Ilhan Omar: U.S. Must Have Universal Basic Income, Vote-by-Mail, and Housing ‘as a Start’

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) listed a host of progressive agenda items that she believes need to be universally offered in the United States — including vote-by-mail, a basic income, and housing for all — but noted they simply serve “as a start.”

“Here’s what we need to make universal, as a start,” Omar wrote on social media this week, listing health care, school meals, vote-by-mail, housing, and basic income:

Here’s what we need to make universal, as a start:
🏥 Healthcare
🍏 School meals
📬 Vote-by-mail
Ἶ Housing
💵 Basic income

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 5, 2020

The demands come as Democrats, including her progressive “Squad” members, aim to use the coronavirus pandemic as a means to score political victories for the Democrat Party agenda. Even Joe Biden (D), the Democrat Party’s presumptive nominee, suggested that the coronavirus pandemic serves as an “incredible opportunity to not just dig out of this crisis but to fundamentally transform the country”:

Joe Biden calls coronavirus an “incredible opportunity…to fundamentally transform the country”

Make no mistake: Joe Biden is the bannerman for the radical socialist wing of the Democrat Party.

Biden and Bernie are two sides of the same far left coin.pic.twitter.com/RKiLqdy3pm

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 4, 2020

That effort has been overwhelmingly apparent, as influential Democrats — from former President Barack Obama to failed Trump challenger Hillary Clinton — increase their calls for changes to election laws, strongly advocating vote-by-mail and ballot harvesting.

This is hardly the first time Omar has called for mail-in voting, stating over the weekend that every registered voter should be allowed to vote by mail in future elections, “no questions asked”:

Every registered voter should be allowed to #VoteByMail in future elections, no questions asked.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 3, 2020

Her fellow “Squad” members have also joined her calls for universal health care, housing, and income. In March, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called for a “no strings” universal basic income as a coronavirus relief measure.

In September, the New York lawmaker proclaimed that the U.S. could not pride itself on being an “advanced society” until it guarantees the right to many of the things Omar outlined on Monday, including housing, health care, and education.

“But until we do not guarantee the right to housing, until we do not guarantee health care care and education, we cannot call ourselves an advanced society,” she stated.

“It’s a basic right along with education and health care. Once we get these basics covered, then our country can earn the right to call ourselves an advanced society,” she continued, adding, “What we are experiencing right now in housing in the United States is barbarism.”