Whether you are a democrat, republican, independent, or none of the above, you have a right to be INFORMED and a responsibility to make your voice heard! Last week I sat down one-on-one with Donald Trump Jr. and had an intense and spirited conversation about the Trump campaign and the future of America if Trump were to win the 2020 election. THIS WEEK I’m sitting down with former presidential candidate, lawyer, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang to get his perspective on the future of American under the Biden/Harris campaign. I SAID IT BEFORE, AND I’LL SAY IT AGAIN… I’M NOT POLITICAL. I HAVE NO AGENDA. MY JOB IN BOTH INTERVIEWS IS TO ASK HARD QUESTIONS! I ASK DIFFICULT QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN (and his track record). AND LAST WEEK I DID DO THE SAME ABOUT TRUMP! This interview and the last one may be difficult to watch or listen to if you already have strong opinions about these things, but REMEMBER THIS… We cannot GROW as individuals if we are unwilling to do things that make us uncomfortable, push our boundaries, and expand our minds. Living life in your bubble breeds division, lack of compassion, and hate. The truth becomes a one-sided conversation. And therefore, it’s no truth at all! I encourage you to watch BOTH interviews. Take advantage of this UNFILTERED information, and use it so YOU can be fully equipped to VOTE based on the FACTS and make the BEST decision not just for you but for your family and the United States. From Joe Biden’s cognitive state, the economy, and tax reform to the debate on immigration and the handling of COVID-19, this interview gets REAL, remains HONEST, and DELIVERS the facts. Oh, and it contains a detailed and DEEP conversation about Andrew’s proposal for “Guaranteed Minimum Income” for all Americans. This part is going to get everybody in the country talking and thinking about it, whether they are on the left or the right.

Who Is Andrew Yang?

Andrew Yang was one of the Democratic Presidential candidates in the election this year. Ultimately he had to drop out of the race, but he definitely gave Joe Biden and Kamala Harris a run for their money! I don’t agree with Andrew on everything, but I respect his positive attitude and reasonableness in a discussion. Andrew Yang didn’t set out to be a politician. Before he ran for president, he was an incredibly successful entrepreneur. He’s a passionate job-creator, and he wholeheartedly believes in the American people’s power to create and run a stronger economy than the one we have today. Among his many business pursuits, Andrew founded Venture for America to help Americans create and find jobs in the United States and rejuvenate the national economy after the housing crisis and 2008 recession. By 2017, the VFA had trained over 500 Fellows who launched businesses and created thousands of jobs across the country. The Obama administration even named Andrew a Champion of Change in 2012 and a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship in 2015. But that wasn’t enough for Andrew. He went on to lobby in Congress in favor of his campaign’s most significant element: The Freedom Dividend: $1,000 a month for every American. Essentially, Andrew’s goal was to tax multi-billion dollar companies and redistribute the money to Americans in order to stimulate the economy and incentivize people to make better lives for themselves. It’s an interesting plan, and we get into the details of it in our interview! Whatever you think of his politics, there’s no denying that Andrew is a good guy. He’s respectful, reasonable, and knowledgeable, and I enjoyed our conversation today. Let’s get into it!

COVID-19 and Leadership: How Would the Biden Administration Move Us Forward?

Probably the most pressing issue on everyone’s minds right now is the current pandemic. Whether you love Trump or hate him, I’m sure you have an opinion on how he and his administration have handled the situation on a national level. In our interview, Andrew and I dove straight in with this question: Why would Biden, Harris, and the Democratic party create a better environment for people to #MAXOUT their lives?

“We’re in a deep, dark hole right now that has been brought about by this pandemic, Ed. And to me, it’s crystal clear that Joe and Kamala will be better suited to try to use the government’s resources to help us … dig out of this hole. … You have to ask yourself, ‘Is current leadership going to lead us in a different, better direction or in a similar direction to where we’re heading right now? To me, we need to head in a different direction.” - Andrew Yang

Andrew has full confidence in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He believes they will be able to create new economic legislation and policy that people on both sides of the aisle will be able to agree to. He has confidence that they’ll be able to help the 11 million Americans who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. Now for those who are concerned about Joe Biden and wondering about his cognitive function, Andrew Yang has full confidence there, too:

“I talked to him before [the debates], after [the debates]. I’ve been around him dozens of times. I’ve had an informal half an hour-long conversation because we’re both waiting to go onstage. … He has never evinced to me any sign of fatigue or wear. … And to me, it’s actually a mistake for his opponent, Trump, to rely upon this narrative because Joe just keeps demonstrating that he’s strong and capable in different settings.” - Andrew Yang

As far as any concerns about Biden’s cognitive abilities go, I’m going to take Andrew at his word. He’s been around Biden and actually interacted with him, and I haven’t, so I’m going to trust his opinion.

Immigration Policy: A Perspective from the Son of Immigrants

I was especially excited to talk to Andrew about his take on immigration right now because he’s the son of immigrants. Andrew’s parents immigrated to the United States from Taiwan, so while Andrew was born and raised here, he has a unique perspective on the issue that not everyone has access to.

“I’m the son of immigrants myself. So I’m of the opinion that immigrants start a lot of businesses [and] do a lot of great things in technology.” - Andrew Yang

Most of Andrew’s perspective is as simple as that — Immigrants bring a lot of value to the United States. One of the things that frustrates me the most is how often we demonize immigrants. Even though many of them bring economic value and contribute to American society, we hear a lot about how immigrants are causing increased crime rates. I don’t love hearing that they’re all criminals, rapists, and murderers all the time — I think we’ve got to come up with a way to approach immigration policy without suppressing wages at the bottom part of the country and treating people like they’re criminals. This is where my conversation with Andrew got interesting. We didn’t talk very much about the specifics of any party’s immigration plans, but he did say something that I think gets at the problem at the center of our political system.

“I was reading about how there was a principled approach to immigration that died, and it died because of politics. One of the things that’s holding us back right now is that there are better politics around leaving the problem unsolved than in solving them in many of these circumstances. And that’s what’s killing us.” - Andrew Yang

At this point in the conversation, my mind was blown. Andrew just said something that was almost verbatim what Donald Trump Jr. said in my interview with him last week. Trump Jr. said, “It’s much easier to campaign on a problem than it is to solve it because once you solve it, you can’t run against it.” I’m fascinated by the fact that these two guys on opposite sides of the political aisle can have such a similar perspective. The truth is, whatever your views on immigration or any other political issue, what we need is to get to a point where we’re not campaigning problems. Our political system is driven by loud, angry words, and negative posts that get lots of clicks on social media. But if we, the American people, can start expecting real solutions from our leaders, I think we can shift the political system to where we can begin solving very real problems.

Andrew’s Platform: The Freedom Dividend

I mentioned Andrew’s big campaign point — the social program he’s calling “the Freedom Dividend,” but it’s such a big idea that I wanted to make sure we talked about it in more detail. It’s definitely a significant change that I think is going to get everybody talking, so I wanted to make sure I gave you the opportunity to hear the FACTS about what this policy is.

“My Freedom Dividend is a universal, basic income, and I was campaigning on $1000 a month for every American adult. … To me, this pandemic has unfortunately brought to the foreground the need for getting people resources in a time when I thought we were going to be automating away millions of jobs. … It turns out that now a lot of those jobs have been shut down by the pandemic. … So to me, a version of basic income was inevitable based upon technological advances.” - Andrew Yang

Essentially, Andrew believes that one of our biggest economic problems is that everyone starts at zero. We all start with no income and have to earn a living in a world where millions of jobs are being automated. He predicted that many Americans would be out of work in the next few years as companies started using robots to do more things, and then, of course, the pandemic put a lot of Americans out of work all at once. He wants to make sure that all Americans start with a base of $1000 a month to keep more people out of poverty and off of welfare programs. Where is all that money coming from? Andrew would redistribute it from the big tech companies like Amazon.

“If you have something like a value-added tax, then the Amazons of the world, the Netflixes of the world, can’t gain their way out of things. They can’t just hide all their money in Ireland, which is what they’re doing right now.” - Andrew Yang

If you’re worried that this policy sounds like socialism, you’re not alone. A lot of people have raised that concern, but Andrew doesn’t think so.

“It’s not socialism. It’s capitalism where income doesn’t start at zero. … If you have [welfare programs] right now [that make it so that] you’re going to get less for your family if you work more, then that’s a disincentive to work. But if you put money into someone’s hands and say, “This is your money. … Do what you want. … Then, if you go out and do anything under the sun — work part-time, volunteer, start a business — you get that too.’ That, to me, is not a disincentive for people to work.” - Andrew Yang

I’m not sure if I completely agree with that idea, but I definitely think it’s worth considering. Would a value-added tax on the tech giants and money redistributed to American citizens create a healthier economy where more people are working and contributing to the economy? I don’t know. But it’s definitely a conversation we should be having.

#MAXOUT with Andrew Yang

I may not agree with him on everything, but I think Andrew Yang is a genuinely good guy. You never feel like you’re talking to a politician when you’re talking to him — He’s a genuine guy, and I believe that he’s doing what he believes is best for the American people. He may not be our next president, but I’m glad to have him as my new friend. If you’re interested in hearing more about Andrew’s ideas for policy changes in America, definitely listen to the full episode. This post barely scratches the surface, and Andrew had a lot more interesting information to share on everything from tax reform to the police violence we see so often in our society. It’s a fascinating conversation, and I hope you’ll listen to the rest of it. And if you’re interested in hearing from the other side of the political aisle, definitely check out my interview with Donald Trump Jr. from last week. Obviously, there were many differences between what these two guys had to say, but there were also some surprising similarities. I hope you’ll listen to both episodes with an open mind. If this conversation challenged you as much as it challenged me, send it to a friend or share a screenshot of it on social media and make sure to tag me on Instagram @edmylett.  As always, I run the two-minute drill on social media EVERY DAY. You don’t want to miss it! I make a post at 7:30 AM Pacific time, Monday through Friday. If you comment within the first two minutes, you’re entered into a drawing to win any one of some fantastic giveaways — including a flight on my plane, coaching calls with myself or my guests, and gear from my shop. Turn on your notifications so you don’t miss your opportunity to enter! And if you miss the first two minutes, there's another way to win: If you comment on all my posts for the week, I’ll enter your name into the weekly drawing.  And here’s something NEW and EXCITING! Every day we pin the TOP THREE COMMENTS. So, if you’re engaging with my content, you now have the opportunity to get exposure to the millions of people in my audience.  I hope you got some value out of this episode. I know I did! Remember to go through this election season with an open mind. God bless and #MAXOUT everybody! I’ll talk to you later.