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Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes said Thursday the federal government could give U.S. workers a stipend of $500 per month by repealing the tax cuts passed late last year.
Hughes, author of “Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn” and an advocate for a basic income, argued that less than a third of Americans have reaped the benefits of President Donald Trump‘s tax cuts.
“Everybody else, they’re making the same amount that they made in 1978,” Hughes said in a “Squawk Box” interview. Meanwhile, the cost of living, including health care, housing and education has risen, he added.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, introduced on Thursday the Lift the Middle Class Act, which would provide monthly payments of up to $500 per month to lower-income families, on top of the benefits they already receive. She proposed repealing the Trump cuts to pay for it.
Hughes said he expects the plan would give a much needed boost to American workers, rebalance the economy, and create further growth. “If we invested in the American people, we would see economic growth.”
Hughes, a Harvard dormmate of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, was the early spokesperson for the social network. Hughes also worked on the products team. Unlike Zuckerberg, Hughes did not drop out of Harvard and got his degree in 2006.
Hughes left Silicon Valley shortly after to help organize online efforts for Barack Obama‘s 2008 presidential campaign. He was also formerly the publisher of The New Republic, a liberal media outlet whose journalism aims to debate and take a stand on the issues of the day.
In the CNBC interview, Hughes called his success at the social network a “lucky break,” adding it would be difficult for many other Americans to make the money he made in three years time. “My story tricks people.”