagued the pre-Ali Act boxing industry have repeated themselves in mixed martial arts.\n\n In addition, MMA fighters are treated as independent contractors even though their behavior and attire are tightly controlled. And any attempt to unionize has been met with retaliation and firing. \nBecause of the lack of a strong private sector organization to establish uniform and appropriate business practices and ethical standards, it’s necessary for Congress to step in to ensure that the fighters are protected from exploitative situations while also ensuring that fights and rankings are fair. Also, fighters should be empowered to organize an association or union and should be treated as athletes and employees instead of independent contractors.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Mixed martial arts fighting doesn’t have a strong private sector organization to establish uniform ethical standards or business practices.",
"MMA fighters often end up in exploitative contracts, resulting in dangerous situations.",
"Any attempts to unionize or organize have been met with firing or retaliation (See Leslie Smith)."
],
"main_quote": "Mixed martial artists are among the most highly trained athletes in a dangerous sport, and the UFC is a multi-billion dollar business with a broadcast partnership with ESPN. Meanwhile, fighters are left fighting for pennies on the dollar–they receive only 10-15% of revenues versus 50% with other sports–and they live by arbitrary rankings and are fired if they breathe the word ‘union.’ We should apply the Ali Act to MMA and enable fighters to organize and unionize. It will be good for the sport long-term by attracting higher-level athletes and giving the fighters more opportunities to train for more sustainable careers. If you’re going to be a major league sport, you need to act like it.",
"goals": [
"Empower MMA fighters to push back against exploitative situations",
"Protect consumers from fixed fights and rankings"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts organizations.\nHave the National Labor Relations Board treat MMA fighters as athletes and employees as opposed to independent contractors as consistent with the law.\nEmpower MMA Fighters to organize into an association or union.\nPoint out the hypocrisy of William Morris Endeavor, whose celebrity clients are now shareholders of the UFC (Conan O’Brien, Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck, Cam Newton) while it engages in union-busting activities to exploit MMA fighters; at the same time, those clients are the enormous beneficiaries of union membership in their respective industries.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "The Penny Makes No Cents",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/no-pennies/",
"description": "Nobody likes pennies. They aren’t valuable enough to buy anything. They sit at the bottom of your pocket or purse, taking up space until you begrudgingly throw them in a change jar. And whenever you’re in a rush, the person ahead of you in line pulls out some change and starts slowly counting out the pennies.\nSeriously, though, there are many downsides to the penny:\n\n They’re expensive. It costs more to make a penny than it’s worth, costing US taxpayers about $70m a year. And most of the zinc that goes into them comes from China, adding over $2m to the trade deficit.\nMining the zinc and copper needed to make pennies is bad for the environment.\nCounting out pennies at businesses adds up to almost 50m hours each year.\n\n Businesses that accept cash will save time and effort, and charities that rely on pennies can expect to see donations increase as people start sending nickels along. And with all the money saved, we can invest in a way to honor one of our greatest presidents that doesn’t involve losing his image in our couches constantly.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Pennies are expensive, environmentally damaging, and cost businesses time."
],
"main_quote": "It costs more to make a penny than it is worth. That’s pretty much all you need to know. Getting rid of them will save us money and time. Good for the environment too.",
"goals": [
"Eliminate the penny"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Eliminate the penny.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Regulate AI and other Emerging Technologies",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/regulating-ai-emerging-technologies/",
"description": "Advances in automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) hold the potential to bring about new levels of prosperity humans have never seen. They also hold the potential to disrupt our economies, ruin lives throughout several generations, and, if experts such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk are to be believed, destroy humanity.\nTechnology is advancing at a pace never before seen in human history, and even those developing it don’t fully understand how it works or what direction it’s taking. Recent advances in machine learning have shown that a computer, given certain directives, can learn tasks much faster than humans thought possible even a year ago. We’re heading into this new world with no idea on how to regulate it, and a regulatory system that’s designed for technology that’s much less sophisticated than what we’re facing in the near future.\n\n Technological innovation shouldn’t be stopped, but it should be monitored and analyzed to make sure we don’t move past a point of no return. This will require cooperation between the government and private industry to ensure that developing technologies can continue to improve our lives without destroying them.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Technology is developing faster than government can analyze the impact and enforce regulations.",
"Even those developing technologies often have no idea what impact they have on humanity.",
"Human technical knowledge is quickly reaching the point where there are many existential threats that could develop without us fully understanding said threat."
],
"main_quote": "Artificial Intelligence and other new technologies have the potential to change our economy and society in unpredictable ways. Even techies don’t know what’s going to happen. We need to have government hand-in-hand with technologists to make sure that we fully understand the impact of AI and other innovations before they’re widely adopted in different settings—which means recruiting some of the smartest technologists to work in government and having government actively consulting with innovators.",
"goals": [
"Monitor the development of new technology",
"More quickly adapt to the changing technological landscape",
"Prevent technological threats to humanity from developing without oversight"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a new executive department – the Department of Technology – to work with private industry and Congressional leaders to monitor technological developments, assess risks, and create new guidance. The new Department would be based in Silicon Valley and would initially be focused on Artificial Intelligence. \nCreate a new Cabinet-level position of Secretary of Technology who will be tasked with leading the new Department. \nCreate a public-private partnership between leading tech firms and experts within government to identify emerging threats and suggest ways to mitigate those threats while maximizing the benefit of technological innovation to society.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "NCAA Should Pay Athletes",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/ncaa-pay-athletes/",
"description": "Star Student-Athletes are told that they should be grateful that they are receiving a free education. Meanwhile, schools generate tens of millions in revenue and corporate sponsorship, and coaches and athletic directors are paid multiple millions of dollars because of their athletic exploits.\nThe NCAA should accept the reality that certain of its sports have become entertainment properties and the athletes should be compensated accordingly. This is particularly true for Division I Men’s Football and Men’s Basketball.\n\n We should create a new type of college athlete—“Performer athlete”—who is entitled to market-based compensation. This would not affect the status of any other student-athletes nor the tax-exempt status of the university. However, each university with a “Performer athlete” would be required to start an affiliated taxable for-profit entity through which both corporate sponsorships and Performer athlete salaries would flow.\nPaying athletes in certain sports would lead to more resources going to the players who are both the main attraction and putting their bodies on the line each game.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"College sports have become a big business complete with corporate sponsors, television deals and multi-million dollar coaching contracts, yet the players are playing for free and in some cases risking their health to do so."
],
"main_quote": "College sports are awesome and a lot of fun. But it’s pure exploitation that schools make millions off of student athletes, including television contracts and corporate sponsorships, and then hide behind their tax-exempt status as a school of higher education. It’s immoral that these kids are scrounging for meal money while the adults around them are making millions off of them each year. That’s the wrong lesson and the wrong role modeling for them to follow.",
"goals": [
"Enable college athletes to participate in the massive wealth creation they enable for their institutions",
"Reduce the incentives surrounding archaic NCAA compensation guidelines for star athletes",
"Allow colleges to focus on their core missions by recognizing when sports activities become affiliated businesses"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Ensure that the NCAA modernizes by agreeing to compensate star athletes who drive significant revenues to their institutions at appropriate levels. \nOversee the adoption of affiliated for-profit entities by commercial-scale college sports programs.\nRemove restrictions on amateur athletes making money through autographs, merchandise sales and other common means.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Hold Future Administrations Accountable",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/hold-future-administrations-accountable/",
"description": "Even if we make great headway in mitigating and adapting to climate change, there will still be voters and elected officials who choose to discount the basic scientific facts of our changing world.\n\n We need to prevent future administrations from untangling the significant advances we make in combating climate change.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Combating climate change will take generations; one administration alone does not have enough time to make permanent change."
],
"main_quote": "It’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be quick. It’s going to be a generational challenge, and there will be a constant need to find ways to make our impact on Earth more sustainable. But, as many people have said, Earth is the only planet we’ve got. Let’s make it one we’re proud to call home and pass on for generations to come.",
"goals": [
"Prevent future administrations from undoing the work of combating climate change"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n I support the calls for a constitutional amendment requiring states and the federal government to protect, preserve, and improve the environment.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Combat Climate Change- Achieve Net-Zero Emissions by 2049",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/climate-change/",
"description": "Climate change is an existential threat, and we need to recognize that we’re already living through the negative effects. The increase in natural disasters is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars, and the total cost of climate change will run into the trillions while taking an untold number of lives. And the people who are most affected by these impacts of climate change are the least able to deal with it – economically disadvantaged and minority communities face a disproportionate burden.\nThe right time to deal with this crisis was decades ago. We’ve waited too long, so we need to act fast and recognize that all options need to be on the table in order to adapt to the changed world we live in while mitigating behaviors that make it worse and reversing the damage we’ve already done. We can’t dismiss any ideas – especially not those that have support from the scientific community – or rule anything out because it doesn’t fit our ideological framework.\n\n The Green New Deal has done a great job in starting the conversation about how we define the scope of the problem and the scope of the solution, and its goals of lowering emissions, converting to renewable energy, and creating good paying jobs are commendable. We need to strive for these goals and set up a realistic plan utilizing all options in order to get to a fully sustainable economy ahead of 2050. \nTo read Andrew’s entire climate change plan, click here.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Energy bills make up a substantial portion of the average American’s expenses.",
"Burning fossil fuels indiscriminately for over a century has done damage to the environment.",
"We are not truly addressing global warming and rising sea levels, only slowing the rate of change.",
"Americans are suffering from higher rates of asthma, emphysema, COPD, and other respiratory diseases because of pollution from burning fossil fuels.",
"People want to do more to combat climate change but don’t know how, or can’t afford the high start-up costs of “going solar.”"
],
"main_quote": "Climate change is up there with automation as a society-wide threat. Parts of Florida and Virginia are already experiencing flooding and hurricanes are more powerful and frequent. This is exactly the kind of problem that government must rise to meet. As much as we must evolve and take responsibility, the U.S. only emits 15% of the world’s greenhouse gases - this is a global problem. We should invest resources in large-scale geo-engineering measures like shoring up glaciers and reducing solar exposure to counteract the effects of climate change even as we reduce our emissions. Waiting around for the oceans to rise is not the American way. If we don’t adopt and lead in geoengineering, China will wind up making decisions for us when it decides to modify the climate in about 20 years.",
"goals": [
"2025 – Establish net-zero standards for new buildings",
"2027 – New nuclear reactors begin to come online",
"2030 – Zero-emission standard for all new cars",
"2035 – 100% emissions free electric grid",
"2040 – Net-zero for all transportation sectors",
"2045 – 85% methane recapture",
"2049 – Achieve net-zero emissions"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Build a sustainable economy by transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, upgrading our infrastructure, and improving the way we farm and use land. Public financing options will allow individuals to make the right decisions for their families.\nBuild a sustainable world. The United States, throughout history, has led the world in times of crisis. We’re the most entrepreneurial country in the history of the world. It’s time to activate the American imagination and work ethic to provide the innovation and technology that will power the rest of the world.\nMove our people to higher ground. Natural disasters and other effects of climate change are already causing damage and death. We need to adapt our country to this new reality.\nReverse the damage we’ve done. Research needs to be done on removing carbon from our atmosphere, cooling the planet and rejuvenating ecosystems.\nHold future administrations accountable. We need to pass a constitutional amendment that creates a duty on the federal and state governments to be stewards for the environment.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Financing a Sustainable Economy",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/financing-a-sustainable-economy/",
"description": "Moving to renewable energy for personal use is important. It makes the home healthier. It lowers energy costs. It also requires a large up-front investment.\nWhen the US wanted to ensure that everyone could own a home, we started Fannie Mae. When we wanted to make college more affordable, we created Pell grants.\nIn order to ensure that everyone can afford the investment to upgrade their houses with solar panels, weatherproofing, heat pumps, and other technologies, we need to implement similar programs. With the right financing, people can afford the upfront costs, lower their energy costs, and end up coming out ahead. By setting interest rates low enough, we can get most households to upgrade their electricity to renewables while keeping more of their money. \nThe scale of the work that we’re going to need to embark on is staggering and exciting. The last time we dedicated the American people to a massive manufacturing project – World War II – we grew our economy, kicked off decades of growth, and created a set of middle class jobs that provided upward mobility and a good life for half a century.\n\n As Saul Griffith, the founder of Otherlab, puts it:\n“We need to manufacture electric heat pumps for 120 million American homes and 6 million commercial buildings. We need to manufacture 200+ million electric vehicles. We need 90 million solar rooftops, tens of millions of wind turbines, and billions of batteries, not to mention new biofuel industries, new farming methods and technologies, and new approaches to forestry.”\nAnd while many of these manufacturing jobs will be automated, the installation and maintenance of these systems will create good, middle-class, local jobs that will keep individuals employed for decades to come. We’ll need to establish vocational and apprenticeship programs that will train American workers to install, maintain, and repair these systems, and then ensure that all Americans who so choose can receive this training, including through programs in high school.\nIt total, my plan calls for $4.87 trillion spending over 20 years. More than half of that spending. $3 trillion, will be given out in the form of loans that will be repaid at an interest rate of 3%. The other $1.87 trillion will go towards investments in new green technologies that will create a demand for millions of new American jobs in manufacturing, installation, and maintenance.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Climate change skeptics claim that we can’t afford to convert our economy to 100% renewable energy.",
"In reality, NOT investing in combating climate change will cost us hundreds of trillions of dollars later."
],
"main_quote": "The Green New Deal accomplished exactly what it set out to achieve, to spark a national conversation. The backlash was immediate, and the argument against it was that it will cost us jobs, money, and growth. But I’m a numbers guy, and I looked at the math. This couldn’t be further from the truth.",
"goals": [
"Empower individuals to lower their energy costs and equip their homes with the renewable energy technologies of their choosing",
"Grow our economy through renewable energy jobs and investment in a sustainable economy",
"Spend a few trillion dollars now to avoid hundred of trillions of dollars in damages later"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create the Renewable Energy Building Association – REBA – to loan up to $3 trillion over 20 years to individuals to purchase heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, and other technologies for their residences. If households choose to take advantage of this, they will pay off these loans at a 3% (or lower) interest rate and will end up paying less annually than their previous energy bills. \nEnsure $4 billion in annual funding for vocational and apprenticeship programs to meet the demand for installation and maintenance/repair technicians for the new, sustainable economy.\nExpand the high school curriculum to include programs to train individuals who want to enter one of these careers.\nInvest $4.87 trillion over 20 years in combating climate change.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Fossil Fuels: Their Days Are Over",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/fossil-fuels-their-days-are-over/",
"description": "Why do so many people believe moving to a sustainable economy will have such a negative impact on our economy and individual budgets? Because of the oil companies. They’ve been making trillions of dollars for generations, externalizing all the costs to the world while burying reports on climate change and lobbying against climate legislation. The oil and gas industry spend $125 million on lobbying and receive $26 billion annually in direct subsidies and far more in various indirect subsidies every year. \nThese subsidies are yet another factor that obscures the true cost of fossil fuels. That money would be better spent to help individuals transition to a sustainable economy – both the workers who work in these industries, and the rest of us who rely on fossil fuels to power our lives.\n\n When your industry is looking at losing trillions of dollars, you’ll spend nearly anything to prevent regulation, especially when those regulations will devastate your industry. It’s time for us to end all fossil fuel subsidies and the power of oil and gas lobbyists in the climate change debate. We need to ensure the workers in these industries are taken care of, but the executives can’t continue to weaken the planet to line their own pockets.\nWe also absolutely should not be providing leases to companies that are going to exploit public lands – both on and offshore – to harvest oil, gas, and coal. There is no way to get at these resources without permanently damaging our priceless public lands, and yet you can stake a claim to an acre for a buck fifty. We need to stop the practice of providing these leases, and move to end the current ones as quickly as possible.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The oil and gas industry has had enormous influence over the year in the climate change debate; convincing many that climate change isn’t real.",
"Harvest of oil, gas, and coal is destroying public lands and producing fossil fuel emissions.",
"Billions of dollars are wasted in fossil fuel direct subsidies every year, the very fossil fuels that are causing climate change."
],
"main_quote": "Oil companies will stop getting subsidized under my plan. The rest of us will see cheaper energy costs, better air quality, and new, local jobs that we can use to support our families.",
"goals": [
"End the ability of lobbyists to shape federal climate change policy",
"Direct federal resources towards combating climate change, not accelerating it through fossil fuel subsidies",
"Stop federal contributions that promote fossil fuel production"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n End all fossil fuel subsidies and use that money for retraining programs and subsidies for low-income individuals to transition to sustainable energy sources.\nBan anyone who serves in my administration from lobbying for a period of time after they leave their position.\nEnsure representation in my government for workers who will be displaced by our shift to renewable energy and a sustainable economy, so that we are sure to find solutions that enhance their quality of life.\nRefuse to hire anyone who formerly worked as a lobbyist for oil, gas, or coal company, or served in an executive capacity at one of those companies.\nStop all new leases for oil and gas companies on public lands, and end any currently existing lease.\nFight against any new pipeline or similar infrastructure, especially any that would cut across contested land.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Carbon Fee and Dividend",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/carbon-fee-dividend/",
"description": "The cost of burning fossil fuels is paid by all of us, but the benefits are disproportionately gained by industry. There is very little incentive to control the rate at which fossil fuels are burned or CO2 is released into the atmosphere.\nA carbon fee and dividend, similar to the one proposed by the conservative Climate Leadership Council, would allow businesses to find market-based solutions to their carbon emissions while benefiting American citizens and providing funding for alternative fuel research and upgrades to our current energy systems. By having it increase at regular intervals, we can allow businesses to plan for their transition to sustainable energy. By having those intervals be aggressive, we can be sure to hit our net-zero target on schedule.\n\n Starting at $40/ton, the fee would raise hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Increasing it by $5/year for the first 4 years and then $10/year until we hit net-zero emissions would ensure that businesses have a “deadline” for the transition, but can still make the transition on a timeline that makes sense for them. By some estimations, even a less aggressive carbon fee structure would reduce emissions by 90% by 2050.\nWhile the amount of money would necessarily decrease over time, eventually zero-ing out, we can use the money before that time to help fund the transition to a sustainable economy, especially by subsidizing the costs of residential upgrades.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The costs of burning fossil fuels are felt by everyone, with the benefits going to fewer.",
"There is no strong incentive for corporations to stop burning fossil fuels."
],
"main_quote": "We need to have companies internalize the cost of carbon emissions to provide incentives for them to innovate and invest in cleaner technologies and processes. If you are pumping carbon into the atmosphere, you should pay your fellow citizens for it as we all pay for it in the end. We also need to transfer the benefits to citizens directly and use the money to improve the efficiency and availability of renewable energy.",
"goals": [
"Provide benefits directly to Americans, who suffer the negative effects of industrial fossil fuel use",
"Disincentivize reliance on fossil fuels"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Propose a carbon fee and dividend system that:\n\n Sets an initial carbon tax of $40/ton, which would increase in regular intervals of $5/ton for the first 4 years and then $10/ton until it hits $100/ton.\n\n Create a border carbon adjustment to protect American goods that would:\n\n Charge a fee on imports from countries that don’t impose a similar carbon fee, or some type of carbon tax.\nProvide a rebate on exports to countries that don’t impose a similar carbon fee, or some type of carbon tax.\n\n Dedicate at least half of the money raised through the fee to dividends specifically designed to help Americans afford transitions to sustainable energy sources and vehicles.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Renewable Energy",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/renewable-energy/",
"description": "Americans want their kids to breathe clean air and drink clean water. They want to leave a healthy planet for their children. Residential and commercial energy consumption accounts for somewhere around 50% of emissions. We can’t move to a sustainable economy without getting our energy from renewable sources.\nTackling our energy supply is the biggest move we need to make in order to create a sustainable economy. It is impossible to know right now which renewable energy technologies are going to be the most efficient options in 10 or 20 years. The goal of having a renewable energy plan is to have a starting point of where we will invest our time and research. First and foremost, it is important for our government to be able to adjust its plans as technology and more efficient solutions develop.\nThe government needs to dedicate itself to a massive investment in new technologies and a promise to purchase American-made efficiency and renewable energy technologies. We must plan all infrastructure projects to include environmentally friendly materials and be powered by renewable energy, and we should incentivize corporations to do the same with their businesses.\n\n Under the EPA’s mandate to regulate carbon, we need to increase our Clean Power Plan targets to make our electricity sector sustainable, and force all power plants to meet these standards.\nMany communities – especially rural electric cooperatives – are currently using power from coal plants on which they owe billions of dollars. These communities want to shift their energy sources to renewables, but they can’t afford to pay off their current debt – which is estimated to be at least $8.4 billion – on the old plants and build new ones, especially as the relative cost of coal increases (and will continue to as we end subsidies). The US government can forgive the debt for those co-ops that are looking to make a transition to renewable energy, and provide different financing options to these cooperatives to get them to move over to renewable sources.\nSince these technologies are advanced but still developing, it’ll be important for the government to also work with the companies innovating in these areas to create certain standards that will allow for interchangeability and upgrading. No one wants their electric vehicle to only be able to charge at certain stations because it uses a different standard.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our current energy consumption is unsustainable for future generations.",
"Many communities cannot afford to shift to renewable energy.",
"The federal government alone is responsible for a huge amount of the country’s energy consumption."
],
"main_quote": "By leaving all options on the table, heavily investing in research, and activating the patriotism, entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and community that American is known for, we can make sure that the planet is livable for our children and our children’s children.",
"goals": [
"Convert to 100% renewable energy by 2049 to ensure our energy consumption is sustainable for future generations",
"Assist communities and sectors that are financially unable to shift to renewable energy",
"Direct federal action to promote renewable energy"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create more aggressive Clean Power Plan targets, and end the grandfathering-in of old plants that haven’t been sufficiently upgraded to trigger NSR.\nProvide a $10 billion debt forgiveness fund for all rural co-ops that are relying on non-renewable sources who want to replace their plants with renewables, and provide public financing/securitization options for rebuilding with sustainable energy.\nWork to create standards allowing common elements of systems (e.g., batteries) to be easily replaced as the technologies develop.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Nuclear Energy Stopgap",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/nuclear-energy/",
"description": "Nuclear power is a crucial component in the move towards creating sustainable, carbon-free energy for the United States. However, many people – including some other candidates – dismiss it out of hand.\nWhy does it have such a bad reputation?\nTwo reasons. First, the public’s perception of its safety has been skewed by TV shows like Chernobyl and The Simpsons. Second, nuclear waste is dangerous and long-lasting, and disposing of it is expensive.\nBoth points are less of an issue with modern reactors.\nWhen the OECD, NEA, and NASA analyzed the actual danger of nuclear energy compared to other sources, they found that it caused orders of magnitude fewer deaths than fossil fuel-based energy. And that’s not even considering the long-term impact of climate change from burning fossil fuels.\n\n With modern reactors, safety is drastically increased, and nuclear waste is drastically decreased. After the completion of the Manhattan Project, America explored the option of using thorium as a potential source for civilian nuclear power. There is roughly 3 times more thorium on Earth than uranium, and we are already mining it as a byproduct of other rare-earth element mining. Thorium mining is substantially safer than uranium mining, and thorium reactors produce less waste than uranium reactors\nWhy did we go with uranium instead of thorium? Uranium is used in nuclear weapons; thorium isn’t. Yet another benefit to using thorium as a power source! Nuclear isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s a solid solution for now, and a technology we should invest in as we move to a future powered primarily by renewable energy.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Nuclear power plants generate a majority of our “carbon-free” energy, but they only generate less than 20% of our overall energy, despite being cleaner than fossil fuels.",
"Public opinion is generally misinformed on the safety and effectiveness of nuclear power."
],
"main_quote": "Nuclear energy gets a bad rap because we all think about Homer Simpson and the possibility of contamination. The reality is that nuclear power is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly paths forward to a more sustainable future.",
"goals": [
"Provide America with emissions free energy sources while other renewable technologies are still developing in efficiency and sustainability",
"Educate the public on how nuclear power can be used safely and effectively"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Invest $50 billion in research and development for thorium-based molten salt reactors, and nuclear fusion reactors, to provide a green energy source for Americans.\nEngage in a public relations campaign to update the reputation of nuclear reactors. \nPlan to start breaking ground on new, safe, thorium-based molten salt nuclear reactors by 2027.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Move to Higher Ground",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/move-to-higher-ground/",
"description": "The time to start fighting climate change was decades ago. Because we were irresponsible and didn’t take the threat seriously, we’re past the point where we can avoid some terrible impacts.\nWe need to move to higher ground. Both literally and figuratively.\nAs glaciers melt, the ocean expands with heat, and ice sheets in the Arctic and Greenland melt, we’re heading for a crisis. Estimates of sea level rise by 2100 range between 10 and 30 inches; this will displace at least 13 million people in the US by the end of the century. Several other countries are already moving their populations to higher ground to escape the encroaching water, and America is likely to see communities needing to do the same\n\n This will cost billions of dollars. We need to come together to help those who are most affected by climate change in our country. As with most natural disasters, poor and minority communities are often hit the hardest.\nWe need to help individuals and communities prepare for this inevitability, either through direct adaptation of their residences, or by helping them to relocate. Let’s help our people out and ensure that everyone is as safe as possible from the world we’ve created.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Sea levels are rising. Whether we like it or not."
],
"main_quote": "As sea levels rise because of the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and the Arctic, hurricanes become more intense and frequent, floods become more common, and wildfires spread faster through a drier forest, we need to realize what is happening and adapt to our new world.",
"goals": [
"Adapt to a changing climate"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Research coastal communities that are likely to be impacted by rising sea levels and provide property owners with information about risks and options.\nMake up to $40 billion available in subsidies, grants, and low-interest loans to individuals who wish to elevate or relocate their homes, or move to higher ground.\nHelp communities plan for rising sea levels with expertise and information.\nInvest $30 billion in high-risk cities to build seawalls and water pumps, upgrade roads and sewer systems, and rejuvenate beaches to serve as barriers to rising sea levels.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Flood Prevention",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/flood-prevention/",
"description": "The severity of hurricanes has increased significantly in the past decade compared to trends of the previous century. Even if we manage to cut our global emissions enough to curtail severe climate change, studies predict that we are likely to see more than a 50% increase in category 4 and 5 hurricanes in the 21st century. \nThese hurricanes will continue to cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.\nWe must take steps toward permanent adaptation to this changing climate to minimize the repeated cycle of these hurricanes causing untold suffering and billions of dollars in damage, only to see these communities be rebuilt to be hit by another hurricane. \nWe must invest in innovative solutions for rebuilding our communities that reside in high risk flood and hurricane zones. We can turn to countries like the Netherlands, who invested $500 million over 6 years (compare this to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans which lost $161 billion in a matter of days) to build a massive flood gate that permanently protects all of the Dutch homes that reside below sea level. \nWe can also look closer to home, at Hoboken, New Jersey. After Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, the city initiated a major storm resiliency effort to rebuild its parks, sewer systems, pipes, and gardens to withstand massive floods. Hoboken lost over $1 billion in Hurricane Sandy. As a result, it is spending $140 million alongside $230 million in federal aid to rebuild its city in a way that will prevent it from losing the same amount in future inevitable disasters.\n\n Concurrently, we must reevaluate FEMA’s policies, and our National Flood Insurance Plan.\nFEMA’s out-of date flood zone map needs to be updated to reflect the true 41 million homes that are at high risk for catastrophic flooding (not the 13 million it currently states). The Agency’s prevention policy in response to floods and hurricanes is to rebuild homes and buildings that are “more resistant to flood damage.” FEMA does not currently have a policy that prevents them from rebuilding homes located in high risk areas. As a result, several homes have received more federal aid to rebuild their homes than what the home is actually worth. For example, the same home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been rebuilt 40 times, costing the government $428,379 even though the home is only worth $55,921.\nOur National Flood Insurance Plan was designed to force the purchase of flood insurance for high-risk areas, thus increasing the cost of living there and causing people to move to safer areas. Unfortunately, people have continued for 50 years to live, build, and rebuild their homes in high risk flood zones. As a result, private insurance companies are in a position to make money when major natural disasters hit, leaving the NFIP over $25 billion in debt. \nOur federal agencies and plans that are designed to help those who are affected by hurricanes and floods must take a stricter line on rebuilding in areas that are likely to be damaged again. These organizations should absolutely help people after a natural disaster, but they should also ensure that we’re not throwing good money after bad, and relocate people as needed after disasters to ensure that they don’t end up in the same position again.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The Federal government is wasting billions of dollars rebuilding homes and buildings that are at high risk of being destroyed by flooding.",
"FEMA’s natural disaster response practices do not take enough preventive measures for future likely disasters."
],
"main_quote": "Investments in flood prevention solutions that cost hundreds of millions can prevent us from annually losing tens of billions in catastrophic hurricanes. This funding will go towards redesigning cities at high risk of damage. By upgrading our coastlines to withstand incoming disasters from the sea, our entire country will be better protected.",
"goals": [
"Invest millions of dollars in flood prevention efforts that will save us billions of dollars in damages long-term",
"Save taxpayer dollars by developing natural disaster practices that are more preventative than responsive"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Invest $25 billion over 10 years in helping communities that are likely to be impacted by repeated hurricane and flood damage to make their communities more disaster-resistant through pre-disaster mitigation grants.\nReevaluate the way FEMA and the NFIP determine where structures can be rebuilt, taking a stricter stance against rebuilding in danger zones.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Reduce Wildfires",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reduce-wildfires/",
"description": "Decades of fighting the spread of all wildfires has prevented a natural cycle of thinning that had kept forest fires under control. Before European settlement of the West, 1.5m acres would burn each year; since then, it’s been about 57k acres/year. Less than 2% of California forestland saw proactive treatment in some recent years, and one of the most effective means at controlling future fires – prescribed burns – is limited by cultural and legal hurdles, EPA standards and the Endangered Species Act. However, this takes a short-term view on the dangers of uncontrolled wildfires to both environmental quality and animals in these habitats.\nWe have a problem in this country, and it’s costing us billions of dollars a year. It’s only going to get worse as climate change exacerbates the problem. We need to start listening to what the experts recommend on how to control these fires.\nMore money needs to be spent on prevention to match the scope of the problem, and we need to properly fund the US Forest Service in order to proactively address threats before they become fires. We need to provide western states with the same amount of funding for local fire prevention and emergency preparedness planning initiatives. We also need to shift our cultural view that all wildfires must be stopped in order to allow the natural cycle to regain control.\n\n These natural fires need to be supplemented with prescribed burns, which stay limited to their defined areas 99% of the time. The EPA must take a long-term view towards the dangers of megafires versus prescribed fires when analyzing the environmental impact of controlled burns.\nFinally, we need the federal government to partner with state and local governments to aggressively collaborate in finding solutions to these life-threatening risks. The federal government can properly fund the cost of preventing and fighting fires on federal land, while also learning from state best practices in administering these prevention efforts. The federal government can assist state efforts by providing a federal fire insurance program that depends on the homeowner’s compliance with state fire prevention policies. Incentives for developing land in safe areas also need to be implemented, either through changes to federal standards, changes to mortgage-interest deductions for housing built in high-risk areas, or the implementation of a federal fire insurance program, to price in the costs of living in high risk areas.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Wildfires are becoming increasingly frequent and damaging, costing billions of dollars each year, and will only get worse as climate change continues to dry out our forests.",
"Many homeowners are prevented by insurance companies from purchasing fire insurance because they live in high risk fire zones.",
"Many states have great fire prevention and emergency response techniques, they just don’t have the resources needed to implement these systems effectively."
],
"main_quote": "I can’t help but think that the huge recent wildfires are a metaphor for many other things in our society. We avoid spending what we should – but end up paying for it in the end, often tragically. One thing I can say for sure – my first budget as President will involve a quintupling of the U.S. Forest Service budget. It would create jobs in an area we clearly need to invest in. Let’s solve these problems instead of waiting for them to develop into literal fires.",
"goals": [
"Readjust incentives and priorities to promote investments that will reduce the frequency and impact of megafires",
"Work with states to implement the expert fire prevention methods and emergency response systems they have developed",
"Provide homeowners access to fire insurance along with requirements to employ certain fire prevention techniques"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Quintuple the budget for the U.S. Forest Service to $24.5 billion for at least 5 years, and specifically tailor it to focus on fire prevention, and promote partnerships with local experts on combating wildfires in their areas. This will more than pay for itself by preventing megafires. \nAppoint a Secretary of Agriculture who recognizes the importance of preventing megafires using science-backed techniques.\nWork with federal agencies such as the EPA to adjust how specific metrics are measured to take a more long-term view of the costs and benefits of prescribed fires.\nWork with Congress to pass legislation aligning incentives for states, developers, and homeowners towards fire prevention and avoiding high-risk areas.\nEstablish a National Fire Insurance Program that provides insurance for homeowners in high risk fire zones, with a stipulation that homes must take preventative actions such as defensible space and reevaluation standards in case locations are determined to be dangerous for rebuilding.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Geoengineering",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/geoengineering/",
"description": "We need to leave all options on the table to combat climate change. That includes geoengineering – methods to reverse the damage that we’ve already done to the environment. These techniques don’t work as a replacement to moving to renewable energy, but we should investigate geoengineering in case we can’t change our behaviors fast enough to ward off the worst of climate change.\nIn general, geoengineering methods fall into two categories (though there are ideas that don’t fit into either one): \n1) Carbon dioxide removal – techniques that remove the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.\n2) Solar radiation management – techniques that decrease the amount of sunlight that hits the atmosphere or reflects more of it back into space. \nCertain geoengineering options are easy to reverse, or benign enough that we can feel safe deploying them without much further testing. For example, planting millions of new trees would store large amounts of carbon. Ethiopia recently planted 350 million new trees, and more countries can engage in similar projects. We should also engage in ocean afforestation, seeding the oceans with microalgae.\nAdditional carbon capture technologies can help us to remove a lot of the carbon from the air, a process that we know is safe because trees have been doing it for longer than humans have existed. Not only that, but scientists largely agree that technologies in this area must be a part of any climate program.\nDifferent organizations are researching the use of carbon capture to create building materials, carbon-neutral fuels (e.g., BECCS), and even ethanol. The federal government should encourage this research while still ensuring certain safety guidelines. We can also use this captured carbon to improve our soil (e.g., biochar). We can also take smaller steps, like packing gravel against the bases of glaciers to slow down their melting.\n\n While carbon capture solutions are important to investigate and can bend the curve to give us more time or serve as a partial solution to the climate crisis, we should also prepare for the worst. There are feedback loops that we don’t understand that could quickly lead to a catastrophic event. If it comes to that, we need to be prepared with options like solar radiation that have potential side effects that are more desirable than the alternative: climate collapse.\nThe safest forms of solar radiation management include a technique of spraying salt water into clouds makes them larger and brighter, which will reflect more sunlight into space. There are also more extreme options of solar radiation that include space mirrors (yes, space mirrors) and stratospheric aerosol scattering.\nSpace mirrors would involve launching giant foldable mirrors into space that would deploy and reflect much of the sun’s light. This method would be extremely expensive, which is why it should be investigated as a last resort. However, since we would be able to “undo” the mirror after deployment if needed, it’s less permanent.\nStratosphere aerosol scattering, on the other, would be a drastic response to the climate crisis. When volcanoes erupt, they spew sulfur dioxide into the sky and reflect sunlight particles away from the earth. The massive eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 was recorded to help push global temperatures down half a degree over the following 2 years. If scientists can find a way to burn sulfur in the stratosphere, then they could mimic the positive effects of volcanoes eruptions on climate change and their ability to help keep the earth cool. Bill Gates has recently backed a study to explore the feasibility of this method, but there are many dangers to it, which is why it (and other, similar methods) require research.\nIf we don’t start experimenting with these methods, then someone else will. Let’s be a world leader in geoengineering so that we can ensure it’s safe and scalable, and that we’re in charge of deploying it, should the need arise.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"As the climate continues to change, reaching net-zero emissions will not be enough to prevent catastrophic effects on our environment.",
"We do not currently have the technology or ability in place to reverse climate change."
],
"main_quote": "We’ve already done a lot of damage to the environment. Glaciers and ice sheets have melted and greenhouse gases have accumulated in the atmosphere. To accept these as irreversible is to accept limitations to human ingenuity that I don’t believe are true. Our scientists were able to unlock the power of the atom; they can also find ways to reverse the damage done to our world.",
"goals": [
"Develop backup plans for combating climate change if net-zero emissions proves to not be enough",
"Consider and investigate all possible options to reverse climate change to ensure we are ready to employ these methods if they become necessary"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Provide $800 million to NASA, the Department of Defense, and NOAA to research, experiment with, and test geoengineering methods that will either give us more time to deal with climate change, or give us options should we hit a climate tipping point of which we aren’t aware.\nConvene a global summit on geoengineering. Many researchers in the US and other countries are doing work in this field – if we bring them together we can formalize and accelerate our learning and build a global approach.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Invest in Research and Adaptation",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/invest-in-research-and-adaptation/",
"description": "Much of my plan to combat climate change involves calls for research. To funnel that funding and research efficiently, we need to set up a new system of National Labs that are much more distributed and less top-down than we’ve traditionally had in this country.\nThis new system – run through the Department of Technology – would hear proposals from different organizations on how they would use research funds in order to advance the fight against climate change. Different models would be considered and funded, without the organization itself proscribing any particular structure. Funding through this organization would require sharing all data, and patents generated would face forced licensing so that others could build off of the successes.\n\n Additionally, the extreme effects of climate change – including, but not limited to increased hurricanes, wildfires, precipitation, droughts, heavy downpours, heat waves, mudslides, tornadoes, avalanches, and more – will continue to be unpredictable for years to come. To monitor the ongoing effects of climate change, I will establish the Climate Change Adaptation Institute. It will be tasked with monitoring the impact of climate change and recommending ways to adapt to the new world that we’re living in. It’s important to stay optimistic and mitigate our impact on the environment; it’s just as important to adapt to the damage already done.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"There is so much about climate change we do not know. Research efforts can quickly become disjointed and counterproductive if the government and private sectors do not work together.",
"Research in the effects of climate change will be a never-ending need."
],
"main_quote": "America is a country of inventors, builders, entrepreneurs, and risk-takers. We need to unlock that energy to solve the greatest problem of our time.",
"goals": [
"Ensure the government and private sector work together in the fight against climate change",
"Recognize the ongoing need for research and innovation"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a new, distributed National Lab system, with a $3 billion annual budget that allows for many different types of partnerships and organizations to work together to solve some of the biggest energy problems we face.\n\n This system will lower the bureaucracy and hassle of working under a government contract so that scientists, engineers, inventors, and entrepreneurs can focus on innovating.\n\n Establish a Climate Change Adaptation Institute with a starting annual budget of $4.5 billion to monitor the ongoing effects of climate change and propose new adaptation measures, including:\n\n Better urban planning, better farming methods, and better land use, especially with respect to water management during droughts.\nEducational drives to inform people on how to cope with heat waves, and prepare treatment centers to quickly respond to and treat individuals suffering from the effects of a heat wave.\nBetter equipping local officials to respond to emergencies such as floods, droughts, landslides, mudslides, avalanches and outbreaks.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Sustainable Transportation",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/sustainable-transportation/",
"description": "Transportation contributes to 29% of all US greenhouse gas emissions. We need to eliminate our transportation emissions by converting our modes of transportation to clean and renewable energy by 2040. The government needs to set aggressive standards for ground vehicles, aircrafts, and public transportation.\nFirst, vehicles on the ground need to hit zero-emissions by 2040. The standard for all car models from 2030 on should be zero-emission. This new fleet of primarily electric vehicles (EV) will require a massive installment of EV charging stations. Several states and utility companies are already investing billions of dollars in research for charging capabilities and installment of EV charging stations in big cities. We need to make sure that the areas in between the big cities are not left behind. My plan will invest $50 billion in EV charging station infrastructure in nonurban areas in order to ensure that there is complete coverage of charging stations across the country. \nSecond, aircrafts need to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. No current technology exists that would produce a fleet of planes that could fly completely emission free. Fully electric aircrafts at that scale aren’t likely to exist before 2050. Aircrafts also have a long life; many planes flown today will still be flying 20-30 years from now. We need to (1) find alternative fuels that can significantly reduce current aircraft emissions, and (2) establish enough carbon capture systems to capture the aircraft emissions that remain.\n\n Government will invest in the carbon capture piece of the puzzle and will require the private and commercial sector to figure out how to meet lower established emission standards with alternative fuel. Several alternative fuels could surface in the next 15-20 years that allow aircrafts fly with little to no emissions. Prospects include jet biofuel and sustainable aviation fuel made from algae, municipal waste, and used cooking oil. The federal government also needs to invest in developing low emission aircrafts for our military and government air travel.\nThird, public transportation needs to run on renewable energy. Public transit infrastructure all over the country is crumbling. The backlog cost to fix it is $90 billion and estimated to reach $122 billion by 2032. Since we need to spend this money anyway, we might as well invest more up front to make our public transit systems run on renewable energy. That’s just common sense.\nEvery state operates a different public transit system, so it is important that federal dollars earmarked for sustainable public transit be given directly to the states with specific standards and expectations of net-zero emission public transit by 2040 attached. The federal government can establish these standards, create a central database to share data between the states, and provide grants to states to ensure they make the transition to fully renewable public transit.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"People will not buy electric vehicles if charging stations are not available; companies will not invest in charging stations if there are not enough electric vehicles on the road.",
"Air transportation cannot fly completely emissions free.",
"Most public transportation systems run on fossil fuels, are crumbling, and the backlog is costing local governments hundreds of billions of dollars."
],
"main_quote": "“We need to set an aggressive but realistic timeline in order to hit the targets required to ensure that our way of life can continue, we don’t lose trillions of dollars, and we don’t lose thousands of American lives in the process.”",
"goals": [
"Promote emission free (electric) vehicles by investing in electric charging stations in nonurban areas",
"Get air travel to net-zero emissions by through the use of biofuel and carbon capture technologies",
"Convert all public transportation systems to renewables"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Immediately create a system similar to the ZEV program in California, and require all vehicles starting with 2030 models to be zero-emission\nInvest $50 billion in EV charging stations in nonurban areas.\nAll commercial, private, and government aircrafts to move toward low-emission standards as is technically feasible by 2040.\nGovernment investment of $2 billion in carbon capture technologies research and $9.5 billion over 15 years in installing carbon capture systems that can equal out the remaining limited amount of air travel emissions.\nGovernment investment of $300 billion over 15 years into research for alternative aircraft fuel.\nCreate a $200 billion grant program to states to convert their public transportation systems (trains, buses, school buses) to electric vehicles.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Sustainable Agriculture",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/sustainable-agriculture/",
"description": "Agriculture makes up nearly $1 trillion of the US economy, and our natural lands are a natural treasure. Both also are impacted by climate change, can be a driver of climate change, and need to be a part of the solution to the climate crisis we’re facing. Local climates are changing, natural disasters – especially floods, droughts, and wildfires – are becoming more frequent, and our soil is becoming depleted.\nThe government needs to ensure that farms that experiment with new, more sustainable techniques have the money they need to test these techniques and still be protected in case it decreases yields. We also need to invest in alternatives to traditional farming, such as vertical farming techniques. And we need to research drought-resistant crops, along with other types of crops that can withstand the challenges of climate change. The federal government can also work with states to determine what crops are most sustainable in their areas, and track changes as climate change shifts the local climate.\nThe federal government has given nearly $400 billion in farming subsidies since 1995. Subsidies help protect our food supply from “bad years” of extreme and unpredictable weather. Adjusting our agricultural system to adapt with climate change is a good example of why farming subsidies were created in the first place. A portion of planned farming subsidies over the next 15 years should be redirected specifically toward sustainable techniques and exploration of alternative farming methods.\n\n To make better use of our land, the Department of Agriculture should investigate the best grazing and livestock land management techniques, and provide reports to states and private enterprises on them. We need to identify land where we can plant more trees, and also take an active hand and expend the resources needed to rejuvenate our high-carbon ecosystems, such as peatlands, wetlands, rangelands, and mangroves.\nWe can also decrease the stress on our farmlands by decreasing food waste. Supermarkets can receive tax incentives to waste less food. This can be done through encouraging the donation of food. It can also be done by encouraging better inventory management – instead of overstocking, supermarkets can be encouraged to understock, with differences being made up through tax credits. They should also be sourcing more local foods, and incentives can be made to label all produce with where it’s from.\nFinally, we need to make better use of organic waste, both from livestock and from trash. Biogas – a type of biofuel that is generated by the decomposition of organic material – can generate a large amount of electricity from what would otherwise be a giant source of methane and carbon dioxide. The EESI estimates that we can add over 10,000 new biogas systems, which would generate electricity, reduce emissions, and save municipalities a lot of money on both transporting waste and maintaining landfills.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Climate change is going to negatively impact our lands and our food source.",
"Many current farming practices emit methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."
],
"main_quote": "We need the government to work together with private enterprises to be better stewards for our land, to ensure that we can continue to feed our people with nutritious food.",
"goals": [
"Develop sustainable farming techniques",
"Use farming subsidies to assist our agricultural system in adaptation with climate change"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Provide grants and guarantee profitability for farms that experiment with new, sustainable techniques.\nIncrease farm bill subsidies by $75 billion over the next 15 years for farms that experiment with new, sustainable techniques.\nInvest $2 billion in research for vertical farming techniques.\nDirect the Department of Agriculture to provide reports to states and private enterprises to help them improve their grazing and livestock land management.\nWork with states to determine sustainable crops for their areas, and suggest changes as climate change continues to advance.\nIncrease funding to biogas programs by tripling the current annual mandatory funding for biogas to $200 million. \nAuthorize a $500 million increase to federal agencies tasked with maintaining land to increase afforestation while rejuvenating high-carbon ecosystems such as peatlands, wetlands, rangelands, and mangroves.\nInvest in research for drought-resistant crops.\nProvide $300 million in tax credits to incentivize supermarkets to waste less food, either through donations or inventory management changes, and to source more local food.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Sustainable Practices – Buildings, Materials, Storage",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/sustainable-practices-buildings-materials-storage/",
"description": "Building, rebuilding, and restoration of buildings and infrastructure will always create a constant need for construction. We need to establish sustainable practices for both the construction and operation of buildings and infrastructure.\nWe need to set sustainable infrastructure and electricity standards for all new buildings, and base any infrastructure spending on meeting these standards. All federal buildings should also be “upgraded” to meet these standards. With the size of the federal government, a commitment to buying American efficiency and sustainability products will create massive demand that American entrepreneurs and businesses will be happy to fill.\nSpeaking of construction, humans make a lot of cement. A lot of it. Concrete is quite literally what the modern world is built on. Around 10 billion tons of concrete are made each year, and the process is very energy-intensive.\nConcrete does naturally absorb carbon dioxide, but that’s a slow process, and it doesn’t fully balance out the amount released in its manufacture. As more of the world develops, we’ll need more concrete. We should invest in research to see if we can increase the absorption rate of carbon dioxide, or even find ways to capture carbon and turn it into concrete or a concrete substitute. The scale of concrete manufacturing makes it an ideal material to focus on, but we should also research other materials that can be used for a variety of functions that can help us combat climate change.\n\n Finally, planning for a sustainable economy isn’t just about addressing current manufacturing and electricity needs. It’s also about addressing the electricity needs of the future. One of the largest areas of growth in this regard is computing and data storage.\nThe world is using hundreds of terawatts of energy for data storage, and the US makes up a substantial portion of that. This energy consumption is also set to double every few years. We need to stay ahead of this problem as we generate and store more data.\nThe government needs to fund research into solutions for this problem, from increased efficiency, to better and smarter cooling solutions, to storing data in space (where temperatures and vacuum make storage more energy efficient, and solar energy is plentiful).",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"New buildings are built with materials that are harmful to the environment.",
"Our current electricity and data storage methods are unsustainable."
],
"main_quote": "We need to own the future, which includes building a world-class infrastructure befitting the world’s most advanced society in 2020. When our infrastructure works better we’ll all work better.",
"goals": [
"Establish standards and practices for buildings and materials that are sustainable",
"Research smarter cooling solutions for data storage"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Commit to equipping and powering all federal buildings with American-made efficiency and clean energy technology.\nSet sustainable infrastructure standards for all new buildings; buildings that are being rebuilt or upgraded; and all federal buildings.\nFund $500 million in research over 5 years into ways to:\n\n Decrease the carbon footprint of manufacturing concrete.\nMake concrete carbon neutral or negative.\nUtilize alternative materials – including alternatives to concrete – that can help us combat climate change.\n\n Fund research into any method that could lower the energy requirements of data storage.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Sustainable Development",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/sustainable-development/",
"description": "China has a strong geopolitical interest in investing in development projects in third world countries all over the globe. China also does not care about whether the projects it finances are environmentally sustainable. If we do not step in and compete with China in foreign development investments, then several countries will develop economies that operate and depend on practices that emit greenhouse gases. \n\n It is the right thing for humanity that America invest heavily in these same development projects all over the world. Whether these investments are initiated by our government or by private corporations, the government needs to incentivize these projects to proceed in ways that are environmentally sustainable. Investments in non-environmentally sustainable projects should be more costly for everyone, and investments in environmentally sustainable projects should be greatly incentivized.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"China is currently investing in development projects all over the world that emit massive amounts of greenhouse gas."
],
"main_quote": "The past four years have been the four hottest on record, and July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded. Greenland is expected to lose 440 billion tons of ice this year, a rate that was the “worst-case scenario” for 2070. The West is on fire, and the Atlantic is seeing hurricanes of increasing frequency and intensity. We need to bring the full force of America to bear on this problem, or we will fail, and the world will suffer.",
"goals": [
"Establish a carrot and a stick approach"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Cut off or re-examine investments in projects that aren’t environmentally sustainable.\nIncrease foreign aid to developing nations to help cover the cost of any project that is environmentally friendly.\nCreate tax incentives for individuals to invest in foreign corporations or projects that are environmentally sustainable.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Positive Use of Military Expertise",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/positive-use-of-military-expertise/",
"description": "Both in our country and abroad, poor communities will suffer the most as climate change accelerates. Many people all over the world are already being displaced from their homes due to climate change and natural disasters, and the displacement is only going to get worse. \nIn 2017, 18.8 million people had to relocate within their country due to natural disasters and climate change. Experts predict that soon, these displacements will not be able to stay internal. A recent UN Report predicts several regions where conflict and violence will be exacerbated by large numbers of refugees that need to cross borders due to climate change. Several Pacific Islands, including Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu, and the Marshall Islands are predicted to go underwater within a few decades.\n\n Most of these islands already have plans for relocating their entire population should a cyclone or catastrophic disaster hit tomorrow that submerges their entire island underwater. Small islands all over the world face the same threat. Most of these islands do not burn fossil fuels and have done nothing to contribute to climate change, yet they will soon be without a home country.\nClimate change is a destabilizing force. The military considers it to be a threat multiplier. Over the past century, we’ve used our military to project our power abroad, and that’s often led us to engage in wars without a clear benefit to the US, or in regime change. Let’s change that. Let’s use our military to project our power abroad by stabilizing areas impacted by climate change, helping countries build or rebuild their infrastructure to be more sustainable, and ease the movements of climate refugees as areas become uninhabitable.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Climate change refugees are a thing, and the numbers are about to multiple at exponential rates.",
"Climate change is destabilizing the world."
],
"main_quote": "Climate change is big, and it is scary. It’s destabilizing the world, and it’s costing American lives.",
"goals": [
"Develop a global plan to assist entire civilizations that need to relocate due to climate change",
"Use the power of our military expertise to lead the world"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the Pentagon to proactively identify areas that are becoming destabilized by climate change and offer military assistance in stabilizing and rebuilding the region, improving its ability to withstand climate change.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Preservation of Public Lands and Water",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/public-land-preservation/",
"description": "America is a breathtakingly beautiful country. From the Rockies to the Appalachian Trail, from the Grand Canyon to Acadia, its majesty is all around. If you’ve never had your breath taken away by America’s natural beauty, you haven’t been looking very hard.\nAmerica has led the world in the preservation of natural spaces for all of its people to experience and has long been the envy of the world in this regard. Every American holds equal ownership of these places and has a fundamental right to enjoy them. These natural resources should be left in a pristine condition for our children and children’s children to enjoy. Visits to and memories of our natural monuments should tie generations together.\nAdditionally, our waterways are an integral part of our ecosystem, and they’re interconnected in a way that makes it difficult to protect one without protecting all of them. These waterways are necessary for farming and drinking water, and damaging them harms us all.\n\n The creation and protection of public land has historically been a bipartisan ideal. In recent years, some industry groups have used financial and political power to influence elected officials against the greater public interest. This misguided effort must be stopped and protections must be put in place to prevent public lands from being usurped for private benefit.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Protections of America’s public lands, water, and natural monuments have been eroded in recent years, threatening their preservation for future generations."
],
"main_quote": "Our forefathers were visionary in the establishment of national parks and public lands. Today, the almighty dollar is overrunning our ability to preserve their legacy. We owe it to our descendants to maintain and preserve natural resources and lands for public benefit.",
"goals": [
"Protect and grow America’s public lands and waters, and natural monuments, for future generations"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Maintain protections for currently designated public lands and monuments and explore the designation of new lands when and where possible during my tenure.\nAppoint a Secretary of the Interior who pledges to not return publicly held land back to private hands without my express approval.\nOppose turning federally held land over to states, preventing the sale or for-profit extraction of lands by state governments. \nRestore protection to much of the 13m+ acres of land stripped of it during the tenure of the current administration. \nReinstate federal water protections ended under the current administration.\nExpand the Every Kid in a Park initiative to provide funding for school trips to natural monuments and public lands, thus instilling a love and reverence for these treasures to future generations.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Reduce Packaging Waste",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reduce-packaging-waste/",
"description": "Packaging waste has hit epidemic proportions in this country. It’s not rare to see individual oranges wrapped in plastic containers at local food stores. Plastic waste is growing by around 4% per year, while recycling rates are decreasing.\nWe used to ship excess plastic to China (which itself isn’t a great solution), but they’ve recently banned the importing of plastic waste. This is resulting in overflowing landfills and the shipment of waste plastic to countries that aren’t equipped to deal with it, so they respond mostly by dumping it into the ocean or other waterways. \n\n We need to pass a national extended producer responsibility bill, or find a way to shift the costs of disposing of these materials onto the manufacturers. If they pass the cost on to the consumers, each of us can make an informed decision about whether we really want to pay for the amount of packaging that producers are currently using for their goods.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Packaging, and especially plastic packaging, generates costs that aren’t currently borne by either the manufacturers of the products or the consumers purchasing them. This removes the incentive to minimize wasteful packaging habits.",
"We don’t currently have the capacity to dispose of or recycle the amount of waste plastic (and other materials) generated in this country."
],
"main_quote": "We produce a lot of packaging waste in the US. Our recycling efforts are becoming less effective at the same time as demand for our waste products goes down. We should include the true cost of packaging to manufacturers so that we can improve best practices. Reusable containers are cool.",
"goals": [
"Reduce wasteful packaging practices",
"Reduce the amount of waste plastic generated in this country"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the EPA to research and promote the best means of reducing wasteful packaging practices, with a focus on making manufacturers bear the true costs of their packaging.\n\n This can be modeled after recent bills in Indiana and Washington State.\n\n Work with Congress to pass a bill implementing the best practices as defined by the group.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Rebuild American Infrastructure",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/rebuild-america/",
"description": "America’s infrastructure is showing its age. Roads are cracking, bridges are becoming less stable, our schools are aging and our ports can’t accept the new, larger boats that are made possible by the expansion of the Panama Canal.\nNot only are these degradations a danger to Americans, but they’re costing this country money and jobs. By some estimates, our infrastructure problems could cost us as much as $1 trillion per year and 3.5 million jobs. Every time you’re stuck in traffic is lost time. \nWe need to immediately invest in infrastructure. Not only can we avoid the negative repercussions, but we can create up to 15 million jobs over a ten-year period. The Federal Reserve and IMF both estimate that every dollar spent on infrastructure earns $1.5-$3 back. And we’ll decrease deaths related to the poor condition of our roads and bridges.\n\n We can also use this opportunity to modernize our infrastructure, including power plants, sewer, and water systems, and public transportation systems. We can look to invest in a nationwide fiber-optic network. We can also use this rebuild to experiment with innovative new technologies, such as solar-cell roadways, used to generate free electricity for the surrounding communities.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"America’s infrastructure is outdated and breaking down, resulting in increased inefficiencies and even dangers that impact millions of people each day."
],
"main_quote": "Our infrastructure is a dangerous embarrassment and a symbol of how weak our state has become. We are still living off of the investments of past generations in the 1960s. We need to own the future, which includes building a world-class infrastructure befitting the world’s most advanced society in 2020. When our infrastructure works better we’ll all work better. This will also help put millions of Americans back to work and demonstrate that America can yet build great things.",
"goals": [
"Rebuild America’s infrastructure",
"Create millions of jobs",
"Implement new technologies"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Propose a $1 trillion infrastructure investment initiative ‘Rebuild America’ over 5 years that will support over 13 million jobs and generate $1.5 trillion-plus in increased efficiency and productivity.\nInclude a series of Challenge Grants to include advanced materials and designs in new American structures with an emphasis on sustainability.\nExpand the fiber-optic network to include rural areas and make it so that 98% of Americans have access to high-speed Internet.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Ranked Choice Voting",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/rankedchoice/",
"description": "One of the most common sentiments you hear every election is that most people don’t get to vote for someone they like, but rather are forced to pick between the lesser of two evils.\nWhy do we accept a system that leads us to feel that we’re voting for the person who is going to do the least bad instead of the most good? Our current plurality voting system, where everyone selects a single preference and then the person with the most votes wins, is viewed negatively by election scientists, for several reasons:\n\n It’s vulnerable to a spoiler effect, where a third-party candidate can take just enough votes away from a candidate to cause them to lose, even if that candidate would be preferred to the eventual winner.\nIt can cause strategic voting, where voters don’t vote for their favorite but rather the person they like who is most likely to win.\nEspecially with a party-based primary system, it leads to partisanship, as centrist candidates, despite having wider support, lose out to candidates who appeal to the fringes of each party.\n\n There are many alternative voting systems that are superior to plurality voting. We should move to a ranked-choice/single transferable vote voting system, a system that has recently been implemented in Maine and is being explored by many other localities.\n\n In ranked-choice voting, each voter ranks their top three candidates, from 1 to 3. After this is complete, every voter’s first choice is tallied. If one candidate received over 50% of the vote, they win the election. If no candidate hit the majority threshold, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Then, everyone who listed that eliminated candidate as their first choice has their second choice considered, a process which continues until someone breaks 50%. \nThe benefits of this type of system include:\n\n Higher turnout. Ranked-choice voting in general elections is associated with a 10-point increase in voter turnout.\nBetter capturing voter preferences. Since each voter is allowed to express how they feel about more candidates, the outcome tends to reflect the choices of voters better.\nAllows for more moderate candidates. A candidate that has broad, cross-aisle appeal is more likely to win using a ranked-choice voting system since voters can express their preference for a more partisan candidate as well as the more moderate choice.\nLowers levels of negative campaigning. Since each voter can potentially vote for a candidate as well as their opponent, candidates shy from negative campaigning that would alienate the supporters of other candidates, instead trying to appeal to those voters as their second or third choice.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our current plurality/first-past-the-post system drives tactical voting and partisanship while not necessarily reflecting the will of the majority."
],
"main_quote": "One reason we sometimes wind up with extreme politicians is that we have a one-round process that does not always reflect people’s true preferences. Ranked choice voting would help reward candidates who command broad support and would lead to better results. The process matters.",
"goals": [
"Adopt a voting system that better captures the will of the majority of voters",
"Adopt a voting system that combats partisanship"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Push the DNC to adopt a ranked-choice voting model for all democratic primaries.\nWork with Congress to adopt ranked-choice voting for all federal elections.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Democracy Dollars",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/democracydollars/",
"description": "The trend over the past half century has been to allow unfettered spending in elections. This culminated in the decision made in Citizens United, allowing unlimited money to be spent by corporations in elections.\nIt’s no surprise that this has resulted in mega-donors flooding the pipes of our democracy.\nWe need to diminish the influence that mega-wealthy individuals and companies have in our elections. While we must push for a Constitutional amendment to allow our campaign finance laws to properly limit the power that the top 1% have, we must act much faster to save our democratic processes. To do so, we must make it possible for all Americans to contribute to candidates they feel strongly about, in order to drown out the voices of the few who can spend millions of dollars to influence our politicians.\n\n The easiest way to do this is to provide Americans with publicly funded vouchers they can use to donate to politicians that they support. Every American gets $100 a year to give to candidates, use it or lose it. These Democracy Dollars would, by the sheer volume of the US population, drown out the influence of mega-donors. \nImagine running for office when every American has $100 Democracy Dollars to give to their favorite candidate. 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. Calling rich people for money is soul-crushing. We’d all be better off if politicians only needed to worry about representing the people that elected them.\nIt has been used in Seattle to great effect, and we can take their program national to move towards publicly funded elections.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Under current Supreme Court jurisprudence, individuals can contribute huge amounts to influence elections and politicians.",
"Amending the Constitution to prevent this, or nominating judges to overturn it, can take decades, and this is corrupting our democracy now."
],
"main_quote": "The big problem right now with running for office is that you have to get the money on your side and the people on your side, and these are two different things. Imagine if every American had $100 Dollars to give to their favorite candidate—then if you get 10,000 people behind you, you’d get $1 million. You could then act in the best interests of the people you represent instead of sucking up to rich people and companies. Calling rich people for money is soul-crushing. We’d all be better off if politicians just needed to worry about representing the people that elected them rather than hustling for money all of the time.",
"goals": [
"Limit the influence of mega-donors in our election",
"Allow the will of the people to show through"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Provide every eligible American voter with $100 Democracy Dollars for each federal election cycle, a voucher that they can use to support candidates of their choosing.\n\n This amounts to $23+b nationwide per election, allowing for more than 4x the spending fueled by mega-donor contributions and dark money.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "12-Year Congressional Term Limits",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/12-year-congressional-term-limits/",
"description": "Serving in Congress should be a calling, not a career. Anyone running for office should want to get in, bring fresh ideas to the debate, pass legislation that improves the country, and then let someone else come in with their own fresh ideas.\nInstead, we have a political class that has entrenched itself in power, remaining there for far too long. We need to get Congress back in the habit of serving the people, not serving out careers.\nSome elections have seen reelection rates at 98%, with 90% being the norm. Even years where a wave election happens, reelection rates tend to be above 80%. Compare this to earlier elections with much higher turnover rates, such as in 1854 when around a third of all seats changed hands.\nAround 13% of the House will have served for almost 2 decades in 2020, which pales to the approx. 20% in the Senate. That’s too long a tenure.\nWith that much time, individuals can amass power that will lead to self-dealing. Being entrenched in a seat, especially with how strong the incumbent advantage is in such a polarized nation with a two-party system, leads to legislators that are less responsive to their constituents. And, finally, power has been shown to literally cause brain damage, eroding certain types of decision-making.\n\n With term limits, members of Congress would get what they went to DC to accomplish done and then go home. It would make room for new leaders with new experiences and fresh ideas. It would make time in Congress about reaching a goal, not reaching retirement after a long career with a good salary at the expense of the public. And it would give legislators a period of time when they didn’t need to constantly fundraise, as their final term wouldn’t hold the option for reelection.\nThere are some benefits to no term limits. Legislators gain experience over time, and they form coalitions. Short term limits would also entrench the non-legislative bureaucracy.\nThis is why the best balance would be longer term limits – 12 years for each chamber of Congress. This would allow legislators enough time to build up sufficient experience and relationships to accomplish their goals, and then get them out before they stagnate and start to engage in self-dealing. It would allow the regular infusion of fresh ideas from new members of Congress. And it would ensure that the political class that makes Congress feel like a distant and unresponsive organization wouldn’t be able to develop.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Allowing legislators to run for their seats without limit creates a stagnant political class that isn’t responsive to constituents or modern problems that require fresh solutions.",
"Allowing legislators to hold office without end leads to the amassing of power that can lead to corruption and, literally, brain damage."
],
"main_quote": "Term limits in DC are a good idea. They would lead legislators to get something done and then go home. Term limits would also make room for new leaders with fresh ideas. The drawback is that they would entrench the non-legislative bureaucracy, since legislators would have a harder time organizing and forming coalitions. The best balance, then, is a 12-year term limit that would be long enough for expertise and coalitions to build without letting legislators become careerist and self-dealing.",
"goals": [
"Keep legislators from becoming entrenched in a political class",
"Keep legislators focused on solving problems instead of getting reelected",
"Get new ideas into Congress regularly"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Support a constitutional amendment that would limit individuals to serving a maximum of 12 years in each chamber of Congress.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Restoration of Voting Rights",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/restore-voting-rights/",
"description": "There are around 3 million Americans in various states who have paid their debt to society and are no longer incarcerated, on parole, or on probation, yet are denied the right to cast their vote in an election. State laws vary wildly as far as re-enfranchisement is concerned, with some never disenfranchising felons, and others permanently disenfranchising them. This patchwork of state laws is inherently unfair, as citizens are treated differently depending on their location.\nAmerica’s criminal justice system should be built around the idea of rehabilitation whenever possible. We should be working with anyone who has completed their prison term and any post-incarceration parole or probation to help them reintegrate into society.\n\n By restoring full voting rights to ex-felons who have completed the entirety of their sentence, we’ll increase their engagement with society. This will improve their lives drastically, for obvious reasons. It will also make the rest of us safer, as some studies have shown that ex-felons who vote are half as likely to reoffend. By giving these individuals a larger stake in society, we make our entire country stronger.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Millions of Americans are not allowed to vote because of a prior conviction, making them less engaged with society."
],
"main_quote": "If you’ve paid your debt to society, you ought to be able to vote. This is particularly true given the hodgepodge of different treatment in different states. Voters are less likely to reoffend, which is only one reason we should be pushing for it.",
"goals": [
"Help to reintegrate those convicted of felonies into society",
"Expand voting rights"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Support state efforts to pass legislation restoring voting rights to individuals convicted of felonies who are currently denied their right to vote.\nEncourage states to minimize the list of felonies that result in an automatic loss of voting rights.\nPrioritize all initiatives to expand and restore voting rights in the US to the previously incarcerated.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Automatic Voter Registration",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/automatic-voter-registration/",
"description": "Citizens have the right to vote. Not citizens who jump through varying hoops depending on the state in which they reside – all citizens.\nWhen you turn the legal voting age (now 18), all American citizens should be automatically enrolled to vote. Upon interacting with a government agency (e.g., the DMV), information would be passed along to the relevant state voting board unless a person opts out of being enrolled to vote.\n\n States that have implemented Automatic Voter Registration (“AVR”) have seen voter registration rates increase by 60+%. Additionally, having the infrastructure in place to provide AVR leads to having more accurate information on voters, thus “cleaning” the voter rolls and making voting day run more smoothly.\nA move to AVR also usually coincides with a move to an electronic system, which is also cheaper and easier to update.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Voting is a right of citizenship that should be made as easy as possible."
],
"main_quote": "Why do we make it such a headache to register to vote? When you turn 18 you should be automatically enrolled. Other countries do this and, shocker, their voting rates are higher.",
"goals": [
"Automatically enroll all American citizens to vote when they hit the voting age"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct all federal agencies, upon interacting with an eligible voter, to provide electronic data to state voter boards and encourage automatic enrollment.\nProvide funding to states to update their voter enrollment systems to electronic ones, and to integrate with federal systems, as well as each other, to ensure up-to-date voter information and easy transfer of data.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Make Washington, DC, a State",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/dc-statehood/",
"description": "Washington, DC, has a population larger than two states, and yet it is not considered a state. This deprives residents of equal representation in the federal government, lacking both Representatives and Senators to promote their interests.\nAnd yet, they still pay taxes, truly being an example of taxation without representation.\n\n The residents of Washington, DC, should be afforded the same representation as other Americans, and it should be admitted as a State. To resolve any constitutional issues, an area of land containing the important federal buildings could be carved out and defined as the capital/Washington, DC.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Residents of our nation’s capital are taxed without receiving representation in Congress."
],
"main_quote": "Hundreds of thousands of Americans right now are denied effective representation at the federal level while paying taxes and living in the shadow of the capital. We should go ahead and make Washington D.C. a state. I like 50 as a number as much as the next guy but it’s past time for a change.",
"goals": [
"Provide representation to citizens in our nation’s capital"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to admit Washington, DC, to the union as a state, with equal representation.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "End Partisan Gerrymandering",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/end-gerrymandering/",
"description": "Partisan gerrymandering has been an issue in our democracy for generations, and it makes people feel like their votes don’t count and government isn’t responsive to them. Both parties have been guilty of drawing maps to benefit their members, lock in majorities, and protect incumbents.\nGerrymandering undercuts the basis of our representative democracy, and it causes people to believe their vote doesn’t count.\n\n We need to get control of our democracy back in the hands of the people, and we need our politicians to reflect the will of the constituencies they represent. If we don’t remove the politics from the drawing of district maps for voting purposes, we’ll continue to have representative bodies that don’t reflect the populations they’re representing, and that are promoting an agenda that is reflective of a smaller and smaller proportion of the population.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Partisan gerrymandering has undercut the foundations of our representative democracy."
],
"main_quote": "Gerrymandering has led to legislators being more worried about primary challenges from the extremes of their own party rather than appealing to a broad constituency. This in turn has led to increased polarization and dysfunction and more people tuning out because they don’t feel represented. We should do all we can to reverse redrawing voting districts on both sides.",
"goals": [
"End partisan gerrymandering"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Promote the use of the efficiency gap to measure partisan gerrymandering when evaluating and drawing district maps.\nPromote the use of independent redistricting commissions (a nonpartisan, supermajority commission, similar to California’s).\nAppoint Supreme Court justices who support the use of sociological tools such as the efficiency gap to help end partisan gerrymandering.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Public Council of Advisors",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/public-advisors/",
"description": "Here in America, we have access to world-class experts, artists, and thinkers in essentially every subject and discipline. These individuals push forward human thought and public discourse, but their reach is often limited to academic articles, short clips on TV news, cultural references, and books that many may not read.\nAdditionally, the President has the ability to rely on these experts, leaders, and thinkers for guidance and feedback at essentially any time. Their opinions could also help shape public opinion and feedback. \n\n America is at its best when an informed citizenry with diverse viewpoints is engaged in a national conversation about the best direction forward, based on shared facts and mutual respect. This conversation must start from the top.\nEach President should form a Public Council of Advisors, featuring experts, artists, and thinkers across a wide area of subjects and featuring views from all sides of the political spectrum. These experts would answer questions directed to them by the President, as well as questions on topics that they deem to be of public importance. All opinions would be released publicly, and any meeting between the President and the Council would be broadcast live.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The vast knowledge held by experts, artists, and thinkers in America is not always widely dispersed throughout the population.",
"Individuals with outsized influence on the thinking of the President don’t always publicly share the advice they give.",
"Our public debates have devolved into online shouting matches between disparate bubbles, with little intellectual respect for people who don’t share our viewpoint."
],
"main_quote": "Who wouldn’t want to have access to some of the leading experts, artists, and thinkers of the era in making decisions and policies? Plus the American people would have the benefit of an apolitical group that could cross administrations. It could even help depoliticize our thinking and get us on the same page over time.",
"goals": [
"Build a Public Council of Advisors, featuring experts, artists, and thinkers on a variety of subjects and across the political spectrum, to advise both the public and the President on important topics"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Appoint experts, artists, and thinkers on whose opinion I rely to a Public Council of Advisors, and task them with providing opinions on topics that they think are of public importance.\nCommit to releasing any communications between me and the Advisors publicly.\nHold regular meetings with these Advisors, on set topics of interest, to be broadcast nationally.\nCommit at least one meeting per quarter to a subject chosen by online petition.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Make Election Day a Holiday",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/election-day-holiday/",
"description": "Everyone eligible to vote on election day should be free to do so. However, too many Americans are unable to take time off from work as they’re living paycheck-to-paycheck or are hourly workers who can’t lose the time.\n\n Election Day should be a federal holiday, but that doesn’t go far enough as it doesn’t ensure economic motivations won’t keep people from voting. On top of making that day a holiday, we need to implement tax breaks for companies that pay their workers for the time taken off to vote.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Many American workers must choose between making enough money to pay their bills and voting on election day.",
"Many American workers aren’t allowed to take time off on election day."
],
"main_quote": "Election Day is a holiday in many other countries. It should be in the US, as well. It would increase turnout and make it easier for people to vote, particularly those who otherwise might struggle to take the time away from work.",
"goals": [
"Increase voter turnout",
"Ensure no one is prevented from voting because of economic considerations"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Make election day a federal holiday.\nProvide tax breaks to employers equivalent to total wages paid to workers who are given paid time off to vote.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "18 Year Term Limit for Supreme Court Justices",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/scotustermlimits/",
"description": "Our Founding Fathers intended the judicial brach of government to be free of political pressures, interpreting and applying the Constitution to the laws passed by Congress in order to ensure that no violations were found.\nToday, the Supreme Court is increasingly polarized around political lines, and the selection of a new Justice is a bitter fight that divides the country. The process has become increasingly contentious, and very few Americans believe that the Supreme Court is impartial. \nThe first step in ensuring that the Supreme Court doesn’t lose the faith of the American people is to establish a clear code of ethics that applies to the Justices. Currently, all inferior courts have a Code of Ethics applied to them, and violations can be litigated. However, as the Supreme Court of the land, there’s no applicable Code that applies to its members.\nCongress has put a few requirements on Justices – recusement requirements and financial disclosure requirements – that the Justices have abided by. It’s time that a full Code of Ethics is established, ensuring that people know our Supreme Court Justices are acting ethically.\n\n Additionally, the stakes involved in the appointment of Supreme Court justices are creating partisan battles that divide our country, create bitter resentment, and allow individuals to delegitimize later decisions with which they disagree.\nThe stats largely back up that we do have a partisan problem on the Supreme Court. The number of 5-4 decisions, reflecting the line between Republican-appointed and Democrat-appointed Justices, has increased in recent years. When a new seat opens up, lifetime appointments incentivize finding the youngest, most partisan jurist who can gain confirmation in order to ensure a particular bent on the Court for as long as possible. Current Justices can expect to serve for 40 or more years. For historical context, the average Justice has served for 15 years, though Justices appointed since 1970 have served for an average of 26 years.\nThis isn’t the way it was envisioned at the founding of our country, when life expectancy was shorter and Justices would often retire or resign well ahead of their deaths. We need to return some level of sanity and balance to the Supreme Court.\nThe answer to this is to impose term limits on Justices, and set their terms at regular intervals. Each President should be allowed to appoint two Justices per term served, in their first and third years in office.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The Supreme Court is an increasingly partisan institution.",
"The appointment of new Justices becomes a national fight that damages trust in our institutions.",
"Justices are serving for way too long and splitting along partisan lines."
],
"main_quote": "The fact that we are freaking out about the health of an octogenarian judge is a sign of just how badly we need to reform the Supreme Court. Let’s make it predictable and rational instead of having an appointment impact laws for 30 years after the fact - a lot can change in 30 years. An 18-year appointment would be long-term enough so that justices can operate independently without making each appointment a political deathmatch. We are capable of better than this if we simply adopt a more balanced approach.",
"goals": [
"Create a system that allows the Supreme Court to stay above the political fray",
"Return the trust of the American people to this branch of government",
"Prevent the bitter political bickering that comes with the appointment of each new Justice"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to pass a clear Code of Ethics that applies to the Supreme Court.\nPropose a constitutional amendment imposing 18-year term limits on Supreme Court Justices, with terms staggered so that there’s one retirement every other year (each President gets 2 appointments).\nAllow for “off-cycle” appointments, having the President “forfeit” their next appointment to maintain parity.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Revive the Office of Technology Assessment",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reviveota/",
"description": "Quite frankly, the level of technological understanding by some members of our government is embarrassing. Anyone who watched Congress question Mark Zuckerberg is well aware of this, and it makes it unreasonable to expect proper regulation of major tech companies, or legislation that addresses the large technological issues that we’ll continue to face in areas such as AI and cybersecurity.\nIt’s also impossible to imagine that Congress can provide full oversight over the executive branch, whose Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is staffed extensively, providing guidance and information on important technological developments to the President and other executive-branch staff.\n\n The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) provided valuable research to our legislative branch until it was phased out in 1995. Free of the bias of private industry or think tanks, the OTA provided neutral information on the latest technological developments to legislators. Many of these reports, despite being a quarter of a century old, show an amazing prescience on topics that are still relevant to this day. This vital institution needs to be revived, with a budget large enough and rules flexible enough to draw top talent away from the very lucrative private sector, and with the mandate to ensure that our legislators are up to the task of regulating the biggest technological issues of our time.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Congress lacks a dedicated research arm to provide them with vital information on new technologies and large companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon.",
"The executive branch has access to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, creating an asymmetry in expertise that makes effective oversight by Congress essentially impossible.",
"Private sector jobs in this area are extremely lucrative, making it difficult to attract talent into the public sector."
],
"main_quote": "Cutting the OTA over two decades ago to ‘save money’ was the dumbest decision ever, and it likely cost the American people hundreds of times the budget of the OTA based on less efficient and informed legislation. Having a group of technology experts on hand for Congress to consult with, free of industry influence, is common sense and overdue. Let’s try to get in front of the true challenges of the 21st century and get Congress the information they need to make intelligent decisions.",
"goals": [
"Revive the Office of Technology Assessment",
"Provide means for the OTA to attract the relevant talent to ensure quality advice"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Refuse to sign any budget that doesn’t include the revival of the Office of Technology Assessment and enough funding to ensure it is staffed at sufficient levels to deliver top quality briefings to members of Congress.\nFind ways for the OTA and OSTP to work together to ensure both branches of government have the best information available and Congress can provide proper oversight of the actions of the executive branch.\n\n Increase the staffing of the OSTP to appropriate levels, similar to those under President Obama (~150).\n\n Support any changes Congress makes to its compensation structure to ensure that top talent can be attracted to work in the public sector for at least a period of time, including increasing the pay cap above congressional salaries or creating tax breaks for companies that allow employees to defer their employment to work in government for several years.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Relocate Federal Agencies",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/relocatefederalagencies/",
"description": "Federal agencies were headquartered in the DC area when communication technology wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is today. The costs in Washington are also incredibly expensive relative to other parts of the country. This has created a federal government that often feels divorced from large segments of the population. \n\n Federal agencies that aren’t directly tied to general government activities (e.g., the NIH) should be relocated to different areas throughout the country to provide a boost to local economies and tie the rest of the country to the federal government.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The federal government is very centralized, creating a feeling of division between many Americans and its operations.",
"Agencies are based in Washington, D.C., one of the most expensive cities in the country, which now has traffic and infrastructure problems."
],
"main_quote": "In my experience, the closer an organization is to its constituents, the more responsive it tends to be. We should move as much of the Federal government as is feasible to other parts of the country, particularly the Midwest. We should start by moving the NIH to Cleveland, where it would bolster the region’s already significant health care industry leadership.",
"goals": [
"Make people feel more connected to the workings of the federal government",
"Provide a boost to the economy of certain areas",
"Make government expenditures more efficient"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Identify federal agencies that can operate outside of the Washington, D.C., area, and relocate them throughout the U.S.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Prevent Corruption in the Federal Government",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/prevent-regulatory-capture-and-corruption/",
"description": "The Office of the President is admired throughout American society. However, that respect has been capitalized on by recent presidents for personal gain. Six-digit speaking fees and lucrative board positions fuel the perception that the President may go soft on people that he or she could receive fees from after leaving office. \nIn order to combat this, we should raise the president’s salary from the current $400,000 to $4 million. However, anyone who served in the office would be barred from accepting speaking fees or lucrative board positions for personal gain after leaving office.\n\n And it’s not just the president. Any number of people working at regulatory agencies know that they have lucrative job offers waiting for them within the industries they’re currently regulating. They have an economic incentive not to burn any bridges in their current positions before moving into the industries they’re supposed to be policing on behalf of the rest of us.\nCabinet members and heads of regulatory agencies should have their salaries increased from $275k to $1 million, but be barred from accepting any speaking fees or industry employment for 10 years post-service.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The respect people have for the Office of President is damaged by the view that presidential policies are, sometimes subconsciously, motivated by a desire to have lucrative offers and good relationships after leaving office.",
"Regulators have an economic incentive to “take it easy” on the industries they’re regulating."
],
"main_quote": "Government jobs don’t pay as well as high-level private sector jobs, which leads to a revolving door between government and industry. Often, industry will pay a government employee 5 to 10 times their salary after they leave office. This makes it very natural for regulators to go easy on the companies they regulate. We need to immunize those in charge of government from market forces by compensating them at higher levels and then making it so they can’t go back to their old jobs. Corruption in this case would be diminished by paying government officials more. The government has a printing press - it should be using it to empower regulators to act on behalf of the people instead of relying upon officials ignoring their own economic interests.",
"goals": [
"Allow the president to promote policies free of undue economic influence",
"Restore the trust people have that the president is motivated by helping them instead of the people who have the most lucrative post-office offers",
"Empower regulators and policymakers to make decisions free of market influences"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Pledge to accept no speaking fees or board positions for personal gain after leaving office.\nIncrease salaries for government officials who operate in a regulatory capacity to much higher levels.\n\n Ban any member of the federal government (including members of Congress), after leaving their position, from receiving anything of value in exchange for advocating for a position to members of the federal government.\nProvide an Anti-Corruption Stipend for all members of the federal government (including members of Congress) after the termination of their employment, to be paid as long as they don’t accept anything of value in exchange for advocating for a position to members of the federal government.\n\n Request that the next President receive a raise to $4 million but then be barred from any speaking fees or board positions for personal gain after leaving office.",
"excerpt": "Leaders Beyond MoneyI was on the warm-up panel once for an event headlined by a duo of ex-Presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. They were speaking to a room of wealthy clients of a financial institution. The event was very benign – the two didn’t exactly share state secrets. They told funny stories about their time in office and their take on current events. The two had clearly become very friendly. They each had a Secret Service detail who made the whole thing much more cinematic with their crewcuts and headsets. Afterwards, the assembled clients got in line for a photo-op with the two smiling ex-presidents.There was a time not so long ago when this would have been unthinkable.Harry Truman, when he left the office of the Presidency in 1953 was so poor that he moved into his mother-in-law’s house in Missouri. All he had to live on was his pension as a former army officer of $112 a month. He refused to trade on his celebrity, turning down lucrative consulting and business arrangements. “I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable, that would commercialize on the prestige and dignity of the office of the presidency,” he wrote. His only commercial gain from office was when he sold his memoirs to Life magazine.For a long time, former Presidents tended to recede from public and commercial life. This practice started changing with Gerald Ford joining the boards of American Express and 20th Century Fox after leaving office in 1977 and has mushroomed ever since. Bill Clinton has amassed $105 million in speaking fees since leaving office. George W. Bush has collected a relatively modest $15 million. The going rate for one of the former Presidents is $150,000 to $200,000 for a speaking engagement plus various expenses.The irony is that back in 1958, President Eisenhower and Congress felt so bad for Harry Truman that they passed the Former President Act, which authorized a lifetime pension that today pays former Presidents $250,000 a year and gives them a budget for staff, health insurance and the like. The money-making activities of former Presidents surged after we started taking care of them.Is it possible that even a President might go easy on various parties because he or she might be getting paid $200,000 or even $400,000 to speak to them a few years later? One of the reasons why we’ve lost our way as a society is that the market has overrun our leaders.And it’s not just presidents. Elites in general have gotten too cozy. We all went to the same colleges, have children in the same prep schools, live in the same neighborhoods, attend the same conferences and social functions, and often get paid by the same companies. There’s a very powerful set of incentives to get along.In order for Humanity to trump Capital, the State must represent the public interest above all. The goal should be to create a leadership class that can welcome the hatred of others with no fear of getting frozen out of opportunities afterwards.We should start at the top. We should give Presidents a raise from their current $400,000 to $4 million tax-free per year plus 10 million Social Credits. But there would be one condition – they would not be able to accept speaking fees or any Board positions for any personal gain after leaving office. This would keep them free and clear of any need to make powerful people happy. We should do the same for members of the Cabinet and the heads of all regulatory agencies.It’s tough working in D.C. Most of the public servants I know are motivated by the right things. You go in hoping to make a difference. But you quickly get jaded by the system. You become quite influential in your own way, yet you interact with people who are making much more money than you at every turn. Many of them are classmates of yours. Your time in government runs out. Then what? Most government employees make about $100,000.Private industry may offer you 5 to 10 times as much. Industry implicitly becomes one of your most appealing options.I have friends who have experienced versions of this. Government service can easily make you feel like a chump 4 years later. It’s highly irrational for any regulator to come after industry too hard, because industry is waiting with the big paycheck afterwards. At least one friend of mine swore up and down to me that he’d never become a lobbyist, only to become a lobbyist several years later. I don’t blame him one bit – he’d spent years building up relationships and currency that people wanted to pay him for. And his options outside of D.C. were uncertain.Sheila Bair, the former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, lived through this conflict herself. She now advocates a lifetime ban on regulators working for the institutions they regulated in return for an increased government salary to $400,000. “It would change the regulatory mindset,” said Ms. Bair and would remove the “upside down” incentives for regulators to keep companies happy to command high salaries afterwards.For Human Capitalism to take hold, we need leaders who can truly ignore the market. That’s the first step.",
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Campaign Finance Reform",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/overturning-citizens-united/",
"description": "Corporations and the wealthy have enough advantages without being able to influence every election by putting up millions of dollars and bending the ear of every candidate and officeholder. \nIn the wake of the Citizens United ruling (and the lesser-known Buckley v. Valeo decision), money has flooded our political system like never before. A handful of wealthy individuals can now raise a voice louder than millions of ordinary Americans put together. The flood of money in politics has led to increased mistrust and disenchantment in our government, and rightly so. Big money in politics is far more likely to support candidates who will protect the interest of the wealthy that elected these candidates in the first place.\n\n Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions, and disclosure requirements allow donations to be funneled through nonprofits until they can’t be traced to their original source – this is Dark Money. Super PAC spending in federal elections more than doubled between 2010 and 2012. Swing states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, and North Carolina see the largest Dark Money spending, undoubtedly seeing their elections influenced by wealthy donors that have no ties to the state itself.\nWe must return to the essence of democracy – where each person’s vote is heard and treated equally. I will gladly push for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and return the American government to its people. We need to end Super PACs, drown out their influence, and stop pretending that corporations have equal rights to people.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Money has become the dominant force in our elections as wealthy individuals and corporations increasingly demand the attention of candidates and policymakers.",
"People don’t believe that their voices matter, often because they don’t have meaningful access.",
"Candidates and officeholders spend the majority of their time fundraising rather than governing or finding solutions."
],
"main_quote": "Money has overrun our politics, and that needs to change. Corporations and the wealthy have enough advantages without being able to influence every election by putting up millions of dollars and bending the ear of every candidate and officeholder. We will return to the essence of democracy - where each person’s vote is heard and treated equally. I will gladly overturn Citizens United and return the American government to its people. This would also improve policymaking as leaders can turn toward solutions instead of constantly trying to raise money for their next campaign. Let’s get big money out of politics once and for all—we’ll all be much better off for it. I don’t love calling rich people either, nor does any sane person.",
"goals": [
"Improve candidate responsiveness to the concerns of ordinary Americans",
"Reduce corporate influence and outsize influence of the wealthy",
"Make it so that more people can run for office without having ready access to vast financial resources"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and Valeo, which were terrible decisions that have made our politics even more polarized. \nEliminate super PACs and vessels for corporate intervention in campaigns. \nAppoint judges who don’t believe corporations have the same rights as people.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Make Puerto Rico a State",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/puerto-rican-statehood/",
"description": "Puerto Rico has been a part of the United States for over a century, and yet its people are still denied many of the rights of full citizens because it is an unincorporated US territory instead of a full state. Puerto Ricans overwhelmingly want to be a state, and we should endorse this and make it happen.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Puerto Rico has been a part of the US for over a century but has never been granted the full rights of statehood."
],
"main_quote": "Puerto Rico should be a state - they function as one right now without the political rights and bankruptcy protection. If Puerto Ricans looked like Swedes they’d be a state already. We must not only offer them political equality but help them rebuild their economy and infrastructure - it will take time but that’s what Americans do.",
"goals": [
"Make Puerto Rico a state"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Take all steps necessary to promote Puerto Rican statehood as an overdue step toward equality if this is what Puerto Ricans want.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "American Journalism Fellows",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/american-journalism-fellows/",
"description": "Trust in media is at a record low as local news organizations dwindle away due to diminished ad revenues and circulation. Funding for journalists to engage in real investigative reporting is declining rapidly as even major publications no longer can afford robust newsrooms or beat reporters who don’t publish regularly. The information we use to make informed judgments is increasingly under threat. \nIt’s imperative that we stop this trend. We must treat journalism as the important safeguard to democracy that it is and free up a critical body of reporters from market pressures and incentives.\n\n I will initiate the American Journalism Fellows, through which reporters from each state nominated by a body of industry professionals and selected by a nonpartisan commission will be given a 4-year grant of $400,000 ($100,000 per year) and stationed at a local news organization with the condition that they report on issues relevant to the district during the period of their Fellowship. This way, we will have hundreds of journalists in each state working on important news stories and supporting local news organizations.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Local news organizations are losing the ability to fund robust reporting.",
"Stories are increasingly subject to market incentives that reward sensationalism and discourage thoughtful investigation.",
"Mistrust of media is at an all-time high, making it very difficult to form a consensus on solutions or common goals."
],
"main_quote": "Journalism is a vital profession for a functioning democracy. We need hundreds of reporters digging into complex issues and stories to find the truth and share it with our citizens and sometimes to act as both a spur and a check on government and industry leaders. We should view journalism as a public good and support it in a way that ensures strong, independent viewpoints that can speak truth to power.",
"goals": [
"Provide resources to ensure a strong independent press",
"Free up a critical mass of reporters from needing to meet market-based demands",
"Affirm journalism as a profession"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Invest in a National Journalism Fellows program that will select and invest in journalists in and from every state in the Union. Each State would have as many Fellows as Congresspeople (3 for Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska all the way up to 55 for California). They would each be funded by a 4-year grant of $400,000 and stationed at a local news organization. \nFellows would be nominated by an industry body and selected by a nonpartisan commission. ¼ of the 535 Fellows would be nominated and selected each year for a 4-year term. Their Fellowship would be contingent on their reporting from a given district and state but immune from any other influence.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Closely Monitor Mental Health of White House Staff",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/white-house-psychologist/",
"description": "Working in the White House, by all accounts, is a stressful job. It can exacerbate existing mental health issues or trigger latent ones.\nWhile mental health can be improved and those who suffer from issues are often productive members of society, staying well requires constant work. Additionally, the information that flows through the White House and the work done there is of utmost importance.\n\n There should be a White House Psychologist group whose job it is to monitor the mental health of employees serving in the executive branch. All those employed – including the president – should undergo regular mental health evaluations, and the psychologists should be free to make recommendations as to each individual’s fitness for whatever office they hold and refer people to the White House Chief of Staff.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Mental health issues need to be monitored better in the executive branch, all the way up to the President.",
"We should work on removing the stigma attached to mental and emotional issues that are commonplace."
],
"main_quote": "Being a senior government official is a stressful job. It stands to reason that there should be a psychologist on staff who is able to treat people, help them sort through issues and flag potential problems. My brother is a psychology professor—I believe in the power and good that the discipline can do. We should be 100% confident that people in power don't have severe psychological problems. This will also help reduce the stigma around counseling for those who would benefit from it, which is pretty much everybody.",
"goals": [
"Ensure good mental health for those running the executive branch of the federal government",
"Treat mental health issues for those serving in the White House",
"Destigmatize mental health issues"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Undergo a mental health screening and release the determination as to my fitness for office to the American people.\nHire a White House psychologist corps to provide mental health assistance to all employees of the Executive Branch.\nRequire all employees of the Executive Branch to undergo regular mental health evaluations.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Local Journalism Fund",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/local-journalism-fund/",
"description": "Local newspapers and websites are withering away. In small towns and communities across the country, the local paper is a thing of the past, leading citizens to no longer have a sense of what’s happening in their local government, schools or communities. \nFor decades local media flourished supported by local advertisements and classified ads. This model is no longer able to support viable enterprises. Yet the function of local journalism is more important than ever to give people a sense of their own communities. \n\n We should recognize that local journalism has a vital public function and support its transition from independent for-profit businesses to non-profits supported by citizens, local institutions, philanthropy and the government. \nI will initiate the Local Journalism Fund, a dedicated $1 billion Fund operated out of the FCC that will make grants to companies, non-profits and local governments and libraries to help local newspapers, periodicals and websites transition to sustainability in a new era.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Local news organizations are disappearing because of a lack of financial return.",
"Citizens have fewer and fewer ways to gain insight and perspective on what is happening in their local community, government or schools.",
"Many communities are struggling to transition to new models of journalism."
],
"main_quote": "Journalism is a vital function in any community. How can you be expected to vote on local leaders and issues if you don’t know what’s going on? This is a market failure, and it’s clear that this is a space that should transition to non-profits, libraries and public-private partnerships instead of for-profit enterprises in many communities. I’m confident that most small towns and cities will be able to support a local website or paper - we just need to support their transition to a new model that supplements advertising and subscription fees with local institutional and citizen support.",
"goals": [
"Provide resources to ensure sustainable local press",
"Support a transition to new models of support for local news sources",
"Affirm local journalism as a public good"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Invest in a Local Journalism Fund program that will make grants of between $25,000 and $250,000 to local media outlets, non-profits, libraries, governments and public-private partnerships to catalyze transitions to new models of support. In many cases, the grants will serve as ‘Matching Funds’ for other committed support to demonstrate viability. The Fund will be operated out of the FCC and will be divided evenly among states proportionally based on the population of each state.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Automatically Sunset Old Laws",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/automatically-sunsetting-old-laws/",
"description": "Congress is set up to pass laws. They’re not set up to remove old laws. Because of this, the U.S. Code (U.S.C.) has become a bloated mess that only benefits those looking to exploit loopholes or avoid responsibility by pointing at the letter of the law.\nWhile it’s important to take the time to revise the U.S.C., we should also proactively stop it from becoming a mess again in the future.\nAll laws passed should have their success metrics (in business, we call these Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs) defined and included. There should also be a sunset period defined—a time during which, barring Congressional action, the law will be removed from the books.\n\n After the defined period, a Congressional committee could hear testimony about how the law has met its KPIs and, if it’s still relevant and has achieved its goals, can decide to reenact it for another period of time. If it is no longer relevant, or if it has failed to achieve its defined goals, it should cease to be law.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Congress has incentives to pass laws but not remove them, resulting in a bloated collection of laws.",
"Some of these laws are actively harmful - they not only failed to achieve their goals, but they create more problems than they solve. However, there is always someone who benefited from it and will lobby for it to stay. Now, the default is that it sticks around without action; that should change."
],
"main_quote": "We have a thicket of old laws that may have made sense when they were passed, but now have given rise to special interests that live off of them. Getting rid of laws is extremely tough—we have to make it easier by having a term and evaluation. This would empower Congress to re-evaluate laws periodically and channel resources more effectively. We live in the present and future, not the past, and we should govern accordingly.",
"goals": [
"Prevent U.S. law from becoming unwieldy",
"Automatically sunset harmful, useless, or underperforming laws"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Veto any bill that includes spending that doesn’t include an automatic sunset period and a clearly defined set of goals, with measurable performance indicators.\nPush for a Constitutional Amendment calling for an automatic sunset period for laws as they’re enacted, which will remove those laws barring Congressional evaluation and renewal.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Support the Revival of Earmarks",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/support-revival-earmarks/",
"description": "Earmarks have received a bad name in American politics. However, many experts believe that killing off the practice of earmarks has drastically increased the difficulty of getting legislation passed.\n\n In reality, our Representatives in both the House and the Senate are there to represent and serve their local constituencies. Those who have constituents that are less affected by a given piece of legislation are often faced with a binary yes/no decision. Earmarks allow another level of negotiation in the governing process—those representatives can generate revenue for their area that might offset the negative impacts their constituents would face in an otherwise socially desirable piece of legislation.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"It is currently exceptionally difficult to pass legislation in a system that doesn’t allow Representatives to argue for benefits for certain constituencies that are most affected by socially beneficial legislation."
],
"main_quote": "Some pork is a small price to pay for a functional legislature. We have to give lawmakers incentives to cooperate again.",
"goals": [
"Make it easier to pass legislation",
"Increase the benefits of legislation to a wider constituency"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Advocate for Congress to change its rules around earmarks to bring them back.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Tort Reform/Reasonableness Dismissals",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/tort-reform-reasonableness-dismissals/",
"description": "Our civil litigation system influences our behavior in ways big and small because people are afraid they might be sued. Sometimes the mere idea of fighting a lawsuit is enough to terrify anyone from taking an action that might be socially desirable (e.g. helping out a stranger in need), and we shouldn’t have a legal system that discourages them.\nJustice always requires judgment, but we too often strip that from our judges. Nowhere is this more apparent than the ability of spurious lawsuits to make it to trial.\n\n Judges should be able to dismiss any lawsuit during its initial stages purely for being unreasonable. There can be an appeal process, but that process should be one that’s fought between the plaintiff and an appeals court, not between a plaintiff and the person being unreasonably sued.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The constant threat of being sued, coupled with the high cost of defending even a ridiculous claim, has paralyzed Americans in their private lives and increased costs for the businesses they run and places they work."
],
"main_quote": "We should give judges the power to keep frivolous nuisance lawsuits out of their courtroom to free up the resources for real conflicts and injustices. Most of us are frightened of the threat of a lawsuit and it shapes behavior in ways big and small. And there are some businesses and individuals that sue frivolously as a competitive bullying strategy.",
"goals": [
"Remove the fear of being bankrupted by needing to fight a ridiculous lawsuit",
"Clear up our clogged court systems by allowing judges to more easily dismiss spurious lawsuits"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work to restore common sense and agency to our court system by allowing judges to more readily dismiss lawsuits they deem unreasonable.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Modernize Voting",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/modernize-voting/",
"description": "Considering the advances in technology, there’s no reason why we should still be waiting in line at polling stations to cast votes. The machines being used in most locales are also as vulnerable to tampering and hacking as modern technologies.\n\n Americans should be able to vote via their mobile device, with verification done via blockchain. This would dramatically increase participation in all elections, whether local, state or federal.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Voting is hard and time-consuming, which is why turnout even in presidential elections is barely over 50% and much lower during local and state elections. This rewards extreme points of view as opposed to the popular will."
],
"main_quote": "It’s ridiculous that in 2020 we are still standing in line for hours to vote in antiquated voting booths. It is 100% technically possible to have fraud-proof voting on our mobile phones today using the blockchain. This would revolutionize true democracy and increase participation to include all Americans - those without smartphones could use the legacy system and lines would be very short.",
"goals": [
"Make voting easier and more secure",
"Reduce inconsistent processes between states",
"Restore confidence and engagement in the democratic process"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work to modernize our voting infrastructure to utilize modern technology to make it easier and more secure to vote, thus increasing the number of Americans participating in our democracy.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Improving the Electoral College",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/proportional-electors/",
"description": "The electoral college is an important system that ensures the will of the larger, more populous areas of the country aren’t the only focus of nationwide elections. It’s also enshrined in the Constitution.\nConstant calls to change the electoral college after a popular vote win/electoral college loss can seem like sour grapes, and the attempt to abolish it would require a constitutional amendment that could be stopped by 13 states.\nAttempts to change the electoral college through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact are also unlikely to be successful. The 189 electoral votes currently pledged to the compact (70%) can seem close to the necessary 270 to effectively get rid of the electoral college, but looking at the remaining states leaves one wondering which are likely to sign on. Even the states that have already signed are precarious – the next election could see new elected officials who withdraw from the compact.\n\n There are, without a doubt, problems with the electoral college. Candidates can win the presidency while losing the popular vote, theoretically by quite a bit. It causes a few “swing” states to be the focus of presidential elections. It depresses voter turnout in states that are securely blue or red.\nIf we’re going to attempt to reform the electoral college, it would be better to focus on making electors determined on a proportional basis. The method of determining electors isn’t prescribed in the Constitution, and several states already use a different method. While a constitutional amendment might be required to force states to determine their electors proportionally, any individual state could determine to use a proportional method immediately, and have the electors better reflect the will of the people of their state. This would make it so that campaigning in every state would make sense because a candidate could swing votes even in a solidly red or blue state.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The electoral college is skewing presidential races while also increasing polarization and reducing presidential campaigns to a handful of swing states.",
"There’s too much of a focus on getting rid of the electoral college, which would require a constitutional amendment that almost certainly doesn’t have enough support."
],
"main_quote": "The framers of our Constitution were methodical in their decision to establish the Electoral College, a major factor of which included balancing the voice of different regions. While I understand the appeal of the popular vote, the reality is that it would require a constitutional amendment that would never pass and it would systematically advantage densely populated areas with big media markets. Also, Democrats trying to abolish the Electoral College could be interpreted as, “We don’t know how to win national elections by the rules of our Constitution so let’s change the rules,” which is a terrible message. Democrats’ inability to win several small rural states might also demonstrate a larger issue of a growing disconnect between the coasts and middle of America, and a need for the party to broaden its focus.\nLet’s win elections. Then we can talk.",
"goals": [
"Get the electoral college to better reflect the will of the majority of the population"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Promote constitutional amendments that would shift the electoral college to a proportional selection system.\nNot spend too much time on something that is almost certain to be impossible to pass as against the interests of many states.\nWin reelection using the current rules of the system.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Limit Bureaucracy in the Federal Workforce",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/downsizing-federal-workforce/",
"description": "“There is no authoritative list of government agencies.” That’s a quote from the first edition of the Administrative Conference of the United States’ Sourcebook.\nHow can we possibly promise Americans that their government is operating efficiently – not wasting their hard-earned money – when we aren’t even sure the exact scope of the federal bureaucracy?\nEvery list of federal agencies has discrepancies from all the others. Independent executive agency lists range from 78 to 137, and Cabinet units range from 174 to 268. Other lists have over 440 agencies within the federal government. Congress and Executive officials have delegated responsibilities to each of these agencies without always taking into account the purview of other departments. This has created a wide area of shared regulatory space, which means not only are resources being wasted as more than one group is tasked with addressing an issue, but sometimes conflicting information or regulations are formulated.\n\n Additionally, expertise is wasted when agencies don’t know the resources available to them through other, complementary agencies. Coordination should be baked into the ethos of these organizations, and cross-agency management should be focused on identifying areas where work can be streamlined and improved.\nFinally, these agencies tend to fall into patterns over time, failing to bring in the most talented members of the younger generations or improving the technology they rely on. It’s important that these agencies are equipped to attract and retain the best talent available, and that they have the resources they need to upgrade their systems in a way that maximizes their utility to the American public, as well as their security.\nIn short, these agencies should be rewarded for streamlining operations within themselves while coordinating with other agencies to work in a consistent and well informed manner, while also optimizing operations, staff, and technology.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The American people are paying for an oversized and inefficient federal workforce.",
"The federal workforce is aging fast and struggles to recruit and retain young workers."
],
"main_quote": "We need to ensure that our federal government is best set up to serve the people, and we have done a poor job of it. Federal agencies have grown and morphed over the years, until they’ve reached their current status.",
"goals": [
"Increase efficiency so as to not lose productivity",
"Improve the recruitment and retention of younger workers"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a task force within the OMB to perform an audit of all federal agencies, clearly defining a list of them, their charge, and their list of responsibilities. Hire a management consulting firm to do the same, and have the two reconcile their report to put together a series of recommendations for streamlining the federal bureaucracy.\nPromote cooperation in these agencies by providing incentives for management to work together with other agencies that have shared regulatory space.\nProvide sufficient funding so that each agency can maintain up-to-date, secure technological infrastructure to carry out their work.\nEnhance the recruitment and retention of younger workers by changing hiring guidelines, compensation, and reporting structures.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Lower the Voting Age to 16",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/votingage/",
"description": "While the 2018 midterm elections saw the highest turnout in a non-presidential year since 1914, that turnout was still under 50%. Presidential election turnout hovers between 50% and 65%. This is low. While reforms making it easier to vote should be implemented as well, we can also increase civic engagement and regular voting by lowering the voting age.\nStudies show that allowing younger people to vote has positive impacts on overall voting habits. Localities that have lowered the voting age have seen an increase in voter turnout across all age groups. Other studies have shown that delaying when a person first votes (because of birth dates and election cycles) decreases the likelihood that they will become a regular voter.\n\n At 16, Americans don’t have hourly limits imposed on their work, and they pay taxes. Their livelihoods are directly impacted by legislation, and they should therefore be allowed to vote for their representatives.\nAdditionally, because of election cycles, there’s a level of unfairness that comes with what year a person is born. Senators are on a 6-year cycle, and the president is on a 4-year cycle, not to mention local offices. Someone born at the wrong time in a cycle would have to wait much longer to cast a ballot for certain offices than someone born at another time. While that’s true if the voting age is lowered to 16, it decreases the age at which the person is first allowed to vote for that office, thus allowing them to have a longer period of their life where they feel represented.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The voter turnout rate in the United States is low.",
"The longer before one votes, the less likely they are to become a regular voter.",
"Young people are taxed without having the ability to influence policy through electing representatives."
],
"main_quote": "The perspective of young people is discounted in our politics. We say that this is their fault because they do not vote at as high a rate as others. One way to change this is to lower the voting age and get them in the habit of voting earlier. If we allow voting at a younger age, we will encourage people to become lifetime voters at higher levels. It will be good for our democracy and would increase attentiveness to long-term problems like climate change over time.",
"goals": [
"Increase civic engagement",
"Give citizens the ability to influence policy that impacts their economic futures"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Lower the voting age for federal elections to 16.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Media Fragmentation",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/media-fragmentation/",
"description": "Outside of extreme cases of malicious libel, the freedom of the press is inviolate.\nHowever, the fragmentation of our media is a growing problem. Different communities are receiving their news exclusively through different channels, resulting in world views with differing “facts” that rarely overlap. We can’t decide on shared values if we don’t agree on basic facts; we can’t find shared solutions if we don’t even agree what the problems are.\n\n The government should not meddle with the free press. But the government should support the major media and technology companies in finding solutions to the issues. After the Russian influence campaign affected the 2016 election, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media companies have started to investigate ways to mitigate these issues. The government should be supporting them in any way they deem appropriate.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Media fragmentation has left America split on basic “facts”, which is making any discussion of important issues fruitless."
],
"main_quote": "It’s hard to come together on solutions when we can’t agree on basic facts. I kind of miss the days of 3 major networks and a few news programs that said the same thing. While we can’t get back there, we need to establish some rules of the road and standards so that our national discourse doesn’t degenerate into a million incoherent news bubbles.",
"goals": [
"Reunify the press"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a Media Responsibility Task Force with leaders of media and tech companies to discuss ways to get Americans agreeing on facts again and removing hostile foreign influence from our discourse.\nAllow this Task Force to operate free from governmental influence – we’ll support them, not direct them.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Making Taxes Fun",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/making-taxes-fun/",
"description": "Currently, paying taxes is a slog. Instead, let’s make it a celebration.\nRevenue Day—the day taxes are due—should be a federal holiday. That day should feature celebrations.\n\n Each American should be able to direct 1% of their taxes to a specific project. During Revenue Day, these projects will be highlighted, showing what, exactly, America’s money was able to accomplish during the previous year. Initial profiles of the next year’s projects will also be announced so people can get excited for them.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Taxes are viewed as a burden instead of a contribution to our shared society.",
"Tax day is dreaded, not celebrated."
],
"main_quote": "Running the country like a business means adopting basic things like appreciating your constituents. If someone pays taxes, that’s great and we should make him or her feel like they contributed to important things that make people’s lives better. Revenue Day should be a day of joy and celebration for our national community.",
"goals": [
"Make paying taxes patriotic and fun",
"Connect people to what their tax dollars are being spent on"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a federal holiday on the date taxes are due.\nProvide a report to every taxpayer with a breakdown of where their tax dollars go (Social Security, military, medical research, etc.) with shared video stories of what their tax money makes possible.\nAllow each American to direct 1% of their taxes to a specific project, department or activity of government (e.g. Veterans Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts, etc.).\nBring 2 taxpayers who filed their taxes early from each state to a celebration at the White House with members of Congress on Revenue Day.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Head of Culture and Ceremony",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/head-of-culture-and-ceremony/",
"description": "There are many draws on the President’s time. Promoting an agenda. Meeting with legislators. Directing the executive branch. Receiving briefings and keeping America safe from enemies both foreign and domestic. Pardoning turkeys.\nOne of those things doesn’t seem to fit on the list.\nWhile certain ceremonial aspects of the Presidency are important, they pale in comparison to the work done each and every day. Additionally, the number of cultural or ceremonial events in this diverse and populous country is huge, and the President can’t possibly make an appearance at every important event.\n\n By appointing a Head of Culture and Ceremony, the President can have a surrogate dedicated specifically to attending these important cultural touchstones. This will drastically increase the number of events that the office of the President can be represented at. It will also allow someone to be selected for the talents required to maximize the value of these events. The position can rotate periodically so that different people can take it on over a given term.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The President is only one person and can’t possibly attend every culturally relevant event.",
"The President is always busy, and these ceremonial events often occur at inopportune times."
],
"main_quote": "The Presidency has evolved to be both a cultural touchstone as well as the leader of the executive branch. We should appoint others to take on the ceremonial roles that Americans enjoy. The fact is that most Americans and sports teams would rather meet Oprah, the Rock, or Tom Hanks than me anyway. Let’s give the people what they want and free up the President to do things that improve our lives as opposed to making us feel good.",
"goals": [
"Appoint an outgoing individual to take the President’s place at cultural and ceremonial touchstones, when appropriate"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Appoint a Head of Culture and Ceremony, who will take my place in ceremonies such as the annual Pardoning of the Turkey and meeting with sports teams.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/supporting-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/",
"description": "HBCUs came into existence out of necessity as a result of racial discrimination that denied Black Americans access to higher education. While HBCUs represent only approximately 3% of two- and four-year public and private nonprofit institutions that participate in federal student financial aid programs, they award 17% of all bachelor’s degrees earned by Black students, and have played a critical role in graduating Black students with bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields. HBCUs also contribute substantially to the national economy, providing over 134K jobs and $14.8 billion in economic impact in 2014 alone.\n\n Despite the large benefit HBCUs have provided the national economy, they struggle with adequate funding and resources. HBCUs rely more heavily on public funding than other schools because HBCUs have fewer private funding options and face discrimination from private funding sources, but public funding for HBCUs has been cut by 42% since 2003. HBCUs lack the fundraising infrastructure to tap their alumni network, resulting in small endowments. \nHBCUs fill an important gap that currently exists in our higher educational system. We need to ensure they have equitable funding and equal access to resources available to other higher education entities.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"HBCUs do not have sufficient financial resources, and they lack the access to private funding, endowments, and grants that other universities rely on",
"HBCUs can’t give out as many scholarships as the schools they compete with",
"HBCUs are charged more in bank fees when obtaining tax-exempt loans"
],
"main_quote": "I’m for dramatically increasing the federal allotment to HBCUs. The problem with education right now is that it’s become a business. What happens is, schools end up benefiting by catering to the affluent. So, you have these HBCUs that have an incredible historical mission that’s shown to elevate hundreds of thousands of African Americans. But, because they don’t have these crazy endowments that some of the rich schools do, they’re struggling.",
"goals": [
"Ensure HBCUs have the funding they need to help their students thrive",
"Address unequal bank practices in lending to educational institutions",
"Provide HBCUs with funding to enable them to provide their students with the same opportunities as other schools"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Ensure HBCU federal funding levels are equitable when compared to similar schools.\nCommit $250 million in federal funds to provide training programs in grant writing for faculty and staff at HBCUs.\nProvide $7.5 billion in federal funding for general infrastructure improvements including facilities and academic resources, as well as $750 million for building out a fundraising infrastructure.\nEnd any practices that allow banks to charge HBCUs higher fees, and provide public funding options to ensure that all HBCUs can receive lower rates.\nHelp strengthen HBCUs with support for loan forgiveness and salary incentives through $1.5 billion in federal funding to recent PhDs who commit to teaching at HBCUs.\nStrengthen and empower the White House Initiative on HBCUs by providing $6 billion in federal funding for scholarships and internships through the organization, and by encouraging them to engage in dialogue with HBCU leaders on strengths and weaknesses of various programs.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Net Neutrality",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/net-neutrality/",
"description": "If not the most significant technological development of the past 50 years, the internet is certainly somewhere at the top of the list. It’s enabled an unprecedented dissemination of knowledge to the vast majority of Americans while also becoming an integral part of our economy and the way we entertain ourselves. It’s an essential part of our modern lives.\nThe repeal of net neutrality protections threatens the free internet for all Americans. It is imperative that we protect this technology so that all Americans can continue to enjoy unfettered and affordable access to the internet.\n\n On top of keeping ISPs classified under Title II, competition should be increased through local-loop unbundling. This would provide startups with access to the expensive, final wires connecting the internet “backbone” to residences so that they can innovate and compete in an otherwise stifled market. By doing so, prices will come down away from their current monopoly levels and thus increase internet access further.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Reclassifying ISPs under Title I allows them to begin slowing down your internet and charging you more for services you currently enjoy as part of your internet package",
"Competition is stifled in the ISP market, which drives prices up to monopoly levels"
],
"main_quote": "Whoever has the most money or clout is a terrible way to decide who gets the most bandwidth on the Internet. Net Neutrality has served us well and should continue to be the law. I will make it so as President.",
"goals": [
"Keep ISPs from throttling the internet or charging more for access to certain online resources",
"Increase competition between internet providers to keep prices under control and allow for innovation"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Appoint members to the FCC that will immediately reclassify ISPs under Title II of the Communications Act, thus allowing the FCC to regulate them and reinforce net neutrality.\nUnbundle local loops so that new competitors can innovate and keep prices for internet access under control.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "LGBTQ Rights",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/lgbtq-rights/",
"description": "Sexual orientation and gender identity should be protected classes under the law, receiving all the federal protections afforded under the Constitution and law.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Too many Americans who identify as LGBTQ are discriminated against based on who they are."
],
"main_quote": "Who you love and how you love are up to you. The law should recognize and protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans individuals. I’ve always been pro-gay marriage; why should straight people have all of the fun? People are people and all love is beautiful.",
"goals": [
"Ensure full rights and protections for all LGBTQ individuals"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Promote any legislation extending protected status to individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity.\nIncrease funding for programs directed at educating the public on LGBTQ issues.\nIncrease funding for programs meant to help LGBTQ individuals who are facing discrimination because of their identity.\nAppoint LGBTQ individuals to senior posts in my administration.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Decriminalize Opioids",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/decriminalizeopioids/",
"description": "We are in the midst of a crisis in this country. Opioids are killing 8 Americans every hour and that trend has only increased over the past several years.\nWhile those who brought this plague on our citizens must face serious consequences, we need to make sure that those who are afflicted by the illness of addiction are treated and not criminalized. The individuals behind pharmaceutical companies who promoted these drugs as non-addictive while knowing better are the ones who belong in jail, not those who fell prey to addiction.\n\n We need to decriminalize the possession and use of small amounts of opioids. Other countries, such as Portugal, have done so, and have seen treatment go up and drug deaths and addiction go down. When caught with a small quantity of any opioid, our justice system should err on the side of providing treatment.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The opioid epidemic is widespread, growing, and taking the lives of 8 Americans every hour.",
"Those addicted to opioids are suffering from a disease, not from a criminal mind.",
"Many of those addicted started down that path because of a legal prescription, based on lies from the pharmaceutical companies about the non-addictive nature of these drugs."
],
"main_quote": "Opioid addiction is rampant in our country. In 2016, more than 11 million Americans misused prescription opioids and 2.1 million had an addiction to heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids. This is a public health crisis, and the top priority has to be getting Americans well. Many Americans are not seeking treatment because they are afraid of life-destroying criminal penalties. We need to remove the stigma of an addiction that literally millions of Americans are struggling with. The War on Drugs has not worked. We need to give more American families and communities a real chance to get well, and we need to evolve from a punitive approach that does not serve the public. If you are caught with a small amount of drugs, we should refer you straight to treatment, not a prison cell.",
"goals": [
"Provide treatment instead of punishment for those found with small quantities of opioids",
"Bring the number of deaths due to opioids down"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Drastically increase funding to treatment programs for opioid users, through fines levied against the companies that marketed these drugs.\nDecriminalize, at the federal level, small quantities of opioid use and possession (anything under 5-10 days of personal use).\nMake treatment programs much more available and affordable to anyone found with small quantities of these drugs.\nProvide grants for their own treatment programs to states that decriminalize small quantities of opioid use/possession.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Hold Pharmaceutical Companies Accountable",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/holding-pharmaceutical-companies-accountable/",
"description": "Pharmaceutical companies have, without a doubt, improved the quality of life for Americans. However, certain companies have used the good-will developed through the industry’s advances in medicine to abuse the trust of the American public. This is despite the fact that many pharmaceutical developments have come from publicly funded research that was then adopted by the industry.\nNowhere is this more apparent than in the recent opioid epidemic. Purdue Pharma has made more than $35 billion in revenue since releasing OxyContin in 1995. The fine of $635 million for false advertising around claims of non-addictiveness and tamper-proofing is barely a slap on the wrist.\n\n Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for the health of Americans. They have a duty to play by the rules, and those that break the rules will face repercussions through the criminal justice system.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Some pharmaceutical companies prioritize profit over safety."
],
"main_quote": "Drug companies save lives every day. But their financial incentives may lead them to aggressively market drugs for uses beyond their original intent. We need to provide strong oversight and ensure that new medicines are used in ways that improve health and the public good. With Medicare-for-all, the government will be able to negotiate significantly lower prices on behalf of the public.",
"goals": [
"Create an incentive for pharmaceutical companies to prioritize safety and vigor through their research before releasing drugs",
"Hold those accountable who put the lives of Americans at risk when making a decision about taking a drug to market"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the FDA and DOJ to work together to bring more criminal cases against pharmaceutical executives who use misleading marketing techniques or take shortcuts through the testing and approval process.\nDirect the DOJ to strictly enforce all laws regarding fraudulently presenting clinical research data during the FDA approval process.\nSupport a Medicare-for-all plan that will reduce drug costs for all Americans.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Fighting the Rise of White Nationalism and Extremism",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/fight-white-nationalism-extremism/",
"description": "White nationalist terrorism has accounted for over 70% of terrorism-related deaths in the US over the past decade. Some organizations have stated that the number of white nationalist perpetrators of terrorist attacks has quadrupled since 2016. There is widespread agreement between law enforcement officials, both in the US and throughout Europe, that white nationalist and far-right terrorism are on the rise. Law enforcement agencies in the United States have had an increasing number of interactions with these groups, resulting in the deaths of dozens of brave men and women over the past several decades.\nThese violent acts represent only a small subset of this toxic ideology. Some polls have found almost 10% of Americans believe it’s acceptable to hold neo-Nazi beliefs. According to the Anti-Defamation League, both the volume of propaganda being spread by white nationalist groups and the number of public demonstrations have increased over the past several years. Some experts have pegged the number of white nationalists active in the community in the hundreds of thousands.\n\n And they’re blending in better – having traded in their “boots for suits,” there has been a concerted effort by these white nationalist groups to improve their image, seem more respectable, get degrees, and work in law enforcement, media, and other places where they can spread their hateful ideologies to a wider audience.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"White nationalism and domestic terrorism are on the rise.",
"White nationalists are feeling emboldened, more openly organizing and spreading their hateful ideology."
],
"main_quote": "We need to confront this threat head-on. In order to tackle the massive problems we face, all Americans must be united. There’s no room for hateful and extremist ideologies in this country. It’s time that we get serious about confronting this threat.",
"goals": [
"Combat the rise of white nationalist terrorism"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Call out white nationalism wherever it arises.\nEstablish a centralized location to aggregate statistics on white nationalism and domestic terrorism, possibly through an expansion of the FBI’s UCR.\nDirect the Department of Justice to prepare and publicly release an Annual Report on Domestic Terrorism, in order to ensure all Americans are properly informed on this issue.\nHelp victims of domestic terrorism:\n\n Pass a Medicare for All system that fully covers mental health and trauma services for victims of domestic terrorism.\nMaintain an opt-in database of victim support groups that’s publicly accessible.\nExpand the Victim Services Division of the FBI to better serve individuals affected by these crimes.\nEstablish a victims fund to help victims of this violence recover.\n\n Instruct the Department of Justice, and the FBI in particular, to treat white nationalism and domestic terrorism as a central focus.\nIncrease the budget for fighting domestic terrorism to match non-military spending on fighting foreign terrorism.\nWork with Congress to pass a federal statute creating a clear federal domestic terrorism offense, and provide for appropriately harsh punishment.\nWork with allies abroad to combat the rise of white nationalism\nEnd relationships with white nationalist political parties when possible; minimize contact and refuse to provide/sell any type of materials that could be used to further white nationalist goals to parties when ties can’t be cut completely.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Gun Safety",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/gun-safety/",
"description": "We also have to address all instances and causes of gun violence in this country. Physical confrontations and domestic violence are more likely to be deadly when a firearm is involved. Suicide rates involving guns are far too high: over 20,000 Americans each year. Mass shootings in the United States have reached epidemic proportions.\n\n For many Americans, guns are a big part of their culture and identity. That must be respected. However, guns are a major responsibility and thus we need to have common-sense gun safety measures, especially considering that there are already approaching 400 million firearms in the United States. Responsible gun owners should continue to enjoy the right to bear arms, subject to licensing and education requirements that will enhance public safety. But we need to ban the most dangerous weapons that make mass shootings as deadly as they have become, and address the other violence – particularly suicide – that is plaguing this country.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Most Americans agree that responsible gun-ownership with some restrictions is the proper policy.",
"Current gun laws have been pushed in a dangerous direction by lobbying groups only looking out for the profits of gun manufacturers.",
"Mass shootings are becoming increasingly common and deadly."
],
"main_quote": "Most Americans agree on common-sense safety requirements and restrictions on firearms. As President, I will support sensible regulation of guns that allows their continued enjoyment by responsible gun owners in a framework that promotes the overall public safety.",
"goals": [
"Create a common sense licensing policy, requiring investment and safety precautions",
"Prevent dangerous individuals from owning guns",
"Ban the manufacture, sale, and transfer of weapons and accessories that make it easier for individuals to commit mass shootings",
"Enhance mental health resources available to people who need help",
"Provide deescalation training and mental health professionals to law enforcement agencies to prevent interactions from becoming deadly"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Close the gun show and Charleston loopholes, requiring all gun sales and most transfers to have a background check run and completed.\n\n Implement a purchase limit (rate, not total) on all firearms.\nImplement a federal cooling-off period to decrease the incidence of suicide and impulsive crime.\n\n Promote a stringent licensing system, with a 5-year renewal requirement, for gun ownership.\n\n Anyone desiring a license would need to:\n\n Go through a federal background check.\n\n Anyone with a history of violence, domestic abuse, or violent mental illness would not be allowed to hold a license.\nInterview with a federal agent, who has limited discretion on granting the license.\n\n Pass a basic hunting or firearm safety class.\nProvide a receipt for an appropriately-sized gun locker, or trigger locks (tax deductible).\n\n Individual states will determine their concealed carry/open carry laws, and reciprocity will not be federally enforced.\n\n Create a clear definition of “assault weapon”, and prevent their manufacture and sale.\n\n Prohibit the manufacture and sale of bump stocks, suppressors, incendiary/exploding ammunition, and grenade launcher attachments, and other accessories that alter functionality in a way that increases their firing rate or impact.\nAutomatically confiscate any weapon that has been modified in a way as to increase its ammunition capacity, firing rate, or impact.\nCreate an agency tasked with monitoring gun manufacturing developments and addressing “design-arounds” as they arise.\n\n Renew a ban on Large Capacity Ammo Feeding Devices (LCAFDs) and after-market non-standard large capacity magazines.\nPass a federal gun transportation law that will require people to transport guns unloaded and locked in a storage safe.\nIncrease liability for individuals who sell guns illegally that are used to commit a crime.\nForm a commission to study the development of 3D printing technology to see ways we can minimize the risk of this technology in perpetuating gun violence.\nMaintain current restrictions on and definitions of automatic weaponry.\n\n Stridently enforce importation restrictions on weapons and accessories.\n\n Create federal safety guidelines for gun manufacture and distribution, similar to federal car safety requirements, with strict penalties for the violation of these guidelines.\n\n Use tax incentives to encourage gun manufacturers to implement designs that prevent interchanging parts that alter the functionality of the firearm.\nRepeal laws that shield gun manufacturers from liability.\n\n Invest in personalized gun technology that makes it difficult or impossible for someone other than a gun’s owner to fire it, and ensure that they’re for sale on the marketplace.\n\n Provide a tax credit for the full value of upgrading a gun to use these systems, or work through the buyback program to allow “trades” of non-personalized guns to personalized ones.\n\n Implement a federal buyback program for anyone who wants to voluntarily give up their firearm.\nAs stated here, invest in a more robust mental health infrastructure. This will help to identify and treat people with mental health illnesses that make them prone to suicide.\nIncrease funding to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and drastically increase funding to the US Department of Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention efforts.\nDirect the CDC to research gun violence, and reject any budget deal that includes the Dickey Amendment.\nRequire all locations where guns are sold to display information on how to receive mental health treatment or reach suicide crisis hotlines.\nInitiate and fund mindfulness programs in schools and correctional facilities, which have been demonstrated to reduce violent behavior.\nInvest heavily in law enforcement training to de-escalate situations involving firearms, and provide funding to programs that involve mental health professionals in de-escalation situations.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/pathway-to-citizenship-2/",
"description": "Immigrants have been a source of hard work and innovation for America over the centuries. Without a doubt, the melting pot of our country has led to the most dynamic, most creative, and most successful nation in the history of the world.\nIt’s also necessary to recognize that, as a nation, we need to maintain control of our immigration system. The current system we have in place, when it works, does a great job of ensuring that highly skilled, hard-working, and invested immigrants can come to this country and integrate, becoming new Americans who contribute greatly to our society.\nHowever, because of issues on the southern border, our immigration system has broken down, and we have over 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. While these individuals are generally law-abiding people who work hard and contribute to their local communities, it’s also true that they’re not supposed to be here.\n\n Outside of increasing our guest worker program and making sure that those who receive temporary permission to come to the US to work leave when their time is up, we also need to find ways to address this massive community of undocumented immigrants who entered the country illegally.\nRounding up and deporting that many people is a nonstarter—it would be prohibitively expensive, disruptive, and inhumane to many communities, so a pathway to citizenship must be provided (after securing our southern border, so that we don’t end up right back where we started). However, this pathway must reflect the fact that these individuals tried to circumvent our legal immigration system. It’s even more important to get this right when citizenship guarantees a Freedom Dividend.\nSee Andrew’s policies on the DREAM Act, and Southern Border Security for a more complete view of how he’d address this complex issue.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"11+ million undocumented immigrants are currently living in the United States",
"While the vast majority of these immigrants aren’t a security risk, having that volume of individuals in this country that aren’t known to the US government is itself a security risk",
"It would be prohibitively expensive and disruptive to deport all these individuals",
"These individuals tried to circumvent the legal immigration system into the US, and any pathway to citizenship for them must reflect this fact"
],
"main_quote": "We have to face facts that there are over 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country. Millions of them pay taxes and have American children. Deporting them is impossible and inhumane. Having them continue to live in the shadows brings with it many problems and drawbacks. The best path forward is to provide a pathway to citizenship for those who are here illegally. We need to bring them into the formal economy out of the shadows. I am the son of immigrants and understand those who have come here to build a better life for themselves and their families.",
"goals": [
"Bring the 11+ million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and into the formal economy",
"Find a solution that reflects the fact that they entered the country illegally"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Secure the southern border and drastically decrease the number of illegal entries into the US.\nProvide a new tier of long-term permanent residency for anyone who has been here illegally for a substantial amount of time so that they can come out of the shadows, enter the formal economy, and become full members of the community.\n\n This new tier would permit individuals to work and stay in the country, provided they pay their taxes and don’t get convicted of a felony.\nThis tier would put them on a longer, eighteen-year path to citizenship (the same amount of time it takes those born in the US to get full citizenship rights), not only reflecting our desire to bring them into our country but also their decision to circumvent legal immigration channels.\n\n Invest heavily in an information campaign to inform immigrant communities of this new tier of residency, and deport any undocumented immigrant who doesn’t proactively enroll in the program.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Support the DREAM Act",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/support-the-dream-act/",
"description": "There are millions of undocumented immigrants in this country who were brought here as children through no fault of their own. America is the only home they’ve ever known. They’ve assimilated into our culture and view themselves as Americans, despite living under the constant fear of deportation. \nThis is wrong.\n\n We need to find a solution that allows these individuals to formally integrate into our country.\nSee Andrew’s policies on the Pathway to Citizenship, and Southern Border Security for a more complete view of how he’d address this complex issue.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Millions of children were brought into this country illegally, and have made a home in America, but they're not protected with a legal status."
],
"main_quote": "Children who have never known any life other than growing up in America should not be living in fear of being deported from the only place they have ever known. We should assure them that this is their home and their future is here. I am the son of immigrants. I understand what this country can do for families and what it means to people.",
"goals": [
"Find a solution for the millions of undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children and have America as the only home they’ve ever known"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Support the DREAM Act as a part of comprehensive immigration and border security reforms (see my policy pages on Southern Border Security and a Pathway to Citizenship to get a sense of the key parts of the comprehensive plan).",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Every Cop Gets a Camera",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/every-cop-gets-camera/",
"description": "The benefits of body cameras on police officers are clear: A year-long study in Rialto, California showed a reduction of the rate of use-of-force incidents of 60% and an 88% reduction in complaints. Studies have shown that complaints drop dramatically when police officers are wearing cameras, both because of police conduct and because suspects behave better when they know they’re being recorded. It’s common sense. Everyone is going to act differently if they think what they’re saying or doing can be played back in a courtroom months later.\nThere are 18,000 different local law enforcement agencies, from the smallest town’s to the NYPD. Each agency is subject to its own budget, leadership, and regulations. Nationally, there are thousands of decision makers each balancing different interests and budgetary constraints, making widespread adoption difficult.\nIt would cost approximately $400 million to equip all 1.1 million US police officers with body-worn cameras (current costs are approximately $350 apiece, not including data storage costs and maintenance).\n\n Approximately 400 to 1,000 Americans get shot and killed per year by police (the stats aren’t clearly kept, which is its own massive problem), some of which may be avoidable. Additionally, police departments receive thousands of complaints and lawsuits per year. Cameras would save many municipalities money by reducing legal costs defending against complaints, from the frivolous to the legitimate. This expense line is massive—the NYPD spent $136 million on legal settlements for complaints about police misconduct in 2010 alone. If cameras reduced this amount by any percentage they’d easily pay for themselves. The same is true for other cities around the country. Cameras would not only save lives and reduce incidents but they’d save cities millions in legal costs.\nAs one company that manufactures cameras puts it: “Made for cops by cops. Prove the truth.”",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Police officers have dozens of interactions each day that would benefit from being recorded."
],
"main_quote": "Police officers do a dangerous job every day and deserve our support. Having a camera will help both the public and the police officer resolve complaints. It’s the 21st century and it’s now possible to equip police officers with more advanced equipment than ever before. We should invest in making our police officers as effective as possible while truly being servants and protectors of the communities they serve.",
"goals": [
"Improve transparency and police work"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Authorize federal funding to pay for a body camera for every officer in every police department in the country. \nHave the DOJ compile accurate composite measurements, including from private sources, of police-related incidents and deaths to establish baseline rates.\nProvide federal funding for training of local police officers in the latest techniques.\nEncourage community-based policing and reward departments for a combination of low complaints and continued efficacy.\nRe-establish the ban on distributing surplus unnecessary military-level artillery gear to police departments.\nInvest in new non-lethal weaponry that can be used to de-escalate conflicts at range and handprint signature guns so that weapons can only be used by their officers (‘he reached for my gun’ will no longer apply).",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Algorithmic Trading/Fraud",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/algorithmic-trading-fraud/",
"description": "The way that trading algorithms currently operate makes it exceptionally difficult to find instances of impropriety. To combat this and make sure that everyone is operating cleanly, we must empower the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to investigate any trades that consistently make money regardless of market movements. We must also enlist a network of veteran traders to police the market, offering them “bounties” on finding illegal activity.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Algorithmic trading is allowing financial crime at an unprecedented and technologically-advanced level."
],
"main_quote": "Investing in the market with computer-generated algorithms has become a game of identifying tiny market inefficiencies and wringing them of value at the expense of other investors and the public. There is no real value being generated and it increases the costs for retirees, pension funds and businesses trying to manage their risks. We need to start enforcing trading rules in a technologically sophisticated way.",
"goals": [
"Clean up the trading markets from improper algorithms"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Provide the CFTC with enough funding to properly investigate any suspicious trades/algorithms.\nCreate a new team to find financial crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Economic Crime",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/economic-crime/",
"description": "Wall Street investment firms made billions of dollars off of the subprime mortgage market, only to receive a bailout from the government while millions of Americans suffered through the Great Recession. Those who made the decisions that led to the crisis not only got off scot-free, but also became rich off of the spoils. The criminal justice system looked the other way because there was no mechanism to prosecute decision-makers.\n\n Instead, financial crimes should be treated the same way as any other crime. Those perpetrating it should go to jail, and their punishment should reflect the amount of damage they’ve done to the economy and individuals they’ve defrauded.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"People committing mass fraud are currently able to profit off of their crimes with limited repercussions."
],
"main_quote": "White-collar financial crimes are often treated as if they don’t have any victims, when in reality they tend to have the largest number of victims in terms of people whose savings and lives are impacted. The financial crisis in particular was egregious and crashed our economy and destroyed communities that are still digging out today. If someone is making millions of dollars as CEO, they should be ready to step up and take responsibility if their company acts in a way that harms the public interest. We need to ensure that large institutions will not abuse the public trust, which requires real accountability for leaders.",
"goals": [
"Prevent Wall Street from profiting from predatory and illegal or unethical behavior",
"Hold those who defraud Americans criminally accountable for their behavior"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Propose and promote the Public Protection Against Market Abuse Act, calling for mandatory minimum jail sentences based either on the size of the fine levied against financial institutions, or the amount of money involved in the fraudulent or unethical transactions. These sentences will be served by the CEO and largest individual domestic shareholder.\nDirect my Department of Justice to enforce laws against financial institutions to the fullest extent of their power.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Control the Cost of Prescription Drugs",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/prescription-drug-costs/",
"description": "Prescription drugs in this country cost too much; individual drugs change prices at the whims of those running pharmaceutical companies. Patent trolls can drive the prices of certain medications up while providing no value themselves to the US healthcare system. And while drug companies complain constantly about the high cost of research, they seem to overlook that almost all FDA-approved drugs over the past several years relied on research funded by the NIH. They also overlook the record-high profits they’ve been experiencing in recent years.\n\n It’s making it impossible for Americans who need drugs to afford their treatment—many are choosing between their medicine and food or shelter.\nWe need to put pressure on these companies to get their prices under control, and more in line with the rest of the world.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Americans fund the research for most pharmaceuticals, and yet pharmaceutical companies often gouge their consumers while seeing record profits."
],
"main_quote": "Millions of Americans are stressed out and going broke trying to afford prescription drugs, which can sometimes become drastically more expensive without warning. I’ve spoken to many Americans who say they have to choose between their drugs and food. Our drug pricing system advantages the companies to the extreme—it’s time for the public to be protected from price gouging for vital drugs they rely on for their continued health.",
"goals": [
"Bring down the cost of prescription medications"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to pass a law allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. It’s ridiculous that this doesn’t happen already—it would save the public an enormous amount of money each year. \nUse international reference pricing to set a baseline (in other words, see the average cost for a medication in other countries), and allow for forced licensing of medications if companies can’t come to a reasonable agreement with the federal government on cost in line with international prices.\n\n If a company is charging too much, someone willing to charge a reasonable amount will be granted a license to make the medication.\n\n Create public manufacturing facilities to produce generic drugs to keep the costs of them at a minimum.\nIf all the above fail, allow for the importation of prescription medications from other countries.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Invest in America’s Mental Health",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/mental-health/",
"description": "There is a mental health crisis in America. Our life expectancy is declining due in part to increasing rates of suicide. Anxiety and depression levels are at record highs and being made worse in young people by excessive use of smartphones. In 2014, an American College Health Association survey of close to 100,000 college students reported that 86% felt overwhelmed by all they had to do, 54% felt overwhelming anxiety, and 8% seriously considered suicide in the last 12 months. Use of anti-depressants and prescription medications are also at unprecedented levels.\n\n On the treatment side, too few Americans receive adequate treatment and many communities lack mental health resources. At the extreme end, some of the mentally ill become threats to others.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"There is currently a mental health crisis in America as suicides, anxiety and depression are at record highs",
"Mental health is often treated as a separate set of issues and resources rather than integrated into the greater health care system",
"Many communities lack access to psychologists and social workers",
"Mental health issues continue to be stigmatized"
],
"main_quote": "Americans are not doing well, and we need to change it. My brother is a psychology professor and I believe strongly in the power of counseling and treatment to improve people’s mental and emotional well-being. One major priority is to integrate mental health with our greater health care system - if someone comes to the hospital suffering from diabetes, obesity or substance abuse, there is often a link to their holistic mental health. Too many Americans don’t seek treatment, don’t have the resources, or resort to self-medication. A healthy population is a productive one. We will do all we can to establish a sense of well-being for millions who are currently suffering and remove the stigma from depression in particular.",
"goals": [
"Improve the mental health of millions of Americans",
"Integrate mental and emotional wellness into the greater health care system",
"Increase access to mental health resources",
"Diminish the stigma around mental health issues, particularly depression"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Begin a national anti-stigma campaign for mental health issues, “Everybody Needs Help Sometimes.”\nEncourage major health care systems to integrate mental health professionals into their primary care.\nInitiate mandatory coverage for postpartum depression screening for new mothers.\nIncrease resources and incentives for counselors, social workers and psychologists in rural areas.\nInvest in AI counselors and other technology that may be helpful in identifying and treating mental health issues across a broad population. The AI would refer issues to a human psychologist. \nPromote the use of AI for social workers.\nPromote the use of AI and telecounseling for those who need a psychologist. \nExplore revision of licensing requirements that limit the supply of treatment providers.\nProvide robust incentives via a “Race to the Top” for health care systems to improve mental health outcomes and preventative care holistically.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Opioid Crisis",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/opioid-crisis/",
"description": "Approximately 115 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. Many more struggle through addiction, including all the negative health and behavioral impacts that it entails. Nearly 220 million prescriptions for opioids were written in 2016, despite the risks of these drugs being well known, and over 2.6 million are addicted to opiates.\nOutside of the immediate health effects, drug trafficking and related crimes have sprung up in communities throughout America in order to cater to these addictions. And our country’s healthcare system, complicit in the creation of the crisis, hasn’t found a way to treat the outbreak.\nThe opioid crisis isn’t just a nationwide public health emergency – it’s a national crisis. Tens of thousands of people are dying each year, with millions more suffering from an addiction. Many of these people’s addictions started when they were prescribed these medications by a doctor. The human suffering caused by this crisis cannot be measured, and the economic damage is untold.\nWe must do more than declare this a crisis and hope the issue solves itself.\nThe federal government, through the Department of Health and Human Services, must find solutions to this emergency and coordinate with the states in its implementation. The CDC must use its expertise to quantify and combat this plague. The FDA must implement new steps to ensure that a similar crisis doesn’t develop in the future. Most of all, we have to fund treatment for everyday Americans. \n\n ![\"\"](\"https://yang2020.com/wp-content/uploads/Figure21_Deaths-of-Despair-1.bmp\")
\nHowever, the federal government must also recognize its limitations in this crisis. While funding research and solutions is something the federal government is good at, this epidemic is affecting people on an individual level. Local governments will be much better able to experiment with and implement solutions that will work for their communities. The federal government, through funding and centralization, can help the work of states and local communities in this crisis, but it should serve as a motivating and coordinating force in order to ensure adopted policies work for the people on the ground.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The opioid epidemic is destroying the lives of millions of people directly, and untold millions more through the impact they’re seeing of it on their loved ones.",
"The regulation of drugs and the sale of those drugs for unintended uses must be improved.",
"Treatment resources are lacking with only a fraction of addicts able to effectively recover from their addiction."
],
"main_quote": "Let’s be honest - the opiate addiction crisis exists in large part because our government thought it was okay for companies to make a lot of money prescribing addictive opiates to millions of people. This was a failure of government. And now the Federal Government must do all it can to address this crisis, including funding treatment for millions of Americans. There is a modern-day plague in America and we cannot rest until it is controlled and defeated. Americans are dying every day—7 every hour—destroying families and communities everywhere. I will declare a state of emergency and commit billions of dollars to the fight, much of it from the drug companies who generated and have profited from this plague. If you or someone in your family has an opiate problem, we will provide you the resources you need to help you recover. We owe you that.",
"goals": [
"Reduce the production of and use of opioids for general pain management",
"Provide treatment resources and options for those addicted to opioids, taking into account local cultural mores",
"Prevent a similar crisis from developing in the future with stricter regulations on marketing and sales tactics"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Declare a state of emergency and seek to bring down both the overdose numbers and the addiction levels by 20% within four years. \nQuintuple Federal funding, from $4.5 to $20 billion per year directed toward addiction treatment and rehabilitation for addictive opiates at the local levels. \nImpose a new tax on opiate manufacturers to fund treatment and rehabilitation, retroactive to 2005. The drug companies will pay to treat the conditions they have profited from. \nThe FDA should allow only doctors who complete specialized education in pain management to prescribe opioids for more than a few days. All states should limit the size of prescriptions and require all opioid prescriptions to be made from hospitals instead of individual offices/practices. Right now our prescription rate is 4 times higher than in Europe – we need to bring it down. Doctors need to tell more patients that they’ll feel better on their own without having to take opiates. \nDirect the Dept. of Health and Human Services to focus their resources on combating the epidemic until it’s under control:\n\n Create a centralized database of solutions and effectiveness\nCreate a centralized database of data to help analyze the trends of the opioid epidemic and better target resources\nProvide funding to localities to experiment with solutions that work for their communities\n\n Direct the FDA to regulate pharmaceutical company marketing tactics as much as they regulate the release of new drugs. \nInsurance companies should provide more oversight of prescriptions to curb abuse and report these measures to the Dept. of Health and Human Services. \nOverdose patients should be sent to mandatory treatment centers for three days to convince them to seek long-term treatment. \nWork with the DEA to enforce a much stricter limit on the number of opioid-based medications that can be produced in any given year and instruct manufacturers to report drugs prescribed in each community so as to monitor excess supply and probable abuse. \nDestigmatize medication-based treatment options for opiate addiction. We need to do whatever works best, including drugs that enable addicts to recover in stages. \nAllow local law enforcement authorities to selectively enforce criminal laws related to use and possession of opiates to facilitate treatment.\nWork to limit the importation of heroin and fentanyl, particularly from China. The Chinese government must do more to curb supply before it enters our country—we should negotiate for marked and demonstrated reductions in return for continued market access.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Fund Medical Technology Innovation",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/medical-technology-innovation/",
"description": "Advances in medical technology have dramatically increased our lifespans and quality of life. A straight line can be drawn between the advent of vaccines, antiseptics, antibiotics, and other elements of modern medicine and the vastly improved health of Americans. Very few areas of technological innovation have even come close to that type of return on investment.\n\n We should continue to promote innovation in this area, both in the development of new technology, and in the way we use currently existing technology to benefit our health. This is particularly true in rural areas and underserved populations where there are not currently strong financial incentives to provide preventative care.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"More investments could be made in medical technology.",
"Currently existing technologies that could be put to better use in the medical field aren’t, or can’t under current regulations."
],
"main_quote": "We can use technology much more effectively to improve health outcomes if we try to keep people healthier and prevent problems before they become serious rather than waiting until people come into the doctor’s office or hospital. Right now, we invest a ton in treatment - we should be doing the same thing for preventative care and technology measures that keep you out of the hospital.",
"goals": [
"Increase innovation with medical technology",
"Promote the adoption of technology in medical uses"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Promote the use of telemedicine for rural areas.\nPromote the use of AI for social workers.\nPromote the use of AI and telecounseling for those who need a psychologist.\nCreate tax incentives for people to use these services.\nLook into regulations preventing the use of these technologies, especially in areas that currently require licensing.\nInvest more heavily in research on innovative medical technologies.\nProvide robust incentives via a “Race to the Top” for companies to improve health outcomes and preventative care.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Fund Autism Intervention",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/autism-intervention-funding/",
"description": "As awareness of the symptoms of autism has improved, we’ve seen an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism. Recent numbers from the CDC put the rate at 1 in 59 children in the US.\n\n Outcomes for autistic children are significantly better if they’re diagnosed early and receive the care they need to develop.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Autism affects 1 in 59 American children, but resources currently don’t meet the needs of these children"
],
"main_quote": "One of my boys is on the autism spectrum—I know how invaluable resources and intervention can be, particularly if adopted early on. Families struggle with this in very personal ways. As a country, we should provide ample resources to parents to be able to intervene to support the development of children with autism or who are exceptional in other ways. These children have something unique to offer.",
"goals": [
"Adequately fund early childhood intervention and treatment for autistic children"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the Department of Education to support states (with information and funding) in implementing programs to identify and treat autistic children.\nDestigmatize autism and related neurological profiles as commonplace and distinct.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Expand Access to Medical Experts",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/expanding-medical-licensure/",
"description": "Doctors still serve a vital role in our healthcare system, but more basic visits and diagnoses are increasingly able to be carried out by individuals without full medical training using technology to assist their diagnoses.\nIn one study, IBM’s Watson made the same recommendation as human doctors in 99% of cases and actually diagnosed illnesses missed by human doctors in 30% of them. Similar technology could help monitor and manage chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes while still referring more complex health issues to more experienced doctors.\n\n We should enable a new class of Primary Care Specialists or Nurse Practitioners to provide health care to patients in rural and indigent areas in order to increase access to quality healthcare and preventative/maintenance medicine at a lower cost.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"There are a limited number of doctors to see a large number of patients.",
"Illness monitoring and preventative care are expensive despite being rote.",
"There are a large number of people interested in being healthcare providers without the interest or capability of going through the entire medical school process."
],
"main_quote": "We have a massive doctor shortage in this country and too many Americans receive inadequate care. We need to make it possible for all Americans to have access to quality care, which includes broadening the type of professionals who can provide care in rural and underserved environments.",
"goals": [
"Increase access to preventative care and health monitoring services",
"Use technology to assist in the more rote aspects of healthcare",
"Increase the viable career options within the primary care field"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Invest in innovative technologies related to healthcare diagnosis and maintenance.\nWork with licensing agencies to create new levels of medical licensure for Primary Care Specialists – technology-enabled individuals with less training than doctors to help with routine health issues while knowing when to refer a case to a Doctor of Medicine.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Control the Cost of Higher Education",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/controlling-cost-higher-education/",
"description": "College tuition has exploded over the past several decades. For the Baby Boomer generation, a college student could hold down a summer job to pay a substantial portion of their tuition, if not the whole thing. Today, that student would be lucky to cover the cost of their books. With tuition increasing by as much as 440% over the past quarter century, too many students are being saddled with over $100k in student loan debt before they even start their adult lives.\n\n Despite the astronomical endowments and high tuition costs that students are willing to bear, education hasn’t become any better.\nSchools need to get back to their ideals – education in service of their students and their country. To do so, they need to get their tuition under control.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"College tuition is too expensive, forcing students who want to attend to either give up or take out student loans in an amount that will saddle them with debt throughout their lives.",
"Colleges have skewed incentives based on a ranking system to invest in the wrong things.",
"There are limited incentives for schools to be more cost-efficient and student-directed.",
"Taxpayers are subsidizing the students at rich universities when those schools should be investing their own money in their students or domestic expansion.",
"Great new schools rarely crop up despite the demand for them."
],
"main_quote": "I have two kids and I’m frightened of what college costs today. Most of the money is not going to professors—it’s going to administrators. If it doesn’t directly impact the student experience, universities should take a long look at it and rein in their costs. It’s likely that schools are not up to the task of bringing down their own budgets, and government will have to help them scale back and become more cost-efficient.",
"goals": [
"Control the cost of higher education",
"Prevent students from being saddled with lifelong student loan debt",
"Increase the options for students looking at higher education",
"Get schools to focus on their ideals and invest their money in increasing the quality of education while decreasing the cost of said education for their students"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Explore a gradual phase-in of a desired ratio of administrators to students of 1 to 30 as a condition of public funding as opposed to the current 1 to 21. The ratio was 1 to 50 in the 1970s – if we can get back to that level then college will be much cheaper. \nWork with the Dept. of Education to create an information database on all post-secondary education institutions, focusing on information such as:\n\n Avg. debt of a graduating student\nAvg. debt discounting students who don’t take out loans\nAvg. salary of a recent graduate\nAvg. salary of a graduate 10 years out\n\n Stipulate that any university that receives public funding cannot increase its costs by more than the rate of annual median wage growth the year before. \nStipulate that the president of any university that receives public funding must meet once per year with a group of alumni to discuss their job prospects.\nAmend or modify the U.S. News and World Report rankings and eliminate the ability of any university to compensate administrators with incentives tied to their rankings.\nRequire all universities with endowments of over $30 billion to contribute 1% of their total endowment each year ($300 million+/year) to the founding and operations of a new university in Ohio until it becomes self-sustaining, at which point another community will be identified (the “Harvard Creates a New University in Ohio Tax”). \nRevisit the tax-exempt status for schools that have more than enough money to fund their operations and aren’t investing that money back into the students at that institution. \nInvest in and support schools that are innovating and growing.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Make Community College Affordable for All",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/close-skills-gap-community-college/",
"description": "A lot of ink has been spilled over the skills gap – the space between skills those seeking work have and those hiring want. There’s a simple solution to this problem: community colleges.\n\n All community colleges should be funded at a level to make tuition free or nearly-free for anyone, especially those who are taking vocational classes. The government can be involved, but businesses should also be encouraged to invest in their area’s community colleges, both to create stronger ties to their communities and better access to this potential workforce.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"There is a skills gap between skills needed for open positions and skills possessed by those looking for work",
"Community colleges, though cheaper than other options, still present significant expenses for students trying to gain skills"
],
"main_quote": "Community Colleges have the potential to be the great equalizer. Their costs are low and their students are exactly the kind of people who want to enter the middle class. Many students are balancing their studies with full-time jobs. We should invest in our Community Colleges to make attending them cost-free or nearly so as an elevator to the middle class.",
"goals": [
"Make vocational classes through community colleges free or nearly free"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work to fund community colleges to a point where they can provide free (or drastically reduced) tuition to anyone from the community (especially those taking vocational classes)\nExpand what classes are defined as vocational classes, especially in IT and computer science fields\nWork to create tax incentives for businesses who invest in their local community colleges and provide co-working opportunities",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Early Childhood Education for All",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/early-childhood-education/",
"description": "Education in America starts too late. It has been shown that there are massive benefits to offering pre-kindergarten options to children throughout their lives, especially for those from low-income families. It also increases sociability, and it relieves the financial burden of finding daycare for families who struggle to afford it.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our education system starts too late."
],
"main_quote": "Pre-k and early childhood education have been proven to get kids off to a better start, and it also relieves families from having to find and pay for daycare for their children when they are 3 and 4. Other countries are investing in it, including China, and we need to as well for the good of our children and families and our long-term competitiveness as a country.",
"goals": [
"Create a pre-kindergarten public education system for all 3 and 4-year-olds"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the Department of Education to work with states to create a plan for universal pre-kindergarten education\nProvide loan forgiveness for education majors who volunteer at places that provide pre-K education.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Increase Teacher Salaries",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/teacher-salaries/",
"description": "One of the primary factors in educational outcomes is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. Most policies to improve teacher quality are focused on education and monitoring. While these policies have their places, there’s a more direct method of attracting people who will be strong teachers while also incentivizing those who are currently teaching to improve: pay them more.\n\n Teacher salaries should be higher, along with the hiring standards and quality expectations. By improving the quality of teachers in our public education system and incentivizing them to improve their craft, educational outcomes will improve.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Teacher salaries in this country are too low to incentivize potential teachers with great skill but other options.",
"Teachers don’t have a strong monetary incentive to continually improve their craft."
],
"main_quote": "It’s been demonstrated that teacher quality is the key factor in student success, and paying teachers more is an effective way to get more talented people into the classroom. My friend, Zeke Vanderhoek, started a charter school that manages to pay teachers $125,000 a year on the budget of a normal school. Not surprisingly, his school has great teachers and outstanding outcomes. We should reduce layers of administration in schools and apply the money to pay teachers at higher levels, particularly those who have proven track records and results.",
"goals": [
"Improve the quality of teachers in the country",
"Reward teachers for improving their skills"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with states to fund their educational systems to improve teacher salaries and reduce layers of administration, leading to better educational outcomes.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Life-Skills Education in All High Schools",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/life-skills-education/",
"description": "Our current high school curriculum is largely academics-focused, putting a primary emphasis on preparing for college entrance exams and the rigors of higher academic institutions. This does a disservice to all of our children who don’t plan to go to college, focusing instead on a trade or other path in life.\nWhile preparing those who wish to go to college should continue to be a focus of our high school education system, we need to do more to prepare our children to function in the world independent of further education. The curriculum should expand to cover things such as:\n\n Financial literacy and planning\nInterview skills\nCommunication and managing conflict\nPreparing healthy meals\nPhysical fitness\nTime management\nPositive psychology and resilience\nHealthy use of technology\n\n These skills are arguably more important to success in life than geometry and yet we force students to learn more of the latter than the former. Our education system should shift to include these life skills.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"For students who aren’t planning to go on to higher education, our high school curriculum includes a lot of materials that won’t be relevant in their lives.",
"For all students, a large portion of “adulting” is ignored, sending these children to live on their own without the basic tools needed."
],
"main_quote": "The purpose of education should be to enable a citizen to live a good positive, socially productive life independent of work and further education. We need to make school more relevant to our young people by teaching them things they might actually use every day. Emphasizing rote academic skills in the age of supercomputers is not preparing our people for what's to come.",
"goals": [
"Better prepare all students for the skills they’ll need to operate as adults and contribute to society",
"Create a path for those students who don’t have an interest in higher education"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Promote leaders in the Department of Education that promote life-skills education at least as much as higher education.\nPromote leaders in the DOE who envision trade skills as an educational path in secondary school.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Expand Selective Schools",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/expand-selective-schools/",
"description": "Harvard has an endowment of $37b, an undergraduate class size of ~1700, and an acceptance rate of around 5%. Yale’s endowment is $27b, while it has an undergraduate class size of ~1500 and an acceptance rate of under 7%. Stuyvesant, a top NYC public school, has a class size only slightly over 3200, while there are over 1.1m students in the public school system. Phillips Exeter Academy, a high school, has an endowment of over $1 million per student. \nThese schools are not for everyone and we have bigger problems to address that are more relevant for most Americans. However, these schools reflect a false scarcity in our elite education system – instead of expanding access and opportunities, many schools remain small and selective because the prestige of turning many people down helps them maintain cachet and rankings. This has, in turn, warped parent and student behavior towards cutthroat competition, driving extreme, unhealthy, unethical, and even illegal behaviors. It is deranging our culture.\nMany highly selective schools have the resources to expand their class sizes, but they currently don’t have an incentive to do so. Their rankings pressures actually reward them for rejecting many applicants.\n\n We need to to provide incentives for these schools to expand, both in size and, in the case of colleges, geographically. The geographic benefits would extend past just the increase in capacity. By establishing campuses in different parts of the region or country, these schools would:\n\n Expand the pool of people who would attend;\nProvide a cheaper cost of living on certain campuses, making it easier to afford these educational opportunities;\nCreate alumni networks nearby, thus attracting talent to new areas of the country; and\nAfford students the opportunity to “study abroad” at home, and take classes at different campuses to get exposed to different areas of the country.\n\n Artificial scarcity has been created at these highly selective academic resources in the name of institutional prestige. It’s time instead to create opportunities for more American students.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Highly selective schools are seeing skyrocketing application numbers, resulting in plummeting acceptance rates.",
"These schools are not expanding to larger class sizes and new areas despite having the resources to do so."
],
"main_quote": "Acceptance rates for selective high schools and colleges have plummeted over the past number of years as competition and interest have picked up. An obvious response: create new schools and expand existing ones. Right now schools get rewarded for turning many applicants away. That’s the opposite of what we need. Instead of rewarding schools for being selective, we should increase the number of spots available for students.",
"goals": [
"Increase the number of available seats at highly selective schools in order to better serve the public and match the demand for these seats"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with the DOE and Congress to encourage highly selective schools to expand their existing class sizes both through expanding facilities on their campuses and by opening new locations, especially in geographically diverse locations.\nEncourage public, philanthropic, and private investment in new schools and education models (e.g. Kenzie Academy).\nEnsure that rankings services (e.g., U.S. News & World Report) are not tied to the compensation of administrators and that evaluation criteria don’t discourage expansion (e.g., Educational Impact and Access instead of Selectivity).",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "American Exchange Program",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/american-exchange-program/",
"description": "Americans are becoming more and more socially isolated. The divide between urban and rural America is much wider than it used to be, and it’s a larger determinant of one’s partisan leanings than almost any other metric. America is sorting itself into distinct groups and losing empathy for fellow Americans.\nIn order to maintain a shared sense of America, we need to end this trend. Our differences and our debates have made us great, but we’re currently too able to avoid those discussions by surrounding ourselves with only those who agree with our point of view. The more our bubbles reflect only our views, the easier it is to view other Americans as enemies instead of friends with whom we disagree.\n\n It’s imperative that we stop this trend. One way to do so is to ensure that all Americans have an opportunity during their public education to visit areas of America they otherwise wouldn’t and engage with fellow citizens they might otherwise not meet.\nI will initiate the American Exchange Program, through which high school seniors will travel throughout different parts of the country in groups to make friends from different backgrounds and learn about American culture that they would otherwise lack exposure to. While spending time in these areas, these students would participate in local social events and volunteer for local organizations, thus feeling a part of these communities.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Americans are increasingly divided, lacking empathy for fellow citizens with whom they disagree",
"It’s become easier for us to retreat into our bubbles and view fellow citizens as “the other” or “the enemy”",
"Most people don’t experience the variety of culture that is on offer throughout America",
"Political polarization is at an all-time high which is making it very difficult to form a consensus on solutions or common goals."
],
"main_quote": "Right now it’s far too easy for Americans to generalize about people in another state or region or walk of life. If we have each high school graduate spend time with a diverse set of graduates in different parts of the country, they would forever form a different, deeper and broader understanding of what it means to be an American. It would improve our culture and politics immeasurably over time. Plus, every 18-year old would love a road trip.",
"goals": [
"Create a shared culture based on empathy",
"Highlight our shared humanity rather than our partisan differences",
"Instill the value of social service and civic engagement on our children as they develop into adults"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Initiate the American Exchange Program as part of our public education system, to foster civic engagement while introducing young Americans to fellow citizens they would otherwise not have an opportunity to meet. \nPrior to receiving their Universal Basic Income, high school graduates would embark on a multi-regional exchange program to different regions and communities. Civic education would be included in the programming so that each person has a higher sense of citizenship. This program would last for at least six weeks to allow for students to become sufficiently immersed in the new location.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "American Mall Act",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/american-mall-act/",
"description": "Malls used to be a hub for socialization and commerce in many American communities. They were where families would go shopping for school supplies before grabbing dinner and catching a movie. Teens would have their first jobs working retail there and spend their Friday nights with friends. A local mall was an economic boon.\nAs e-commerce takes over a larger share of the retail market, many malls are closing down – 300 malls will close in the next 4 years and hundreds more will struggle, the windows shuttered, the doors locked, and the building abandoned. This sends a negative signal that the economy of the area is suffering. It also attracts criminal elements, who can squat in and vandalize these empty buildings without much interest from local law enforcement.\n\n These giant spaces need to be revitalized in order to spur investment in the local economy and combat the sub/urban blight associated with the closing of a mall.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"When a mall closes down, it hurts the local economy, sends a signal to those considering investing in the area, and becomes a source of blight."
],
"main_quote": "We need to do all we can to find productive uses for the hundreds of American malls that are going to close in the next four years. Offices, churches, indoor recreation spaces, anything we can do to keep these spaces vital and positive is an enormous win for the surrounding community. We should provide incentives and funds to help more developers reinvent these buildings and spaces. I've been in one giant office that used to be a mall and it was great, with tons of parking.",
"goals": [
"Find new uses for closed malls"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Sponsor the American Mall Act, securing a $6 billion fund to help struggling malls attract businesses, schools, organizations and entrepreneurs to find new uses for the buildings and commercial spaces.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Free Marriage Counseling for All",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/free-marriage-counseling/",
"description": "Children raised in two-parent households have better outcomes across almost every dimension. Studies also show that being in a happy marriage contributes to longevity and life satisfaction. However, there is currently very little support out there for people who are looking for assistance in managing their marital relationship.\n\n Because of the huge societal good that comes from keeping married couples who want to stay together in their relationships, marriage counseling for interested couples should be free or heavily subsidized by the government.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Divorce negatively impacts the adults involved as well as children.",
"Children from two-parent households have, on average, better outcomes across most metrics."
],
"main_quote": "Marriage rates have plummeted across the board in America. And if you do get married, it’s tough to stay together through all of the stresses that accompany marriage and particularly child-rearing. Any couple that stays together is a win for the next generation. We should support families who want to stay together in any way we can.",
"goals": [
"Provide assistance to couples who want to remain together but are struggling"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Include family counseling in any healthcare plan offered through the federal government.\nMandate the inclusion of family counseling services in any plan sold through the ACA marketplaces.\nSubsidize marriage counseling provided by any credentialed provider through the tax code.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Modern Time Banking",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/modern-time-banking/",
"description": "Volunteering at a local community center. Mentoring an at-risk youth. Starting a book club. Helping your friend recover from drug addiction. There are many actions that create positive social utility that are currently uncompensated.\nEnter Modern Time Banking. Volunteer activity and community engagement would be tracked by an app and seeded, initially, by the government. After that, local administrators would oversee the program.\nYou could earn time banking points through:\n\n Volunteering at a local shelter\nParticipating in a town fair\nCoaching little league\nFixing a neighbor’s appliance\nWorking with those recovering from opiate addiction\nTutoring a local student\n\n and a range of other activities that make your community stronger. \n\n We’ve seen the power of these awards systems to drive behavior through online communities, “free sandwich” punch cards, and special status (e.g. Yelp Elite, Foursquare mayors, etc.).\nSigning up for an account would allow you to track your running tally, along with an “unspent” total. As noted above, you could offer time banking points to a neighbor for watering your plants or taking your mail in while you’re away. But there could also be specific promotions where you could trade in your points for special experiences, such as tickets to a local ball game or meeting with a government or civic leader.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Americans spend less time interacting with their community.",
"Americans feel disconnected from their neighbors.",
"American rates of volunteering have steadily declined over the past decade.",
"For “soft” policy initiatives such as fighting obesity, there’s no individual incentive to engage with the initiative."
],
"main_quote": "There are many things that we want to see happen as a society that the market doesn’t recognize or reward. We need to create a new way of both measuring and rewarding positive behaviors that spurs people to give to and ask more of their neighbors. We could create an entire parallel economy around social good that spurs incredible levels of activity and reconstitutes the fabric of our society.",
"goals": [
"Increase civic engagement",
"Increase volunteer rates",
"Provide incentives to engage with your neighbors and community",
"Make serving the community fun"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a new time banking app to track points awarded and traded for helping your community and neighbors.\nEmpower local communities to define what activities they’d like to promote through the use of time banking points.\nDonate all my points to the top-earning high school students in each state.\nSet time banking points prizes for a visit to the White House and a meeting with me and/or fun civic-minded local celebrities.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Support for the Arts",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/support-for-the-arts/",
"description": "Both experiencing and creating art in any form is personally enriching and spurs economic development and community engagement. Artists have the same effect on a community as entrepreneurs over time. However, many artists and arts organizations can’t generate enough revenue to cover their costs or make their art financially accessible to a wide range of people. Due to budget cuts to the arts, we’re seeing a scaling-back or closing of programs offered by all types of arts organizations, including museums, theaters, dance and opera companies, and orchestras. This has been a severe loss to people, their communities, and our society.\n\n Additionally, the way that people consume art, especially music and film, has drastically changed over the past several decades. However, our copyright and licensing legislation hasn’t. It’s time to revisit these laws in order to ensure that creativity can still thrive while artists receive fair compensation.\nWhile the Freedom Dividend will provide people with financial support to pursue their artistic endeavors, there is much more we can do to support the arts in this country.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Arts organizations across the country, including educational programs, are struggling to survive, despite their popularity.",
"Many individuals abandon their creative dreams due to economic insecurity, lack of time, or a sense that our society doesn’t value art.",
"The US government is underinvesting in the arts.",
"Spending for the arts as a percentage of GDP is miniscule (.02%), and the National Endowment for the Arts receives just .014% of discretionary spending. This for a sector that accounts for 4.2% of GDP and receives much more significant investment in other developed countries.",
"Current copyright law is outdated and based on decades of changes and exceptions being granted to large corporations, at odds with the intent of the original laws.",
"Modern distribution services have led to artists not receiving fair royalties, for example musicians fees for music streamed online."
],
"main_quote": "I will confess to being someone who took an Art History class in college and had it go way over my head.\n\n That said, I’ve grown to appreciate the importance of art to a thriving society. Artists and entrepreneurs have a great deal in common, including their long-term impact on a community. Art in all its forms enriches us and informs us about who we are as a people. It brings joy and vibrancy into our lives and helps to create stronger bonds between people and communities. It also serves as a catalyst to improving the economic and social health of neighborhoods and cities.\n\n The Freedom Dividend will free up thousands of people to pursue their artistic and creative passions. It will also dramatically increase the level of resources people have to support visual art, music, dance, theater, film-making, photography, books, videos, and other creative pursuits. But we should also pursue policies that directly support the arts, including adapting to the ways that people are now experiencing different forms of media and updating our copyright laws. It will make us stronger and richer in the most human of ways.",
"goals": [
"Provide resources to sustain the education, creation, and offerings of all forms of art",
"Incentivize individuals and corporations to increase their support for the arts",
"Increase civic engagement and greater understanding between people through the arts",
"Modernize and fix copyright laws to address technological changes and “copyright creep” over the decades",
"Modernize licensing structures to provide artists with fair compensation"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Restore NEA and NEH funding to at least pre-1996 levels, adjusted for inflation.\nSupport changes in the tax law to spur investment in film, television, and live theatrical productions (Section 181 of the federal tax code). \nBring greater awareness to how individuals and local communities throughout the country benefit from federal support for arts programs.\nStrongly support existing programs that offer art and music education in primary and secondary schools, and push for more such programs. They have been demonstrated to improve education outcomes. \nExplore the feasibility of creating a national theater.\nAssemble experts in copyright to propose ways to change copyright law in order to spur creativity.\nContinue to iterate on the Music Modernization Act, and promote similar policies that will bring our laws around compensation for the arts into the modern, streaming/internet era.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Reduce Harm to Children Caused by Smartphones",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/effects-smartphones-human-development/",
"description": "Somewhere between 2.1 and 2.5 billion humans currently own a smartphone. While early models were released as early as 1992, the first iPhone (a good line-in-the-sand for widespread adoption of the technology) was released in 2007. In a little over a decade, these machines have become ubiquitous throughout the world. In the USA, around 70% of adults have smartphones.\nWhat about children? Research suggests 22% of young children, 60% of tweens, and 84% of teenagers currently use a smartphone.\nWhile these devices provide unparalleled access to information, their impact on the mind is barely understood. Researchers are just beginning to look at the impact that focusing on a screen all day has on human development, and the conclusions are devastating.\n\n There has been an unprecedented surge in depression, anxiety, and suicide, and a marked decrease in sociability. Teenagers are spending more time worrying about whether their online acquaintances like their recent post than they are with their friends hanging out in person and developing social skills. The average teenager spends Friday nights at home, interacting with a machine, instead of out with friends at a game or event.\nThose who have worked within the industry describe the work they’ve done in stark terms. Often relating apps to slot machines, they say that the smartest minds of a generation are spending their time getting teenagers to click on ads and obsess over social media posts to see how many acquaintances respond or react to their posts.\nIn short, many experts are worrying that the widespread adoption of a poorly understood technology has destroyed the psyches of a generation.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"New technologies are developing and being adopted throughout society faster than we can understand their repercussions.",
"Smartphones are having an untold impact on our children that will affect them throughout their lifetimes."
],
"main_quote": "Smartphones are turning our kids into anxious and depressed zombies. Parents can’t compete - we need to help people take control and make smartphone use healthy and productive. Asking technology companies to regulate themselves is unfeasible - they will always want to maximize engagement regardless of the social impact. Government must provide guardrails to keep technology from corroding our mental and emotional well-being, particularly for young people. I love my smartphone too but we need to get a grip on the impact of this technology for the sake of our children.",
"goals": [
"Work to understand the impact of emerging technologies on human health and behavior",
"Find a way to promote responsible smartphone usage both within the industry and within the users"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Create a Department of the Attention Economy that focuses specifically on smartphones, social media, gaming and chat apps and how to responsibly design and use them, including age restrictions and guidelines. \nCreate a “best practices” design philosophy for the industry to minimize the antisocial impacts of these technologies on children who are using them. Ask Tristan Harris to lead. \nDirect the Department to investigate the regulation of certain companies and apps. Many of these companies essentially function as public utilities and news sources – we used to regulate broadcast networks, newspapers and phone companies. We need to do the same thing to Facebook, Twitter, Snap and other companies now that they are the primary ways people both receive information and communicate with each other.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Foreign Policy First Principles",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/foreign-policy-first-principles/",
"description": "While America has undoubtedly made mistakes, we’ve been a positive force in world history, leading to the spread of peace, prosperity, and democracy. Presidents from JFK to Ronald Reagan maintained strong relationships with allies while sending clear and honest messages to those who would work against us.\nOver the past several decades, we have engaged in conflicts that have cost us trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives. These misadventures have destabilized parts of the world, made enemies of allies, and resulted in untold human suffering, both for our brave soldiers and civilians of other countries. \n\n While an unfathomable amount of money has been spent on military engagements that have accomplished little, our infrastructure has started to collapse, and our people are living paycheck to paycheck and falling prey to ills like drug abuse. We need to make sure we are strong at home if we are going to successfully project our values abroad.\nIt’s impossible to be a leader when you have no allies, and so we need to rebuild our relationships with the rest of the world. Leveraging these relationships, we can more effectively deal with international issues. Working with our allies will make us stronger and more able to accomplish our goals over time.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"America has involved itself at too high a cost in foreign issues that don’t concern us",
"We’ve lowered our stature in the world community, alienating allies and making it harder to form an effective coalition to accomplish our goals on the world stage"
],
"main_quote": "America is the beneficiary of the international world order we helped establish throughout the twentieth century. That said, we have deluded ourselves into thinking that we are capable of doing things that we are not, sometimes at a terrible cost to ourselves and others. My first principles concerning foreign policy are restraint and judgment - we should be very judicious about projecting force and have clear goals that we know we can accomplish. We should treat our men and women in the armed services as the brave and self-sacrificing leaders that they are, both during and after their deployments. If I send young men and women into harm’s way, they will know that vital national interests are at stake and there is a clear plan for them to achieve their goal in a reasonable time frame.",
"goals": [
"Make it harder for the United States to get involved in foreign engagements with no clear plan or goal",
"Rebuild our relationships with allies to strengthen the international order",
"Bring our military spending under control"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with our allies to rebuild our stature in the world, and strengthen alliances such as NATO.\nReinvest in diplomacy and bolster funding to the State Department.\nWork with allies to project our combined strength throughout the world, without engaging in activities that will cost American lives and money with no clear benefit to our long-term well-being.\nSign a repeal to the AUMF, returning the authority to declare war to Congress, and refuse to engage in anything other than emergency military activity without the express consent of Congress.\nRegularly audit the Department of Defense.\nFocus our federal budget on fixing problems at home instead of spending trillions of dollars abroad.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Veteran Employment and Businesses",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/veteran-employment-and-businesses/",
"description": "I have met with several veteran groups and one vet told me something profound. “It’s not that employers just aren’t pro-veteran. They are actually looking for reasons to say no and rule you out because they think you’re damaged goods.”\nThere’s a general belief among Americans that most veterans suffer from a mental health issue, despite that number being much, much smaller. The first thing we need to do is better inform the American people and, in particular, employers on this reality to combat this prejudice against hiring veterans.\nWe also need to invest in, and create, mentorship programs for veterans. Non-profits such as American Corporate Partners are doing great work at matching veterans with mentors who can help them find and adapt to a new career. We should invest in other non-profits, and create programs within the federal government, that also help veterans adjust to civilian life. And we should also incentivize businesses to create mentorship programs internally, that provide both a non-veteran and veteran mentor to newly hired veterans. These mentors could help veterans in their careers, and also advocate internally for veteran candidates to be hired.\n\n In order to help veterans find fulfilling and stable careers, the government should research and maintain a database of in-demand skills and professions, and match veterans to these jobs based on their skills. The government can also partner with businesses in these areas to match up qualified candidates, and incentivize businesses to hire veterans. This can take the form of subsidies, both for the hiring itself and also for the investment in helping the veteran transition from their career in the military to their career at this business, since the rigidity, culture, requirements, and networking required can be very different, and a transition/learning window is often required.\nFinally, the federal government should provide resources to veteran-run businesses. This can take the form of initial investment, low-cost financing options, and preferential treatment.\n(Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"It can be difficult for veterans to find work when they return home, or for veteran-run businesses to succeed"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Increase veteran employment options"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work to combat the misconception that most veterans face mental health issues, decreasing employment prospects\nCreate mentorship programs, and work with businesses and non-profits to do the same\nIncentivize businesses to hire veterans, and create programs to help with early career transitions for veterans\nAssist veteran-run businesses in getting off the ground, and in becoming successful",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Ending Veteran Suicide",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/ending-veteran-suicide/",
"description": "22 veterans commit suicide every day. That number is 22 too high, and I commit to decreasing it at least by half by the end of my first term as President.\nProviding all other services to increase the stability veterans feel, and ensuring a successful transition to civilian life, should help decrease veteran suicide. But there’s more we can do to combat this scourge.\nTreatment doesn’t work if its not sought out. 80% of veterans cite embarrassment or shame as a barrier to asking for mental health treatment. We need to combat this by destigmatizing veteran treatment. It can start with an initiative to identify high-ranking veterans who received mental health treatment to speak to these issues publicly, and it can continue with information provided during the Reverse Boot Camp.\n\n We also need to increase the funding and reach of crisis lines to ensure that any veteran has immediate access to individuals who can direct them to mental health services, or to a mental health professional who can provide immediate counseling and treatment.\nFinally, as gun suicide disproportionately affects veterans, we should provide free gun safes/storage for all veterans, which has been shown to significantly reduce suicide risk.\n(Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"22 veterans commit suicide every day"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Drastically decrease the veteran suicide rate"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Implement many policies to increase the stability veterans feel, and assist in their transition to civilian life\nInvest in veteran mental health, and improve funding to crisis helplines\nCreate an initiative to have senior members of the military discuss their own battles with mental health issues, and the treatment they received, to destigmatize it\nProvide all veterans with gun storage lockers",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Every Vet Under a Roof Initiative",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/every-vet-under-a-roof-initiative/",
"description": "Homelessness disproportionately affects veterans. This is unacceptable, and I commit to decreasing it substantially during my first term as President.\nIt’s important to note that there are differences in chronic and situational veteran homelessness. Improving stability and employment will help primarily with situational homelessness, while chronic homelessness is usually related to health/mental health issues.\nHelping with their transition to civilian life and increasing employment and stability is a huge step in decreasing the number of situationally homeless veterans. Improving mental health resources and treatment is a huge step in combating chronic homelessness.\nIn order to directly tackle this issue, however, we need to start by establishing a census-like team that will research and find all of our homeless veterans and get them and their information into the VA system. This will allow the health professionals to treat any mental or physical health issues that are contributing to the homelessness, as well as enroll them in other programs to help with employment, financial literacy, and general life skills.\n\n We also need to help veterans afford housing through financial literacy, assistance in saving up for a down payment or security deposit (including by instituting programs while they’re still in active service, to dedicate portions of their pay specifically to retirement and post-discharge housing), mortgage options, and, if it comes to it, assistance in foreclosure proceedings (including incentives for mortgage companies to find alternatives to foreclosures).\nWe can also do more to increase the availability of affordable housing options. A great example of this is the Tiny Houses project by the Veterans Community Project. Non-profits and the government can work together to innovate in this space and ensure that no veteran falls through the cracks.\n(Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Too many veterans are homeless"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Drastically decrease veteran homelessness"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Perform a “census” to create a database of all homeless veterans, and the driving reason for their homelessness\nEnsure the VHA is fully funded to provide any veteran with a physical or mental health issue preventing them from getting a job or house to be treated\nInstitute an optional “housing savings” plan for active duty members to put money away for housing upon discharge\nHelp veterans get mortgages, and, if necessary, defend themselves in foreclosure proceedings\nInvest in affordable housing options, both directly and through non-profits",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Controlled Substance Waivers for Veterans",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/controlled-substance-waivers-for-veterans/",
"description": "The scientific evidence that certain controlled substances – particularly marijuana – are particularly effective at treating certain ailments common to veterans (e.g., PTSD) and for pain management.\nWhile I’m in favor of legalizing marijuana at the federal level, if that takes time, we need to provide waivers for veterans so they can receive this treatment, as well as prescribe it through the VA. This includes waivers and prescriptions for veterans residing in states that currently don’t allow for personal use or medical exceptions for marijuana use.\n\n We should also fund research into other controlled substances that have been shown to hold promise for treating PTSD and other diseases, and provide similar waivers and prescriptions should these other substances prove efficacious.\nWe owe it to our veterans to do everything possible to help them manage any health issues they have.\n(Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Currently controlled substances can alleviate issues many veterans face, and yet state-by-state rules prevent many from seeking this treatment",
"Federally controlled substances can't be prescribed by VA doctors"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Equity"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Allow the VA to prescribe controlled substances, such as marijuana, that have been shown to alleviate some veteran health issues\nInvest in research to see if other controlled substances can help treat our veterans\nWork with states that don’t allow for medical exceptions for these substances to provide waivers for our veterans",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Improving Veteran Health",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/improving-veteran-health/",
"description": "The first thing we need to recognize is that providing for the health of our veterans is a moral imperative, and we need to fully fund a system that works to maximize veteran health.\nIn addition to funding the operations of veteran healthcare, we need to ensure that we’re creating a budget that allows for proper research into issues that affect the veteran community in particular. Suicide prevention and PTSD/TBI treatment, long-term effects of battlefield-related injuries, exposure to substances unique to combat environments, and similar areas should be researched to find the optimal treatments, and the VA (in partnership with the CDC) is best equipped to do so.\nStaffing needs to be improved. Salaries and benefits should be increased in order to fully staff and maintain best-in-class doctors and administrative staff. Clear metrics for success in each role should be established, and individuals who are not measuring up need to be let go. There also needs to be a push to hire doctors who specialize in treatment of women’s issues, including sexual trauma, and transgender issues, as well as expanding options for these veterans to receive treatment outside of the VA system if they so choose.\n\n On a similar note, we should investigate ways to improve and expand the Choice Act to lower wait times and expand access and increase the efficacy of our electronic records database to make it easier for veterans to find healthcare where they are.\nSubstance abuse treatment should be expanded, with more available treatment centers and long-term support, as helping with addiction issues will reduce many other issues for veterans (homelessness, unemployment, suicide). The same should be true for general mental health care.\nIn order to improve access and efficiency, many more GP centers should be opened, especially in rural areas, so that no veteran needs to travel a significant distance to see a doctor (the Choice Act can help with this, as well). If a veteran needs to travel to a specialized treatment center, transportation should be provided or subsidized.\n(Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The VHA isn't funded enough to fully support all of our veterans",
"Funding for research into PTSD, TBI, and other veteran-specific health issues is too low",
"Improve the ability to treat female veterans, and transgender veterans",
"More of a focus needs to be placed on treating veterans with substance abuse and mental health issues",
"Veterans living in rural areas lack access to medical care"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Health"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Increase funding for the VHA to attract the top talent and allow for full research into veteran-specific issues\nClearly define goals for the VHA, and fire personnel who can’t help achieve those goals\nHire doctors who specialize in treating women and transgender veterans\nImprove the Choice Act to make it easier for veterans to seek treatment\nInvest in more GP locations in rural areas, and provide transportation options and reimbursements for veterans who need to travel for treatment",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Military Training: The Gold Standard",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/military-training-the-gold-standard/",
"description": "If someone is qualified to do a job in the military, they should be qualified to do that job in the US.\nToo many of our veterans have been trained to a high level in skills that aren’t respected when they get back home. These veterans often need to spend thousands of dollars and a significant amount of time receiving a certification to do a job that they’ve been doing throughout their service.\nIt’s an impediment to veteran employment, it disrespects the work done in the military, and, quite frankly, it’s wasteful.\n\n We need to work with state licensing boards, and other organizations that are involved in certifications, to ensure that those who are trained by the military can seamlessly transition to a job in the civilian economy that they are qualified for. CDLs and EMT certifications, as well as paramedic and nurse, and other jobs that require certification, should all see a much easier transition from practicing them in the military and being employed in that job outside of service.\n(Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Veterans who were trained in particular skills often need to go through costly and time-consuming re-licensing processes upon returning home"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Allow skills learned while in the military to meet certification/licensing requirements at home"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with States and licensing boards to recognize military work as qualifying for certifications/licenses\nStandardize and streamline the processes by which veterans can get automatically licensed upon returning home",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "GI Bill Improvements",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/gi-bill-improvements/",
"description": "The GI Bill is one of our best ways to thank the brave individuals who serve this country. While this benefit program provides flexibility and training to our veterans as they transition to civilian life, there are ways that it can be improved to make this transition easier.\nThe application and payment system needs to be modernized and streamlined so that our veterans don’t need to jump through additional hoops in order to use their GI Bill. Approvals should be on entire courses of study instead of on a semester-by-semester basis, thus making it easier and less stressful to continue at an institution.\nThe qualified courses of study should also be expanded to allow for more varied career pursuits after service, while also providing protections for our veterans from for-profit institutions that wouldn’t provide a significant chance of employment after graduation, certification, or completion of the course. Any institution that receives tuition through this program should be required to report on employment numbers and be held accountable if they’re not meeting certain standards.\nMilitary service provides protection to all 50 states. As such, all veterans should receive in-state tuition automatically from any public institution, regardless of how long they’ve held residency, and without any restrictions.\n\n Schools should also be pushed to give unlimited course credit for equivalent courses from military training, especially for all service members who received additional training in specialized fields. The VA should work with all schools to create an “Equivalent Courses” list so it’s easy for veterans to figure out what they’re qualified to receive credit for.\nAll schools should also have clear and flexible policies for enrollment and withdrawal for veterans and active servicemembers. These policies should include:\n\n Early enrollment periods, as well as late enrollment periods without penalty or fee\nRules on what proportion of an individual class’s coursework must be completed, and to what standard, for credit to be issued, in case of a call to active duty (recommended: 85% of work completed with a passing grade)\nTuition refunds in case coursework is interrupted because of a call to active duty\n\n (Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The GI Bill needs streamlining in how its implemented",
"Veterans don't always qualify for in-state tuition",
"Veterans don't always receive credit for courses taken through the military",
"Enrollment and withdrawal rules aren't always clearly set up for veterans who return to active duty"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Make it easier for veterans to pursue educational opportunities after their service"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Make it less cumbersome on veterans to manage their GI Bill tuition payments\nExpand the potential courses of study for veterans while protecting them from predatory for-profit schools\nWork to get states to provide in-state tuition automatically for all veterans, without exceptions\nWork with schools to provide course credit for equivalent classes taken during military training\nGet schools to clearly define enrollment and withdrawal periods/rules in the case of return to active duty",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Reverse Boot Camp",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reverse-boot-camp/",
"description": "When starting their service, members of the armed forces go through a boot camp in order to ensure that they’re ready for the rigors of service. As they end their service, they should go through an equally important training program on elements of civilian life that would not be second-nature to someone who has had a regimented routine over the past several years.\nThe reverse boot camp would ensure that all veterans are aware of the general “timeline” of issues they’ll face. Recent veterans face different challenges than those who have been out of the armed services for a longer time period. For example, immediately after their discharge from the military, veterans often face issues with adjusting to a self-directed schedule and finding a new career, issues which are resolved over time.\nThis reverse boot camp would teach valuable skills required of civilian adults, such as:\n\n Grocery shopping and nutrition, cooking, and creating and sticking to a personal schedule (without the regimented schedule enforced by the military)\nFinancial literacy and training, such as creating and sticking to a personal budget, personal banking, retirement saving, and paying bills\n\n On top of the financial literacy training, there also needs to be laws put in place so that veterans are protected from payday lenders and other predatory businesses. This would involve creating zones around bases where these businesses couldn’t operate, lending institutions specifically for veterans that could provide financial assistance if needed coupled with more financial literacy training, and financial assistance for veterans who are having difficulty paying off predatory loans.\n\n It would also ensure that all veterans are aware of the myriad programs available to them, including employment, health, and other support services.\nAdditionally, it would involve a lot of information and training on finding a new career outside of the military, including:\n\n Setting salary expectations for the private sector, based on field and qualifications\nTranslating military skills to civilian skills\nCreating a resume and finding job opportunities\nInterviewing\n\n This Reverse Boot Camp would involve a number of group classes and individual consultations with experts in the military, veterans, and private-sector experts in order to ensure that all veterans are equipped to successfully transition to civilian life.\n(Read Andrew’s full policy of Veteran Assistance here.)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Many veterans return home not prepared for the different challenges presented by civilian life"
],
"main_quote": "There are many issues unique to the veteran community that we need to address. The transition to civilian life should be smoother, and we need to put more support structures in place. Public misconceptions have lead to issues with employment. Homelessness is a perennial problem, and the VA - especially the Veterans Health Administration - can do much more to improve the well-being of those who have served.\n\n These heroes protect and serve us during their tenure, but they come home to a quick thank you and an economy that isn’t set up to help them succeed. We owe them more than a handshake.",
"goals": [
"Provide training for our veterans on the challenges presented in civilian life",
"Prepare our veterans to manage their finances"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Implement a Reverse Boot Camp, and end-of-service training program that will allow for veterans to learn necessary skills for civilian life and transition more easily upon returning home",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Quantum Computing and Encryption Standards",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/quantum-computing/",
"description": "Our current AES-based encryption standards are very secure from attacks using transistor-based computers that store information in bits. It would take an inordinate amount of time to break that encryption.\nHowever, quantum computers, using qubits, will theoretically be able to perform the calculations necessary to break our current encryptions standards in under a day. When that happens, all of our encrypted data will be vulnerable. That means our businesses, communications channels, and banking and national security systems may be accessible.\nOther nations are investing heavily in quantum computing technology while simultaneously using their signal intelligence capabilities to collect and store as much encrypted data as possible. While it’s useless to them now, it will become invaluable once they create a functioning quantum computer at a certain power level. Some estimates put the timeline for this at a decade or less.\n\n In short, this is a problem that has to be fixed now. Two things must be done.\nFirst, and immediately, we need to invest in and develop new encryption standards and systems, and immediately shift to using these quantum computing-resistant standards to protect our most sensitive data. This won’t be easy or cheap, but it is necessary.\nSecond, we must heavily invest in quantum computing technology so that we develop our own systems ahead of our geopolitical rivals.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our current encryption standards protecting sensitive national security and banking data, among other types, will one day be decryptable in a short time period.",
"Other countries are currently collecting encrypted information from us that they will one day be able to decrypt.",
"Other countries are developing powerful quantum computing technology at a pace that could outstrip our own capabilities."
],
"main_quote": "Quantum Computing is the new frontier in making machines capable of unfathomably large numbers of calculations in short periods of time. We are not ready for what this means for our systems or security. Though our private companies are investing billions in this field, the countries that break through first will have a massive advantage. Conversely, major powers that get caught flat-footed may be vulnerable. We should maximize the opportunity and minimize our vulnerability.",
"goals": [
"Create new quantum-resistant encryption standards and systems that will be adopted ASAP to protect our sensitive information",
"Invest in quantum computing so that the US leads the world in the technology"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Provide the NIST and other agencies with all necessary funding to research, select, and deploy new encryption standards as soon as possible.\nEstablish private sector incentives to research new encryption standards and adopt encryption that protects sensitive data.\nSupport government programs developing quantum computing technology.\nDirect the Department of Defense to focus on this massive cybersecurity threat, making it a priority.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Modernize Military Spending",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/rechannel-military-spending/",
"description": "Our service members are our bravest Americans, and they comprise the finest fighting force on the planet. Often they are not being put in a position to succeed, either at home or abroad.\nMany service members are returning home with issues or injuries and aren’t receiving the right support or opportunity. We need to invest more money and resources in treating our soldiers with the care that they deserve.\n\n Today, loose nuclear material, cyberterrorism, misinformation and other unconventional attacks pose a grave threat to America, and these are less impacted by manpower and equipment on military bases. Money and resources should be redirected to places where it can do the most to protect us from the actual threats we’re facing today.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The military budget makes up 54% of all discretionary spending, much of which is focused on defending against threats from decades ago as opposed to the threats of 2020."
],
"main_quote": "We need to build a military designed for the challenges of 2020, which are going to be determined as much by technical superiority and resilient systems as they are manpower and artillery. We have massive needs here at home that our men and women of the military can help us meet that will also help them develop valuable skills. Whatever we do, we should be investing resources to adequately equip and care for our men and women in service and afterwards.",
"goals": [
"Refocus the military’s focus on modern threats, such as loose nuclear material and cyberterrorism",
"Utilize the vast talent of our soldiers in areas outside of warfare, such as infrastructure repair",
"Ensure that our armed forces service members have ample preparation and resources both during and after their service"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Invest in the treatment of veterans, and ensure that soldiers are treated with care and respect upon returning home by a system that recognizes them as assets and contributors.\nDirect the Secretary of Defense to identify areas where military spending is going to programs that aren’t making us safer in the context of modern warfare that can be eliminated or are redundant. \nRechannel 10% of the military budget – approximately $60 billion per year – to a new domestic infrastructure force called the Legion of Builders and Destroyers. The Legion would be tasked with keeping our country strong by making sure our bridges, roads, power grid, levies, dams, and infrastructure are up-to-date, sound and secure. It would also be able to clear derelict buildings and structures that cause urban blight in many of our communities and respond to natural disasters. The Legion would prioritize projects based on national security, economic impact, and regional equity. Its independent budget would ensure that our infrastructure would be constantly upgraded regardless of the political climate. The Commander of the Legion would have the ability to overrule local regulations and ordinances to ensure that projects are started and completed promptly and effectively. \nAppoint a new Secretary of Cybersecurity to lead our efforts to secure our country’s vital systems from cyberterrorism, which is one of the leading threats to our ongoing prosperity. \nInvest heavily in counterproliferation efforts to identify and secure sources of weapons-grade nuclear material, including offering to buy such material for exorbitant prices.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Southern Border Security",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/southern-border-security/",
"description": "Border security along our southern border has many issues that need to be fixed to provide security for Americans and equity in our immigration system. You need look no further than the stats on how many undocumented individuals are living in the US, or the amount of drugs that have been apprehended along the border (suggesting a much larger amount that’s made it through).\nMany proposals would be expensive and ineffective, while also being ecologically disastrous. The issue has become politicized to the point where there doesn’t seem to be any possible compromise, but our leaders are focusing on single solutions instead of the solutions proposed by groups across the political spectrum.\n\n When searching for solutions, we need to work with border security experts, immigrant advocates, and the Mexican government to provide effective, secure, humane border security.\nSee Andrew’s policies on a Pathway to Citizenship, and on the DREAM Act, to get a more complete view of how Andrew would tackle the immigration and border security issue.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Large numbers 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.",
"Illegal immigration is risky for those who are engaging in it (and are at the mercy of so-called “coyotes”), and it hurts those who are trying to immigrate legally.",
"Cartels and individuals are trafficking drugs and humans into and out of the US.",
"Our asylum system is flooded with cases, resulting in people being enticed to come to the US and ask for asylum so they can stay here for years before their case comes up.",
"Ineffective solutions have become the only solutions that are being discussed with any level of specificity."
],
"main_quote": "We need to enforce the border. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike agree that this is a pressing need for the good of both citizens and those who wish to come here. Though there are new technologies that could help, the best approaches are to do what we are currently doing better with more resources.",
"goals": [
"Safeguard Americans",
"Decrease the number of people entering this country illegally",
"Protect victims of trafficking",
"Stop the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico into the US",
"Prevent cartel violence from affecting America",
"Provide a humane experience for those seeking asylum"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Increase funding to secure our landed ports of entry, where most drugs enter the United States.\nIncrease funding to our Customs Enforcement teams that are tasked with preventing human trafficking both into and out of the US.\nInvest in technologies such as ground and aerial sensors, and video towers, to allow for efficient and effective means of monitoring stretches of the US/Mexico border that are rarely crossed but still provide means of entering the US.\nProvide body cameras for all agents along the US/Mexico border.\nInvest heavily in protecting and renewing the Rio Grande, which serves as a great natural boundary, and is currently ecologically struggling.\nProvide all resources necessary to allow our asylum court system to function properly, lowering the backlog of cases and thus removing one of the prime reasons we’ve seen “caravans” increasing in size and frequency.\nWork with the Mexican government on all of these initiatives, as well as anti-cartel initiatives, to ensure a positive relationship that allows both countries to serve the needs of their citizens.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Nuclear Launch Decisions",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/nuclear-launch/",
"description": "The decision to launch a nuclear attack is too serious for a single person to make. The vice president should need to verify any such decision made by the president.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The power to launch a nuclear attack shouldn’t rest with a single individual."
],
"main_quote": "A decision to launch nuclear weapons is too important to rest in any individual's hands. We should ensure that any such decision is verified by the vice president or, if he or she is unavailable, the White House Chief of Staff.",
"goals": [
"Prevent a nuclear attack from being launched without enough reason to convince multiple individuals of its necessity"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Bring the VP and Chief of Staff into the chain of command for nuclear decisions for myself and all future Presidents.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Entice High-Skill Individuals",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/enticing-high-skill-individuals/",
"description": "America was built by those who wanted a better life and were willing to leave their home for that goal. Throughout our history, those born here have worked with those who have immigrated here to achieve some of our greatest accomplishments. America is greatest when native-born ideas are supplemented by fresh ideas from those who came here, like all of our ancestors, looking for a better life.\nSince America has the greatest higher-education system in the world, many students are attracted here. Additionally, as we have some of the greatest companies headquartered here, high-skill workers are enticed by high salaries and great benefits.\n\n As such, we should greatly expand our H-1B and F-1 visa programs to allow significantly more highly skilled individuals and top-of-their-class students to study and work here. Additionally, any highly rated worker or graduating student who receives a graduate degree here should be given a green card to remain in this country as a permanent resident.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"America isn’t attracting the world’s best talent anymore.",
"America is training people only to have them leave the country and compete against us."
],
"main_quote": "My father immigrated here from Taiwan to get his PhD in physics, stayed here, and generated over 50 U.S. patents for GE and IBM, two great American companies. We need to make sure that we are winning the global competition for talent to keep our economy strong and dynamic. It’s stupid to train top people and then let them leave, often to compete against us. We are in a global war for talent - the societies that attract the best and brightest are more competitive and innovative. America has traditionally won that battle. With me as your President, we will win again. We will make it clear that if you are smart and enterprising and want to build a business, there is no better place than the United States.",
"goals": [
"Attract more high-skill individuals to America",
"Retain more top students who are here on visas"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Enhance the H-1B visa program and give workers who receive positive reviews from employers the options to remain in the country as permanent residents.\nEnhance the F-1 visa program and automatically grant any student who graduates with at least a graduate degree a green card.\nPersonally encourage the top students of the world to come to America, start their families here, build their companies here, and then their kid can become President.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Extend Daylight Saving Time All Year",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/extend-daylight-savings-time-all-year/",
"description": "Daylight Saving Time, or DST, was implemented during WWI to decrease energy utilization. While modern technology (specifically, AC units) makes the energy savings a wash, there are a lot of other benefits to the extended daytime hours.\nWhile mornings are darker, evenings are lighter for longer. This leads to:\n\n Increased exercise and outdoor activity\nLower crime, as the amount of time people are out in the dark decreases\nIncreased economic activity, as people are more likely to shop at night when it’s still light out\nFewer traffic accidents, as it’s easier to drive in sunlight\n\n Additionally, removing the transition between the different times would:\n\n Decrease traffic accidents that result from people being tired\nAlleviate the increase in heart attacks seen following the time change\nPrevent us from needing to reset our clocks (a minor annoyance, but an annoyance!)\nPrevent us from being late to work (or exceedingly early, depending on the season)",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The switch from DST and back causes many issues",
"People generally prefer sunlight in the evening hours"
],
"main_quote": "The switch from Daylight Savings Time literally kills people in accidents every year because people are drowsy. I would advocate for a permanent adoption of Daylight Savings Time. No more hour-switching. Let’s just pick the time and stick to it.",
"goals": [
"Decrease traffic accidents, heart attacks, and crime",
"Increase exercise and economic activity"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Work with Congress to pass the Sunshine Protection Act at a national level (thanks for the name, Florida!)",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Prevent Airlines from Removing Customers",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/prevent-airlines-removing-customers/",
"description": "Airlines have been overbooking their flights and then forcibly removing paying customers when an issue arises. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should prevent this activity and force airlines to continue to offer a larger amount of money until someone takes them up on the offer and removes themselves from the flight. No one should be physically removed because the airline wants to make more money.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Airlines are using force to remove paying customers for the airline’s mistake."
],
"main_quote": "If an airline wants a passenger to get off a plane in order to make more money, they should offer that money to passengers until someone says yes. We are human beings and your customers, not simply names on a screen.",
"goals": [
"Prevent airlines from abusing customers"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Direct the FAA to force airlines to have customers “auction” their seat back to the airline when they have overbooked the flight.\nDirect the FAA to investigate any airline that forcibly removes a customer for any reason other than that customer is posing a threat to other customers.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Robo-Calling Text Line",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/robo-calling-text-line/",
"description": "Robo-calling has become somewhere between an irritation and harassment for millions of Americans. Companies have determined that the cost of a robo-call is zero so if even a handful generate sales leads they pay off. This has led to many of us tuning out our phones and regarding people reaching out to us with suspicion as we pick up to hear an automated voice pitching us something we don’t need. \nOur attention is valuable, and companies that occupy it should be improving our lives. If they are simply wasting our time there needs to be some disincentive or deterrent.\n\n As President, I will initiate a robo-calling text line. If you receive a robo-call that you feel was a waste of your time, simply forward the number that called you to our robo-call investigations line (800-ROBOCAL). The FCC will follow up with the company that called you. If the FCC receives numerous complaints about a particular company, they will issue significant fines. This will quickly discourage companies from adopting marketing tactics that customers find unpleasant or unwelcome.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Robo-calls are increasingly frequent given that they cost next to nothing for the companies who are calling.",
"There is no accessible means for an individual citizen to register a complaint and decrease incoming calls.",
"There is no disincentive for increasingly aggressive marketing tactics that erode our accessibility and empathy."
],
"main_quote": "It’s ridiculous that companies can call us all day every day pitching us unwelcome services, particularly when the calls are automated. Our time is the most valuable resource we have. Companies need to value our time the same way that we do. If you call me you'd better be human.",
"goals": [
"Provide a disincentive to excessive robo-calling by companies",
"Maintain our receptivity to genuine outreach",
"Introduce increased accountability to firms"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will…\n\n Initiate a Robo-calling Text Line (800-ROBOCAL) to which all citizens can forward any number that makes a marketing call that they found offensive or a waste of time. \nThe FCC would investigate any complaints and levy significant fines to repeat offenders.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Federally Regulate Online Poker",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/regulate-online-poker/",
"description": "Tens of millions of Americans play online poker, with the industry raking in millions in revenue despite only being legal in four states: New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Since regulating online gaming in 2013, New Jersey alone has taken in about $250 million in taxes, about 10% of which come from online poker.\nThe potential size of a federally regulated US online poker market is significant, with reports estimating $2.2 billion just in the first year.\nNot only would federal licensing, regulation, and taxation of online poker make sense from a revenue perspective, but it would ensure a more secure environment to play in, limit the influence of offshore unregulated platforms, and make it easier to combat money laundering. \nThe online poker laws today make offshore sites the only option for many American players. Since foreign companies and sites cannot be regulated or monitored, these players are more vulnerable to exploitation and greater financial risk.\nThe current state-by-state rules are variable and push many players to these potentially unsafe offshore sites. Clarifying the rules and making it legal in all 50 states and territories would benefit American players and companies, while new tax revenues can be used to mitigate gambling addiction.\n\n In 2016, only $73 million in state and federal funds were dedicated to gambling addiction services, despite an estimated 5.4 million Americans battling it. Twenty percent of states don’t dedicate any funds toward gambling addiction at all. It needs to be taken more seriously. We should be dedicating adequate resources towards research to analyzing the extent of the problem, treatment programs, and prevention awareness campaigns.\nThe pendulum has swung back and forth during the debate of online poker regulation over the past decade as archaic laws such as the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 are applied and contrasting summary judgments are passed by courts on the application of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. Yet, despite the bans no poker players have ever been criminally charged.\nFormer Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada came close on a couple of occasions to passing legislation, and I would look to the elements in his proposed Internet Poker Act of 2010 as a starting point without concern for powerful casino lobbyists who try to thwart such efforts.\nThis is a no-brainer and ultimately gives Americans the freedom to choose to play poker in a casino or from the comfort of their homes. It’s already happening – US online poker sites report customers from all 50 states. History is littered with examples of the government trying to kneecap industries that will always find ways to exist, until finally coming around and realizing the benefits of regulating them. The time has come for online poker.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Online poker laws are confusing, and have complicated state-by-state rules.",
"American poker players are currently pushed to play on offshore sites where they are subject to exploitation and greater financial risk.",
"Application of the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 on online poker.",
"Application of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 on online poker.",
"Limited resources are dedicated towards addressing gambling addiction."
],
"main_quote": "Online poker is legal in 4 states. The state-by-state rules are variable and push many players to offshore sites. We should clarify the rules and make it legal in all 50 states. US players and companies would benefit and new tax revenues could be used to mitigate addiction.",
"goals": [
"Federal licensing, regulation, and taxation of online poker",
"A 50 states and territories player pool",
"Clarify the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 application on online poker",
"Clarify UIGEA application on online poker",
"Boost funding towards tackling gambling addiction"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Regulate online poker across all 50 states and territories.\nAllocate up to 50% of tax revenue from online poker to mitigate online gambling addiction by funding research towards prevention, awareness campaigns, and treatment programs.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "End the Filibuster",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/end-the-filibuster/",
"description": "If you feel like the government isn’t doing anything. You’re right. The filibuster is nothing more than a legislative quirk that has been weaponized by both sides to prevent congress from voting on legislation and presidential appointees.\nThe filibuster was created by accident, and it was hardly used for the majority of this country’s history. The modern filibuster was only created in 1917, and it wasn’t until a rules change in the ‘70s that allowed for a silent filibuster that it began to fall into common use, at which point the problem of filibuster abuse quickly grew out of control.\nThe use of the filibuster to block judicial nominees was weaponized by Mitch McConnell. In the history of the United States, 68 nominees were blocked by the legislative tool. McConnell used it to block 79 of Obama’s nominees in his first term. Since then, both sides have played legislative games with the filibuster, changing it as necessary to suit their judicial agenda.\n\n At this point, it’s the case that any major legislation requires 60 votes to pass. This has stymied the ability of the Senate to get anything done, and it prevents legislation from even being raised, with the knowledge that there’s no way it will ever pass. Additionally, it protects Senators from having to take hard votes, as close bills won’t even be brought up to the floor.\nIn short, because of the structure of the Senate and its current leader – Mitch McConnell – it’s unlikely that we will be able to enact bold solutions without moving from our current, broken system.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Congress is unable to bring important legislation or nominees to a vote.",
"Our Congress has slowed to a crawl."
],
"main_quote": "At this point in our nation’s history, with historic issues that are quickly coming to crash down on us (like job displacement from automation), we need a flexible government that can get things done. Instead, we have a clogged government that can’t accomplish anything.",
"goals": [
"Return Congress to its former, more effective, operation"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Get rid of the filibuster or Mitch McConnell (or, preferably, both). Promote an end to the current filibuster system used in the Senate, ending the requirement for a 60-vote cloture motion and replacing it with the traditional need to hold the floor.\n\n This will promote the actual articulation of an argument against the legislation or appointment opposed.\n\n Accept a phase-in period so that the Senate that implements the majority requirement isn’t the Senate that first operates under the new rules.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Stop the D.C. Revolving Door",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/stop-the-d-c-revolving-door/",
"description": "The American people need to know that the President isn’t setting policy for their own financial benefit. The Office conveys unbelievable power to influence actions of governments and individuals around the world, and it would be very easy for an unprincipled person to get rich from the office.\nWe need to ensure that there is enough financial transparency in the federal government for Americans to trust that the decisions being made by the President and senior members of the Administration are solely to advance the best interests of Americans, and not themselves and their family.\nOutside of directly benefiting from their position in government, the federal government has also become a revolving door. Individuals move back and forth between high-paying industry jobs and positions at government agencies that regulate those industries. People can see the influence of corporate America in the legislation being passed, and it causes them to feel like the government is built around defending the interests of the rich, not normal Americans.\n\n The Office of the President is admired throughout American society. However, that respect has been capitalized on by recent presidents for personal gain. Six-digit speaking fees and lucrative board positions fuel the perception that the President may go soft on people that he or she could receive fees from after leaving office.\nTo combat this, we should raise the salaries of the President, cabinet members, and heads of regulatory agencies while barring anyone serving in these offices from accepting speaking fees or lucrative board positions for personal gain after leaving office, for at least a decade, if not longer.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"A lack of transparency invokes distrust in the motives of the President.",
"The respect people have for the Office of President is damaged by the view that presidential policies are, sometimes subconsciously, motivated by a desire to have lucrative offers and good relationships after leaving office.",
"Regulators have an economic incentive to “take it easy” on the industries they’re regulating.",
"When the public does not trust the motives of its government officials, it delegitimizes the very policies and regulations the government creates."
],
"main_quote": "Government jobs don’t pay as well as high-level private sector jobs, which leads to a revolving door between government and industry. Often, industry will pay a government employee 5 to 10 times their salary after they leave office. This makes it very natural for regulators to go easy on the companies they regulate. We need to immunize those in charge of government from market forces by compensating them at higher levels and then making it so they can’t go back to their old jobs. Corruption in this case would be diminished by paying government officials more. The government should use its printing press to empower regulators to act on behalf of the people.",
"goals": [
"Restore trust in the Office of the President through financial transparency",
"Allow the president to promote policies free of undue economic influence",
"Empower regulators and policymakers to make decisions free of market influences",
"Restore the public’s trust in the motives of all government officials"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Pledge to personally:\n\n Divest from all personal investments and business interests, and place all assets in a blind trust.\nDisclose the previous 10 years of my income tax returns.\nAccept no speaking fees or board positions for personal gain after leaving office.\n\n Hold my cabinet officials to a higher standard by:\n\n Increasing salaries for government officials who operate in a regulatory capacity to much higher levels, but ban them from receiving anything of value in exchange for advocating for a position (lobbying) to members of the federal government.\nProviding an Anti-Corruption Stipend for all members of the Executive Branch after the termination of their employment, to be paid as long as they don’t accept anything of value in exchange for advocating for a position to members of the federal government.\nFiring anyone in my Administration who accepts money from lobbyists for a personal legal defense fund they’ve established to defend from any wrong-doing, whether while in office or before.\n\n Work with Congress to pass legislation that:\n\n Raises the next President’s salary to $4 million and simultaneously bars them from receiving any speaking fees or board positions for personal gain after leaving office.\nPrevents individuals serving in government from accepting money from lobbyists for a personal legal defense fund.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Reform the FEC",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reform-the-fec/",
"description": "In all of this discussion of elections, it’s important that we visit the structure and purpose of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Yes, this is a bit boring, but the current structure doesn’t allow for proper enforcement against current abuses of the system. If the agency tasked with ensuring fair elections doesn’t work, the American people won’t believe that the elections are fair (and when the FEC only has 3 members, it is unable to hold a quorum or even vote on whether it should enforce any campaign regulations).\n\n Currently, the FEC is made up of 6 members, no more than 3 of whom are from the same political party. The President typically appoints 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans, recommended by the Congressional leadership. It’s not shocking that this leads to polarization and gridlock. Through meaningful legislation, we need to give the FEC more specific regulations on how Super PACs must effectively disclose where all of its money comes from. The Brennan Center has done great work on developing a plan.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"An equal number of seats in the FEC has resulted in consistent deadlock.",
"FEC is currently not enforcing or regulating campaign finance laws due to deadlock.",
"Current members of Congress who benefit from a deadlock FEC have no incentive to appoint members that would help the FC become an effective agency."
],
"main_quote": "Because of vast infusions of money from special interest groups and the ultra-rich, our system of government has become corrupted. Money clogs the inner workings of our democracy, and lobbyists have more power to change policy than the people do. The richest Americans can buy undue influence and spend untold fortunes to affect elections. Organizations such as the NRA have single-handedly stopped overwhelmingly popular legislation from becoming law.",
"goals": [
"Create an odd number of seats on the FEC to avoid deadlock decisions",
"Restore the FEC to actually enforce the campaign finance laws it is intended to regulate",
"Incentivize Congress to appointment FEC members who will actually enforce campaign finance regulations"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Break with tradition and appoint nonpartisan members to the FEC (retired judges, academics, etc), instead of appointing the Congressional leaders’ partisan picks.\nPropose legislation that would limit the FEC to 5 members, with no more than 2 members from one political party. Additionally, the chair will be required to be nonpartisan and will be chosen with the assistance of a blue-ribbon advisory panel. Only if Congress approves of this legislation will I return to the tradition of appointing their partisan picks for the other 4 FEC members.\nDirect the FEC to focus on increasing disclosure requirements, and focusing on unearthing the donor trail, for Super PACs.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Restoration of Voting Rights for Felons",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/restore-voting-rights/",
"description": "6.1 million Americans cannot vote due to a felony conviction and are therefore denied the right to cast their vote in an election. Felony disenfranchisement exacerbates racial disparities. 1 in 13 black Americans have lost their right to vote vs. 1 in 56 white Americans. State laws vary wildly as far as re-enfranchisement is concerned, with some never disenfranchising felons, and others permanently disenfranchising them. This patchwork of state laws is inherently unfair, as citizens are treated differently depending on their location.\n\n America’s criminal justice system should be built around the idea of rehabilitation whenever possible – that means during the incarceration period and after. By restoring full voting rights to felons during incarceration, who have not deprived someone else of their right to vote, and ex-felons who have completed the entirety of their sentence, we’ll increase their engagement with society. This will improve their lives drastically, for obvious reasons. It will also make the rest of us safer, as some studies have shown that ex-felons who vote are half as likely to reoffend. By giving these individuals a larger stake in society, we make our entire country stronger.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Millions of Americans are not allowed to vote because of a prior conviction, making them less engaged with society."
],
"main_quote": "If you’ve paid your debt to society, you ought to be able to vote. This is particularly true given the hodgepodge of different treatment in different states. Voters are less likely to reoffend, which is only one reason we should be pushing for it.",
"goals": [
"Help to reintegrate those convicted of felonies into society",
"Expand voting rights"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Restore voting rights to individuals convicted of felonies and prohibit states from denying ex-felons the right to vote. \nRestore voting rights for current inmates unless they have deprived someone else of their right to vote.\nPrioritize all initiatives to expand and restore voting rights in the U.S. to the previously and currently incarcerated.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Automatic and Same-Day Voter Registration",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/automatic-voter-registration/",
"description": "All U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote, not just the ones who jump through the various hoops required by their state. The modernization of voter registration can help the 50 million eligible American voters who aren’t registered to become more easily involved. \nAutomatic voter registration utilizes existing government entities to gather reliable information about eligible citizens automatically registers them to vote. This system creates an infrastructure for increased accuracy of voting records and establishes an electronic system that is cheaper and easier to update. Not only does it make the voting process more convenient for voters, it has shown to increase voter registration rates by over 60%.\n\n Same-day registration is another form of modernized voter registration that enables eligible citizens to submit their ballots with more ease. 21 states have enacted same-day registration, which allows any qualified resident of the state to go to register to vote and cast a ballot all on the same day. States that have implemented this option have seen a 3% to 7% increase in voter turnout. \nIn order to improve voter participation, we have to ensure that we provide every eligible American access to a convenient and secure way to register to vote.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Voting is a right of citizenship that should be made as easy as possible."
],
"main_quote": "Why do we make it such a headache to register to vote? When you turn 18 you should be automatically enrolled. Other countries do this and, shocker, their voting rates are higher.",
"goals": [
"Automatically enroll all American citizens to vote when they hit the voting age"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Work with Congress to set automatic voter registration requirements for federal elections.\nRequire all federal elections to offer opportunities for same-day voter registration.\nProvide funding to states to update their voter enrollment systems to electronic ones, and to integrate with federal systems, as well as each other, to ensure up-to-date voter information and easy transfer of data.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Department of Technology",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/regulating-ai-emerging-technologies/",
"description": "Americans have seen the negative impact of technology on their lives. From automation that is displacing their jobs to smart phones that are causing unknown psychological issues for our children, Americans are worried about the future, and need to be able to trust the government to play a role in ensuring that we’re prosperous and innovative, but also safe. Technology can bring about new levels of prosperity, but it also holds the potential to disrupt our economies, ruin lives throughout several generations, and, if experts such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk are to be believed, destroy humanity.\nTechnology is advancing at a pace never before seen in human history, and even those developing it don’t fully understand how it works or what direction it’s taking. Recent advances in machine learning have shown that a computer, given certain directives, can learn tasks much faster than humans thought possible even a year ago.\n\n The level of technological fluency that members of our government has shown has created justified fears in the minds of Americans that the government isn’t equipped to create a regulatory system that’s designed to protect them. We’re heading into this new world with a regulatory system that’s designed for technology that’s much less sophisticated than what we’re facing in the near future.\nTechnological innovation shouldn’t be stopped, but it should be monitored and analyzed to make sure we don’t move past a point of no return. This will require cooperation between the government and private industry to ensure that developing technologies can continue to improve our lives without destroying them. We need a federal government department, with a cabinet-level secretary, that is in charge of leading technological regulation in the 21st century.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Technology is developing faster than government can analyze the impact and enforce regulations.",
"Even those developing technologies often have no idea what impact they have on humanity.",
"Human technical knowledge is quickly reaching the point where there are many existential threats that could develop without us fully understanding said threat."
],
"main_quote": "Artificial Intelligence and other new technologies have the potential to change our economy and society in unpredictable ways. Even techies don’t know what’s going to happen. We need to have government hand-in-hand with technologists to make sure that we fully understand the impact of AI and other innovations before they’re widely adopted in different settings—which means recruiting some of the smartest technologists to work in government and having government actively consulting with innovators.",
"goals": [
"Monitor the development of new technology",
"More quickly adapt to the changing technological landscape",
"Prevent technological threats to humanity from developing without oversight"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Create a new executive department – the Department of Technology – to work with private industry and Congressional leaders to monitor technological developments, assess risks, and create new guidance. The new Department would be based in Silicon Valley and would initially be focused on Artificial Intelligence. \nCreate a new Cabinet-level position of Secretary of Technology who will be tasked with leading the new Department. \nCreate a public-private partnership between leading tech firms and experts within government to identify emerging threats and suggest ways to mitigate those threats while maximizing the benefit of technological innovation to society.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "End Active Shooter Drills",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/end-active-shooter-drills/",
"description": "The likelihood of a public school student being killed by a gun in school is less than 1 in 614 million. Yet, 4.1 million students – 220,000 of which included children as young as 3 in preschool or kindergarten – participated in at least one lockdown in the 2017-2018 academic year. That’s more than the entire population of Maine, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Vermont combined. \nThis number of active shooter drills could be justified if studies showed that these drills have been psychologically beneficial in helping students, teachers, and parents feel safe and prepared for emergencies. Unfortunately, we are seeing they have the reverse effect. The active shooter drills themselves are causing a severe amount of trauma and anxiety to thousands of children. \nSome school districts are even going beyond a typical “drill,” firing blanks at students and using fake blood to intensify the effect. Other schools create mass hysteria and anxiety by conducting lockdown drills and informing the teachers involved that, “This is not a drill.” As a result, thousands of students are growing up sending goodbye texts to their parents or hearing the sound of gunshots in their school.\n\n This needs to stop. I’m a parent and I know we all want our children to feel and be safe in the classroom. But, there is no evidence that these active shooter drills proportionally help prepare students for an actual shooter.\nWe are terrorizing our children unnecessarily. The $3 billion being spent per year on school security and drills could be going towards hiring counselors, nurses, and teachers. And if preparation is necessary by administrators, then why include the kids? Today they are more burdened than ever, with 32% of teenagers having anxiety disorders and 22% suffering from mental disorders. \nWe need to consider new solutions and preventative measures, like teaching teachers, staff, and students to recognize and provide assistance to struggling and troubled classmates. We also need to strengthen our Gun Safety laws. We need to give our kids a chance to feel safe in school and teach them the right lessons.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"We are causing trauma to our children without making them significantly safer."
],
"main_quote": "My child’s school just announced its first shooter drill of the year, 1 of 4 required by the district per year. If one weighs the benefits of having millions of American children engage in active shooter drills vs. the anxiety, confusion, questioning, and lack of control being instilled in generations of American children, I would advocate not having the drills or at a minimum making them optional as determined by each community.",
"goals": [
"Stop traumatizing children",
"Teach the right lessons"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Work with the Department of Education and Public Schools system to examine our increased use of active shooter drills.\nAllow school districts and parents to determine whether drills are appropriate.\nInvest more resources into the public school system to foster a more positive environment while investing in mental health and counseling services.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Minimize Harm of Modern Tech on Our Children",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/minimize-harm-of-modern-tech-on-our-children/",
"description": "We are beginning to understand exactly how much of an adverse effect some of these new technologies are having on the well-being of society, especially on our children.\nThere are serious concerns about their effects on our kids’ brains, socio-emotional states, and cognitive and physical development at a time when 22% of young children, 60% of tweens, and 84% of teenagers currently use a smartphone and social media apps.\nWithout real accountability, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are ignoring the negative impact of their services on our children. As the father of two young boys, I worry about what this will mean for the generations growing up with these technologies. Our kids have access from infancy. They’re getting glued on apps and devices that are functioning as dopamine slot machines.\nI look back at my childhood and I remember riding a bike around the neighborhood, but now tablets, computers, and mobile devices have shifted the attention of youth. Today, more than half of children aged 8-12 have their own tablet and a quarter of them have their own smartphone. \nThe effects are worrying. There has been an unprecedented surge in depression, anxiety, and suicide, and a marked decrease in sociability. Teenagers are spending more time worrying about whether their online acquaintances like their recent post than spending time with their friends in person and developing social skills. The average teenager spends Friday nights at home, interacting with a machine, instead of out with friends.\n\n Even the content for children on these platforms isn’t subject to any rules and standards the way they are on TV. This lack of regulation means that our children are exposed to extreme and inappropriate content at younger and younger ages.\nIt’s also causing other risks to health. Studies have found adverse associations between screen time and sleep deprivation. Extended screen time has also been linked with obesity in children. The health of our kids, and potentially of generations after, are at risk. We must take action.\nThose who have worked within the industry describe the work they’ve done in stark terms. They say that the smartest minds of a generation are spending their time getting teenagers to click on ads and obsess over social media posts.\nIn short, many experts are worrying that the widespread adoption of a poorly understood technology has caused mental health and developmental problems for an entire generation. We can’t just accept that our kids aren’t all right—we need to do something about it.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Trillion dollar companies have purposefully designed addictive platforms without considering their effects on developing brains.",
"Our kids are spending hours every day on social media and becoming more tired, stressed out, and depressed because of it.",
"Smartphones are having an untold impact on our children that will affect them throughout their lifetimes.",
"There is little regulation or accountability on what type of content is being presented to our kids."
],
"main_quote": "Technology, smartphones, and tablets are ubiquitous. Our kids have access to them from infancy. They’re getting hooked, from a young age, on apps and platforms that function as dopamine slot machines, potentially destroying the psyches of a generation. It’s affecting our kids’ mental and physical health, contributing to obesity, sleep deprivation, posture issues, stunting social skills, and blurring the lines between real and virtual relationships. Smartphones are turning our kids into anxious zombies. Asking technology companies to regulate themselves is unfeasible - they will always want to maximize engagement regardless of social impact. It’s time to take action.",
"goals": [
"Help make social media platforms less harmful and addictive to our kids",
"Reverse the rising rates of teenage anxiety, depression, and suicide",
"Hold platforms accountable for the type of content they show to kids",
"Work to understand the impact of emerging technologies on human health and behavior",
"Find a way to promote responsible smartphone usage both within the industry and within the users"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Create a Department of the Attention Economy that focuses specifically on how to responsibly design and use smartphones, social media, gaming, and chat apps. It will include overall guidelines, as well as age-based ones.\nDirect the Department to investigate the regulation of certain companies and apps. Many of these companies essentially function as public utilities and news sources – we used to regulate broadcast networks, newspapers, and phone companies. We need to do the same with technology companies now that they are the primary way people both receive information and communicate with each other.\nProvide guidance (and regulation, if needed) on design features that maximize screen time for young people, like removing autoplay video for children under 16, removing the queues that allow infinite scrolling, capping the number of recommendations per day, reducing notification signs and “like” counts, and using artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine when children are using devices to cap screen hours per day.\nEstablish rules and standards around kid-targeted content to protect them from extreme or inappropriate content.\nIncentivize content production of high-quality and positive kids programming similar to broadcast TV.\nRequire platforms to provide guidance on kid-healthy content for parents, and provide incentives for companies that work to make user data of minors available to their parents.\nInclude classes on the responsible use of technology in public school curricula and teach children how to distinguish reliable from unreliable news sources online.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Fight the Spread of Hateful Ideas",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/fight-the-spread-of-hateful-ideas/",
"description": "The internet and social media have made it much easier to spread hateful ideas and ideologies. Dark corners of the web like 4chan and 8chan regularly see vile ideas shared and laughed at, and mass shooters frequently post their manifestos to these sites. They also see commentary that cheers the shooters along and encourages others to commit violence. Social media services also see violent videos shared, such as when the New Zealand mass murder was streamed on Facebook.\nThe government should work with social media companies to combat the spread of violent content online, especially that which depicts actual incidences of violence or call for specific acts of violence.\n\n Beyond this, we need to do more to get people out of their online bubbles and into local communities. We should investigate the impact of social media on our children and come up with guidelines on how much exposure is acceptable. All high school seniors should spend time traveling to a different part of the country to get exposed to different cultures.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"The reach and power of information technology has made it easy to find and promote acts of violence.",
"There is little regulation of social media content that shares and promotes acts of terror.",
"People, especially our children, spend more and more time on digital platforms instead of in our real-world communities."
],
"main_quote": "We need to be very careful not to infringe on the First Amendment rights of individuals as we work to minimize the spread of incitements to violence on social media channels and websites.",
"goals": [
"Limit the promotion of violence and terror online",
"Get ourselves and our children more involved with the offline world"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Work with social media and hosting companies to minimize the spread of incitements to violence, while respecting First Amendment rights.\nImplement the American Exchange Program to allow all high school students to experience different areas of the country and form friendships with a diverse group of Americans.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Improving Our Political Rhetoric",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/improving-our-political-rhetoric/",
"description": "The language that our leaders use matters. When our leaders use violent messaging, it increases the likelihood that their supporters will take violent action.\nWith modern communication channels, messages travel wide and fast. Trump may not specifically incite anyone to a violent act, but continually dehumanizing other people and using violent imagery and jokes will result in some people who have a preexisting tendency towards violence to take up arms and lash out.\n\n As the leader of the free world, Trump knows his messages carry great weight. He needs to reflect on what he’s doing and realize that what he says can cause these horrific acts to occur. It doesn’t seem that he’s capable of that level of self-reflection.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Politicians and pundits use hateful rhetoric that encourages violence, directly or indirectly."
],
"main_quote": "President Trump has been vilifying and scapegoating immigrants. He’s been running ads that call the situation at the southern border a migrant “invasion.” Telling people to go back where they came from, calling other countries “sh*tholes”, and joking about shooting migrants as they approach the border are all dehumanizing and incitements to violence.",
"goals": [
"Elevate political discourse to avoid the reckless demonization of immigrants and minority groups"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Be sure to never use dehumanizing language to describe anyone.\nCall out leaders on both sides of the aisle that stoke hate and fear, or use dehumanizing and hateful language against anyone.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Amend the Voting Rights Act",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/amend-the-voting-rights-act/",
"description": "The historic achievement of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965 made it possible for millions of Americans to vote for the first time, disabling a variety of discriminatory laws. Unfortunately, in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the Supreme Court overturned a single section of the VRA. The absence of this section reduced federal oversight, allowing 846 jurisdictions to change their state voting laws and close or move local polling places in a discriminatory way. Poll closures make it challenging for low-income voters to cast their ballots.\n\n We first need to amend the Voting Rights Act Section 4(b) to require states to receive permission from the Department of Justice before changing certain voting laws, and then I would direct the Department of Justice to bring suits against restrictive laws.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"State governments are purposefully closing polling stations to suppress votes.",
"The federal government has lapsed in its oversight to protect voting rights."
],
"main_quote": "We all know about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s marches in Washington D.C. and Selma, Alabama during the civil rights movement, and we all learn about the suffragettes and the 19th Amendment in school. Yet, today in the 21st century, voter access remains a challenge in our democracy. Because, while all Americans have the right to vote, the reality is that many are consistently prevented from doing so. This must change.",
"goals": [
"Ensure every voter has to a polling station close to their home or work",
"Restore federal oversight of elections in states that historically discriminated against and suppress voters"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Work with Congress to amend the Voting Rights Act to require states to receive permission from the Department of Justice before changing certain voting laws or polling locations.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Prohibit Voter ID Laws",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/prohibit-voter-id-laws/",
"description": "Strict voter identification requirements across the country are depriving many voters of their right to vote. Of course, the lawmakers who write these laws and voters who use their identification in their everyday lives don’t think this is a big deal. However, low-income households, the elderly, transgender individuals, minorities, and people with disabilities (PWD) are more likely to be disenfranchised by these laws because they are more likely to experience difficulty obtaining the underlying documents necessary. 3.6% of registered white voters lacked proper ID, compared to 7.5% of black registrants. The transgender community is disproportionately affected by these laws. 57% (approximately 78,000) of transgender people may not have identification or documentation that accurately reflects their gender, making them ineligible to vote.\nProcesses to change names or gender markers on identification can be expensive, difficult, and vary from state to state. For individuals who do not have traditional identification like a driver’s license or passport, states are legally required to provide a process for them to obtain some form of voter ID. However, states can purposely make it difficult to obtain voter ID by severely limiting the days that their ID offices are open. The most extreme example includes a location in Sauk County, Wisconsin where the office is only open on the fifth Wednesday of every month (which equates to four days of the entire year).\n\n Nationally, 25% of African-American voting-age citizens lack a government-issued photo ID, compared to 8% of White voting-age citizens. The income gap plays major role in explaining this difference. Obtaining a government issued ID can easily cost $75 to $175 in transport fees, waiting times, and paying for supporting papers like birth certificates, which are not as easily accessible to minority communities living in poverty. When states enact voter ID laws, their turnout decreases by 2-3% and primarily affects ages 18-23, new voters, and African-American voters. \nMore than three-quarters of older voters between the ages of 65 and 74 are registered to vote, and more than 60% of those aged 85 and above cast a ballot in the 2016 election. Despite large voter turnout of the elderly population, who take their civic duty seriously, stringent identification laws are making it more and more difficult for them to participate in the voting process. Whether that means finding transportation to renew their expired driver’s license or scrambling to find a birth certificate that was issued 80 years ago, older voters are also becoming targets of disenfranchisement. \nIdentification problems should not bar Americans from voting. We must remove discriminatory voter ID laws that deny thousands of otherwise eligible citizens the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Voter ID laws prevent eligible voters from exercising their rights but do nothing to make our elections safer."
],
"main_quote": "Voter suppression policies like voter ID laws, voter roll purges, limited polling locations, and onerous signature matching requirements are typically justified as a way to combat voter fraud. Here’s the problem: voter fraud is practically nonexistent. An American is more likely to get struck by lightning than commit voter fraud. 99.9% of “voter fraud” cases investigated turn out to be administrative or clerical errors.",
"goals": [
"Raise voter turnout",
"Ensure that Americans who don’t have access to photo ID’s are still able to exercise their democratic rights"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Through the Voting Rights Act, require states to get permission from the Department of Justice (DOJ) before implementing any voter ID laws.\nDirect the DOJ to prohibit all voter ID laws that disenfranchise underrepresented communities.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Early Voting and Vote by Mail",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/early-voting-and-vote-by-mail/",
"description": "Many Americans are taking time off from work to vote, only to experience absurd lines, understaffed polling stations, and hassles with voter ID requirements. Mail-in ballots and early voting not only help the working-class American, but also those who are unable to make it to a polling station, including but not limited to the ill, physically disabled, or those working poll stations. \nTwo-thirds of states now offer some form of early voting, giving Americans the ability to cast their ballots at less crowded polling stations and with reduced wait times. This provides significant relief to poll workers and increases voter turnout, especially of underrepresented populations. \nThirty states have enacted no-excuse absentee voting, which allows citizens to submit their votes by mail at designated polling locations. This allows states to save millions of dollars because they don’t need to establish polling places or pay polling staff, and it increases voter turnout of younger, older, poorer, and minority voters.\n\n Unfortunately, onerous matching requirements of names or signatures have led to the rejection of thousands of legitimate votes. Legal, financial, and societal barriers do not always make legal name changes easy. These requirements create barriers to people with disabilities, women who have married or divorced, and transgender people. In Florida, over 5,000 vote by mail ballots were rejected for signature requirements. In Georgia’s gubernatorial race, hundreds of absentee ballots were rejected without first giving voters a chance to fix the problem because of suspected signature mismatches. Young voters are also more likely to have their mail-in ballots rejected because they did not use their handwriting enough to develop a steady signature.\nEarly voting and mail-in ballots contribute to the convenience and participation of citizens in the democratic process. We need to extend these opportunities to all Americans and do away with restrictions, like name and signature matching requirements, that work against it.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Working Americans are forced to take time off to vote.",
"Polling stations are often crowded and have long lines.",
"Thousands of valid votes are thrown out due to onerous signature matching requirements."
],
"main_quote": "It is the government’s job to do everything in its power to expand the electorate and foster participation in the democratic process.",
"goals": [
"Give every voter the option to vote by mail",
"Reduce crowding at polling stations",
"Ensure all valid votes are counted"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Implement a federal law that requires all states to integrate voting by early voting and mail-in ballots to their voting process.\nRequire states to eliminate onerous name and signature matching requirements that lead to the rejection of legitimate votes without giving voters the opportunity to fix these issues.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Native American Voting Rights and Polling Locations",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/native-american-voting-rights-and-polling-locations/",
"description": "For decades, our voting system has disenfranchised and discriminated against Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Restrictive laws that require traditional street addresses and voter ID laws that do not accept tribal identification make voting registration difficult for Native Americans. Limited polling sites and resources require that Native Americans travel great distances to vote, sometimes up to 150 miles.\nThe federal government can do much more to establish greater support for Native American voting rights. As part of establishing laws to combat voter suppression tactics like voter ID laws and limited polling locations, we need to pass legislation like the Native American Voting Rights Act that carves out specific provisions that address Native American and Alaska Native voting issues. These specifics need to include requiring polling stations to be located near tribal reservations, states to accept tribal ID cards for voting purposes, and alternative address options for those who reside on tribal reservations.\n\n Native Americans aren’t the only population impacted by a lack of polling stations. Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act, polling stations have been vanishing, especially in locations with high populations of minorities. In a city in Alabama, council members eliminated 60% of the polling locations within the nearby African American district, but left open 100% of the polls in the white-majority districts. Fewer polling stations substantially decreases voter turnout, and drastically increases long lines at the polling stations. In addition, last-minute changes to polling stations force voters to figure out where their new polling stations are and rearrange their transportation plans or schedules accordingly. These abrupt changes limit access to polling stations and deter Americans from showing up.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Native Americans and other minority communities often don’t have polling locations nearby.",
"Some state legislatures actively seek to suppress minority voters by closing their polling stations."
],
"main_quote": "To preserve our national values and ensure our government functions properly, we must fight to guarantee that every American has not only the right to vote, but the resources to exercise those rights.",
"goals": [
"Ensure no American has to travel great distances to exercise their democratic rights",
"End voter suppression around minority communities"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Support passage of the Native American Voting Rights Act to extend greater federal support for Native American and Alaska Native voters.\nRequire polling stations to be located within 20 miles of tribal reservations.\nRequire states to provide address registration alternatives for tribal reservation residents. \nLimit last minute changes of polling stations to only situations of true exigent circumstances.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Voting for People with Disabilities (PWD)",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/voting-for-people-with-disabilities-pwd/",
"description": "People with disabilities face basic physical barriers in accessibility to the polls. Simple barriers like stairs can make it so that many voting-eligible people can’t make it to the polls. In the actual voting booth, a lack of assistive technology can make it impossible for some PWD to accurately cast their ballot. Implementing advanced technology would make the voting process more efficient and accessible to people with disabilities.\n\n All polling locations need to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and should be vetted for accessibility issues before each election. Vote by mail initiatives can also play a huge role in ensuring PWD have access to casting their vote.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"People with disabilities face disenfranchising obstacles at polling stations and in voting booths."
],
"main_quote": "America is the leader of the free world, and our elections should reflect that. If we want a truly representative democracy, we need true access to the ballot box.",
"goals": [
"Ensure every American with a disability has not only the right to vote, but the resources to do so"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Provide states with the funds necessary to ensure that all polling locations and voting methods are accessible to PWD. \nEnsure that vote by mail programs specifically target PWD voters.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
},
{
"title": "Election Security",
"url": "https://www.yang2020.com/policies/election-security/",
"description": "Like the rest of America’s infrastructure, voting is chronically underfunded. This leaves our democracy open to attack. My administration will fund the development and rollout of new, more secure machines that aren’t open to attack.\nThis threat is not hypothetical. In the recent past, internet-connected machines have been hacked and used to print out fraudulent ballots. Additionally, Russia was able to hack into voter databases in across the US. Ballot security is national security, and we must ensure that Russia and others who wish to do us harm do not have an open door into the machinery of democracy. To prevent successful attacks, new machines should be disconnected from the internet.\nBeyond removing our machines from the internet, we will build a system in which every vote leaves a paper trail. Paper backups are critical in cases of hardware failure and guarantee that a vote won’t be lost on account of a software bug. Additionally, paper provides a record of the vote that can’t be hacked or easily altered. Optical scanners that read paper ballots and store them electronically are a great way to combine the security of paper with the ease of technology.\nNo matter how safe and effective voting machines are, they won’t have any effect unless voters have access to them. Voting security cannot only be practiced by the federal government, it must happen at every level. To connect voters with secure, well-maintained machines and functioning polling stations, the federal government must give states the resources they need to procure and install this technology at every voting station. We must also fund more post-election audits to detect any attempts to interfere in the democratic process.\n\n Despite the $380 million round of grants given to states last year by the federal Elections Assistance Commission, states need much more to cover all the costs that voting security demands. For example, to replace all electronic paperless voting machines in Pennsylvania, it is estimated they will need $50.4 to $79.1 million statewide, far more than the $13.5 million provided by Congress. My administration will make it clear in Pennsylvania and every other state that money isn’t an obstacle to a secure democracy.\nSafe elections require more than responsible machines, they require responsible humans. My administration will work with states and voting staff to guarantee they are trained in best cybersecurity practices, including threat detection and reporting. By bringing together the best that humans and technology have to offer, we can ensure every American has access to a secure ballot box.\nAs we focus on the elections of today, we must not fail to prepare for those of tomorrow. The threat of cyber attacks is always growing and evolving, so we must keep up to date on every development to maintain secure election infrastructure.\nLooking to the future of voting, we must consider what options we have to make voting more secure and accessible. My administration will research developments in e-voting, including mobile voting. If this technology proves truly secure and viable, its use would dramatically boost voter and reduce the costs of local, state and national elections. We will also invest in the cyber security apparatus as a whole to not only keep our voting infrastructure safe, but also defend our power grid, defense sector, and government from hackers.",
"problems_to_be_solved": [
"Our voting system is vulnerable to hackers and software failure.",
"Americans no longer trust the security of our democracy.",
"States don’t have the resources to protect their elections."
],
"main_quote": "Our citizens must be able to cast their votes without fear that they will be compromised by foreign hackers or lost by bad software. We must recognize that the greatest opportunity to prevent voter misrepresentation lies in updating outdated infrastructure. By freeing states from reliance on decades-old machines that were phased out in other states for poor security and clumsy user interface, we can build a safer, easier voting process.",
"goals": [
"Protect our democracy from cyber attacks",
"Restore Americans’ faith in the democratic process",
"Make elections in every state reliable and secure"
],
"as_president": "As President, I will...\n\n Increase federal funding toward ballot box security so voting machines cannot be hacked and have a paper trail for mandatory audits.\nIncrease federal funding so all states have the money they need for secure voting machines, maintenance, and staffing polling locations.\nInvest in cybersecurity research for the future.\nResearch modern e-voting practices that guarantee security.",
"excerpt": null,
"citations": []
}
]