That works out to $3T in checks to every US citizen every year. That's about equal to federal revenue. Sure, a lot of people would just get their own money back

That works out to $3T in checks to every US citizen every year. That's about equal to federal revenue. Sure, a lot of people would just get their own money back (a waste of redistribution efforts), but half of recipients don't pay taxes so that's really $1.5T ... still half of federal revenue, when the gov't is spending nearly twice revenue. Yes, it really just comes down to arguing about what the check size should be ... leaving a whole lotta people with a whole lotta motive to argue it should be a whole lot bigger than austerity-sized and covering little more than staple foods etc.