The idea is not new, although Yang has raised its profile to national fad. Milton Friedman, Charles Murray and other libertarian-leaners have proposed similar versions of the universal basic income to streamline traditional welfare programs. Thomas Paine called for a “citizens’ dividend” in the new republic, supporters of the universal basic income point out. In the 1960s, they also note, Martin Luther King Jr. and 1,200 economics professors signed a letter to President Richard Nixon pushing for a version called a “guaranteed income.” It later passed the House in those “War on Poverty” days, but was voted down in the Senate.