Admittedly I have not run the numbers, but I suspect the amount of tax revenue you would have to raise is in excess of what is practical to glean from income ta

Admittedly I have not run the numbers, but I suspect the amount of tax revenue you would have to raise is in excess of what is practical to glean from income taxes alone. People who earn money want to keep their money. In the U.S. we have a deep-rooted sense of mistrust about government. We're inconsistent about where/how we place that trust, and it can manifest itself in strange ways, but there it is. A Department of Minimal Living Standards would probably be a disaster. That's not to say we can't make improvements to our existing social safety nets. Just that here, given the population and the culture, a government-provided guaranteed wage is not likely to succeed.