Nixon knew that conservatives would oppose a guaranteed minimum income—really, a negative income tax—as a “mega-dole.”41 But he hoped to win enough moderates and liberals to pass Congress. For once, he lowballed liberal contempt. Defensive of the welfare state, which provided jobs for middle-class whites as well as services for poor people, the liberal establishment labeled the program as “racist.” FAP, said the lobbyists for the National Welfare Rights Organization, stood for “Fuck America’s Poor.”42 FAP passed the House but ultimately died in the Senate—“an idea ahead of its time,” Nixon
...more

