As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the United States, Americans are preparing to spend a lot more time at home.
Cities across the country have taken drastic steps to limit exposure to the highly contagious virus, including shutting down restaurants, cancelling crowded events, and closing schools.
The economic impact of these closures threatens to hurt the livelihood of millions of Americans—especially servers and other hourly workers, many of whom don't have paid sick leave.
Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) is proposing a radical measure to offset this negative impact: giving one thousand dollars to every American adult.
The idea was one of a few possible solutions Romney proposed to his colleagues as he urged them to take up the House's emergency coronavirus package.
The proposal says:
"Every American adult should immediately receive $1,000 to help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy."
Romney said of the effort:
"We also urgently need to build on this legislation with additional action to help families and small businesses meet their short-term financial obligations, ease the financial burden on students entering the workforce, and protect health workers on the front lines and their patients by improving telehealth services."
The idea represents a sharp diversion from the traditional Republican platform, and some were surprised to see Romney propose it.
The idea sounded familiar to some who compared it to former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's platform of giving every American adult $1,000 a month for life.
Some insist that a universal basic income is what this country needs.
What an interesting timeline we find ourselves in.
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