Richard Nixon unsuccessfully tried to pass a version of Milton Friedman’s plan, and his Democratic opponent in the 1972 presidential election, George McGovern, also suggested a guaranteed annual income. Milton’s basic guaranteed income proposal was well thought out and substantially different than simply the welfare state. Our welfare system has seriously alter human behavior. It has paid people not to work and paid others per child creating incentives to have children to gain more money. The welfare system has done much to alter human behavior and destroyed the family structure.

Milton’s proposal was to flip the process to create incentives rather than destroy them. It is ironic that the one president who tried to implement this plan was taken down by the Watergate Scandal. The proposal passed Congress and the Democrats stopped in in the Senate under the pretense they wanted more money.

Another important aspect of this Friedman proposal was that there were no string attached. The government did not attempt to tell people what they could buy or do with the money. Whenever government get involved, the typically screw things up pretty good. Driving to work I see signs offering cash for diabetes materials people get from government on welfare. Others would sell the food stamps. When you just hand people things, they will alter behavior to get them if if they do not need them. Milton’s proposal eliminated the government red tape yet instilled the spirit to raise oneself up out of poverty. This type of system made sense.