VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang On His Unconventional Ideas

Andrew Yang, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has a plethora of fresh ideas with regards to reforming major aspects of American politics, economics, law and social issues — to say the least.

The 44-year-old New York businessman and founder of the non-profit Venture for America hopes to reform the Supreme Court, grant statehood to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, adding a therapist for White House staffers and finally allow for paid maternity leave in the United States, just to name a few changes.

“I’m for installing a White House psychologist because it makes no sense to have people who are in high-stress environments who are making decisions that could alter the course of world history and not have a psychologist present,” said Yang, adding that his brother is a psychology professor who agrees with his opinion on this issue.

“I thought [of] this before Donald Trump, FYI,” he added.

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In a similar vein, Yang said he favored free marriage counseling “for all Americans.”

“If you’re married and you wanna stay together, we should help you,” he said.

Another interesting proposal Yang made that has no direct link to politics and that could surely please millions of Americans nationwide is banning automated phone calls, or “robo-calls.”

Yang called robo-calls “a giant waste of our time” and added he believes they are “eroding human contact” because of many people’s disinterest in picking up phones out of fear of potential automated calls.

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Other out-of-the-box ideas Yang proposed include creating a local journalism fund, making the government pre-complete Americans’ tax forms and making Tax Day a national holiday, in addition to Election Day.

“I’m for a local journalism fund because having local papers wink out of existence in thousands of communities around the country is terribly damaging in a democracy,” said Yang. “How can you make good decisions if you don’t have any information on what’s going on in your community.”

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Yang also clearly said that — like many other prominent politicians — he believes the opioid crisis in the United States should be addressed more properly. He also added he would not only legalize marijuana but also pardon all low-level drug offenders who receive long prison sentences, facetiously adding that he would “high-five” all those convicted people as they were released from prison.

Finally, Yang proposed a series of economic policy changes that only further cemented his status as a knowledgeable businessman. He explained how he believes Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an outdated parameter that does not fully capture the real economic value of all productivity in the United States today. Yang said perhaps a figure similar to this should be used in order to evaluate the well-being of a country, but that it should also account for less tangible metrics and statistics like childhood success rates in school and the work accomplished by mothers and other caregivers.

“We need to start recognizing the work that’s done by caregivers throughout our families and communities and giving it the support it deserves,” Yang said.

The father of two children — one of whom is autistic — Yang clearly has a lot of new ideas to help usher in a new era in the United States and in the world. Yang has also expressed interesting views on how to reform healthcare in the country. 

Stay tuned for more exclusive videos from uPolitics’ series of interviews with 2020 presidential candidates about all the major issues!