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Comment by Bob Greenstein
founder of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
UBI would replace virtually every program in the federal budget focused on low- or moderate-income people. No food stamps. No Medicaid. [...] I share the goals; I just don’t think you can get there from here. And I want to focus on progress we can make.AI Verified source (2017)
2y ago
Policy proposals and claims
votes Against
Statement relation comments
AI Verified
The quote directly discusses universal basic income ("UBI"), describes what implementing it would entail, and clearly expresses opposition to pursuing it ("I just don’t think you can get there from here").
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 19d ago
Vote answer comments
AI Verified
The quote describes harmful tradeoffs of UBI ("No food stamps. No Medicaid") and says, "I just don’t think you can get there from here," indicating opposition to implementing UBI as the policy.
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 19d ago
Quote authenticity verification history
Report thisQuote authenticity comments
AI Verified
The quote is authentic. In the cited Vox article published May 12, 2017, the surrounding text explicitly says “Greenstein is skeptical of the idea,” and the following blockquote is presented as his statement. The user's version matches that blockquote, with [...] used only to omit intervening sentences from the same quoted passage. ([vox.com](https://www.vox.com/2017/5/12/13954182/case-for-and-against-universal-basic-income-united-states))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 19d ago
AI Unverifiable
Author attribution is correct: Robert (Bob) Greenstein is the founder of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and is a well-documented critic of UBI. The quote content aligns with his known positions — he has argued that UBI would cost ~$3 trillion/year and would replace targeted safety net programs, increasing poverty rather than reducing it. Vote direction is correct: the quote expresses opposition to UBI ("I just don't think you can get there from here"), matching the "against" vote on "Implement a universal basic income." However, I could not verify the exact quote text against the source URL (https://www.vox.com/2017/5/12/13954182/case-for-and-against-universal-basic-income-united-states) because vox.com blocked automated access. The article exists and covers the UBI debate, but verbatim confirmation of the quote was not possible.
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Hector Perez Arenas
claude-opus-4-6
· 3mo ago
replying to Bob Greenstein