美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正向30个州近100万名美国人寄送500美元支票。专家告诉《商业内幕》，他可能是想争取选票、影射前任，并表明一种意识形态立场。白宫表示，该计划是在向《平价医疗法案》的参保者退还“奥巴马时期多收的费用”。此前，拜登政府向保险公司收取了超额的“用户费”，保险公司又以提高保险费的形式将这些费用转嫁给了消费者。
President Donald Trump is mailing $500 checks to nearly 1 million Americans across 30 states. He may be trying to attract votes, jab at his predecessor, and make an ideological point, experts told Business Insider. The White House says the program is returning "Obama overcharges" to enrollees in the Affordable Care Act, after the Biden administration collected surplus "user fees" from insurers who passed those on to people in the form of higher insurance premiums.
特朗普在一封信中表示：“我很高兴把钱退还给你们。我将永远不会停止奋斗，让美国人民成为第一优先，恢复医疗可负担性，保护你们辛苦赚来的钱，并降低医疗保健成本。”本周，这封信也将与500美元支票一并寄给收件人。政府向超过95万名本国公民发放现金，看起来或许有些类似于全民基本收入。但乔治城大学卡塔尔校区哲学教授、著有多本全民基本收入相关书籍的卡尔·维德奎斯特表示，这些支票与全民基本收入“关系不大”，因为它们只发给部分参保者，而且被“理由化为退还多缴款项”。
"I am proud to return your money to you, and I will never stop fighting to put the American People FIRST, restore Affordability, protect your hard-earned money, and lower the Cost of Healthcare," Trump said in a letter that's also being mailed to recipients of the $500 checks this week. The government making cash payments to more than 950,000 of its citizens might seem similar to a universal basic income. But Karl Widerquist, a philosophy professor at Georgetown University-Qatar and the author of several books about UBI, said the checks have "very little relation to UBI," as they're only for select enrollees, and are being "justified as a return of an overpayment."
不过，他说，“向100万人统一支付一笔钱，而不考虑他们究竟多缴了多少，就使得纠正多收费这一动机显得可疑。”剑桥大学教授、伦理学专家托马斯·鲁莱表示，该计划似乎是在“挖苦”拜登政府的政策。鲁莱补充称，这项倡议似乎建立在自由意志主义理念之上，即“公民比政府更懂得如何花自己的钱”，而“小政府是好事”；特朗普是在表明，这项举措意味着把资源归还给公民。
But he said a "uniform payment to a million people, without regard to how much they might have overpaid, makes the motivation to rectify overpayments questionable." Thomas Roulet, a Cambridge University professor and ethics expert, said the program appeared to be "taking a dig" at the Biden administration's policies. Roulet added that the initiative seemed to be underpinned by libertarian ideology; that "citizens know better how to spend their money than government does," and that a "small state is good and Trump is making the point that this conveys a return of resources to citizens."
11月，美国人将走进投票站，决定共和党是继续控制众议院和参议院，还是将两院控制权拱手让给民主党。特朗普将这笔500美元款项包装成向美国人伸出援手，而许多美国人的经济压力正日益加剧。
Americans will head to the voting booths in November to decide whether Republicans will retain control of the House and Senate, or cede them to Democrats. Trump has framed the $500 payment as a helping hand to Americans, many of whom are being pinched financially.
美伊冲突导致能源价格上涨，与此同时，国债收益率的持续攀升也推高了信用卡、汽车贷款、房贷等各类信贷产品的利率。自去年年底以来，许多家庭的医疗保险费用也大幅上涨——当时共和党人阻止了民主党延长原本能降低保费的补贴政策。今年9月，这位美国总统提出：如果共和党能继续掌控国会两院，每位美国民众都将获得5000美元的“特朗普红利”。
The US-Iran conflict has driven up energy prices, while soaring Treasury bond yields are pushing up interest rates on credit cards, car loans, mortgages, and other forms of debt. Health insurance premiums have also spiked for many households since the end of last year, when Republicans stopped Democrats from extending subsidies that had lowered premiums. In September, the US leader floated a $5,000 "Trump Dividend" for every American if Republicans keep control of both chambers of Congress.
维德奎斯特指出：“承诺发放5000美元的做法其实更接近于普遍基本收入，但其中也存在不少可疑之处。”他质疑道，如果特朗普是真心想推行这一政策，为何不在目前共和党掌控两院的情况下立即立法实施呢？“以目前的情况来看，共和党几乎肯定能获得足够的民主党支持来打破议事阻挠，从而在圣诞节前向民众发放这笔款项，”他说道，“显然，除非能从中谋取利益，否则这位总统并不愿意给美国民众发钱。”
"The promise to pay $5,000 is much more like a UBI, but it also has several aspects that make it suspicious," Widerquist said. He questioned why Trump wouldn't introduce the legislation now, while Republicans control both houses of Congress, if he was serious about it. "Republicans could almost certainly get enough Democratic support to overcome a filibuster and get checks to people before Christmas," he said. "Apparently, the President doesn't want to give checks to Americans unless Donald Trump gets something out of it."