Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2016/Federal assistance programs

Jill Stein announced her presidential run on June 22, 2015.

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.
The overview of the issue below was current as of the 2016 election.
Social Security is said to touch the lives of more Americans than any other federal program. At the end of 2014, 59 million individuals were receiving benefits and 166 million were paying into the system by way of payroll taxes. The ratio of workers to beneficiaries has declined over time and reduced the amount of excess funds earning interest. This ratio is not predicted to increase in the near term, particularly as more baby boomers retire. Under the present system, today's Social Security taxes pay the benefits of today's retirees. For these and other reasons, the system is unsustainable over the long term. The 2016 presidential candidates offered policy solutions and plans that could benefit workers and future retirees and address the system's financial outlook should the next president take action.

See below what Jill Stein and the Green Party Platform said about federal assistance programs.

CANDIDATE SUMMARY

Stein called for establishing a "Medicare for All" system with quality care at a low cost.

She supported effective anti-poverty programs that preserve dignity.

Stein supported creating ample public housing with affordable utilities.

Stein on federal assistance programs

• On her 2016 presidential campaign website, Jill Stein's Power to the People plan included a proposal to end poverty: "Guarantee economic human rights, including access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs to ensure every American a life of dignity." Stein also proposed making healthcare a right. Her plan called for establishing an "improved 'Medicare For All' single-payer public health insurance program to provide everyone with quality health care, at huge savings."

• On her 2012 presidential campaign website, Jill Stein supported expanding "rental and home ownership assistance and create ample public housing" and guaranteeing "the right to accessible and affordable utilities – heat, electricity, phone, internet, and public transportation – through democratically run, publicly owned utilities that operate at cost, not for profit." She also rejected cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
• Read what other presidential candidates said about federal assistance programs.

The 2016 Green Party Platform on federal assistance programs

“ C. Economic Justice / Social Safety Net The passage of the 1996 Welfare Act by Congress and its signing by the President confronts us with hard choices. Democrats and Republicans seem to be saying the country cannot afford to care for children and poor mothers. In ending over fifty years of federal policy guaranteeing cash assistance for poor children, Congress has set in motion a radical experiment that will have a profound impact on the lives of the weakest members of our society. How will state, city and county governments, local communities, businesses and religious institutions — all of us — respond? We have a special responsibility to the health and wellbeing of the young. Yet we see the federal safety net being removed and replaced with limited and potentially harsh state welfare programs. How will social services be adequately provided if local resources are already stretched thin? We believe our community priorities must first protect the young and helpless. Yet how will state legislatures and agencies, under pressure from more powerful interests, react? We believe local decision-making is important, but we realize, as we learned during the civil rights era, that strict federal standards must guide state actions in providing basic protections. As the richest nation in history, we should not condemn millions of children to a life of poverty, while corporate welfare is increased to historic highs. The Green Party opposes the privatization of Social Security. It is critical that the public protections of Social Security are not privatized and subjected to increased risk. The bottom 20% of American senior citizens get roughly 80% of their income from Social Security, and without Social Security, nearly 70% of black elderly and 60% of Latino elderly households would be in poverty. D. Welfare: A Commitment to Ending Poverty An unjust society is an unsustainable society. When communities are stressed by poverty, violence and despair, our ability to meet the challenges of the post industrial age are critically impaired. A holistic, future-focused perspective on how we distribute resources in this country would consider the effects of such distribution not just on our present needs, but on the seventh generation to come. It is time for a radical shift in our attitude toward support for families, children, the poor and the disabled. Such support must not be given grudgingly; it is the right of those presently in need and an investment in our future. We must take an uncompromising position that the care and nurture of children, elders and the disabled are essential to a healthy, peaceful, and sustainable society. We should recognize that the work of their caregivers is of social and economic value, and reward it accordingly. Ensuring that children and their caregivers have access to an adequate, secure standard of living should form the cornerstone of our economic priorities. Only then can we hope to build our future on a foundation of healthy, educated children who are raised in an atmosphere of love and security. a. All people have a right to food, housing, medical care, jobs that pay a living wage, education, and support in times of hardship. b. Work performed outside the monetary system has inherent social and economic value, and is essential to a healthy, sustainable economy and peaceful communities. Such work includes: child and elder care; homemaking; voluntary community service; continuing education; participating in government; and the arts. c. We call for restoration of a federally funded entitlement program to support children, families, the unemployed, elderly and disabled, with no time limit on benefits. d. This program should be funded through the existing welfare budget, reductions in military spending and corporate subsidies, and a fair, progressive income tax. e. We call for a graduated supplemental income, or negative income tax, that would maintain all individual adult incomes above the poverty level, regardless of employment or marital status. f. We advocate reinvesting a significant portion of the military budget into family support, living-wage job development, and work training programs. Publicly funded work training and education programs should have a goal of increasing employment options at finding living-wage jobs. g. We support public funding for the development of living-wage jobs in community and environmental service. For example, environmental clean-up, recycling, sustainable agriculture and food production, sustainable forest management, repair and maintenance of public facilities, neighborhood-based public safety, aides in schools, libraries and childcare centers, and construction and renovation of energy-efficient housing. We oppose enterprise zone giveaways, which benefit corporations more than inner-city communities. h. The accumulation of individual wealth in the U.S. has reached grossly unbalanced proportions. It is clear that we cannot rely on the rich to regulate their profit-making excesses for the good of society through "trickle-down economics." We must take aggressive steps to restore a fair distribution of income. We support tax incentives for businesses that apply fair employee wage distribution standards, and income tax policies that restrict the accumulation of excessive individual wealth. i. Forcing welfare recipients to accept jobs that pay wages below a living wage drives wages down and exploits workers for private profit at public expense. We reject workfare as being a form of indentured servitude. j. Corporations receiving public subsidies must provide jobs that pay a living wage, observe basic workers' rights, and agree to affirmative action policies. ” —2016 Green Party Platform

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See also

• Jill Stein
• Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2016