system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Was Yang's UBI policy ever possible?

Listen, I love Yang's ideas and I even support the idea of a UBI, but I don't see the possibility of it happening even though it seems independent sources claim it would work. I have two big reasons which I'd love corrected if I'm wrong as well as a question:

Each month, we'd have to raise 253 billion each month, but I don't think that's unreasonable on its own. However, I do think it's unreasonable to raise that much in usable money. There's only 1.5 trillion dollars in circulation, and yearly we'd be raising double that to redistribute in the form of 1000 dollars. Now, I have a couple questions which might help come to my own conclusion here. First, how would this redistribution work? Even with a "value added tax" like I hear thrown around, you can't raise more money to give to the people than exists, can you? This also brings me to another question which is only partially related: how does the government spend 3.8 trillion dollars? What is backing those spendings?

Would really appreciate some answers. Thanks!
gpt
The stock of money does not matter in as much as it is not collected and then sat on. You collect the money X billion. Then after the UBI happens, in the next period, that same X billion has been disbursed into the economy to be recollected. Economists call this money velocity.

The government can raise money. The government has the capacity to raise the funds necessary to implement the policy. It also has no legal constraints on being able to do so (eg wealth tax being a direct tax). The specific tax etc are contingent on the policy maker. Similarly contingent is how much would be raised by tax and how much by borrowing. 

It can in fact also spend money. When the government purchases things or transfers money, it takes money from tax, moves it into a bank account, and then diverts it to acquire other things the same way that people normally do. Usually, the government cuts a cheque. Some transactions are wires (eg FDIC failed bank purchase and assumption agreements).

Most of the debate about UBI is not whether the government could do it (it can) but rather about whether the government ought to do it.