President Nixon presented a bill providing for a modest basic income, calling it “the most significant piece of social legislation in our nation’s history.” According to Nixon, the baby boomers would do two things deemed impossible by earlier generations. Besides putting a man on the moon (which had happened the month before), their generation would also, finally, eradicate poverty.
尼克松总统提出了一项提供适度基本收入的法案，称其为“我们国家历史上最重要的社会立法”。根据尼克松的说法，婴儿潮一代会做两件前几代人认为不可能的事情。除了将人类送上月球（这件事发生在前一个月）之外，他们这一代人最终还将消除贫困。
A White House poll found 90% of all newspapers enthusiastically receptive to the plan. The Chicago Sun-Times called it “A Giant Leap Forward,” the Los Angeles Times “A bold new blueprint.” The National Council of Churches was in favor, and“ so were the labor unions and even the corporate sector. At the White House, a telegram arrived declaring, “Two upper middle class Republicans who will pay for the program say bravo.” Pundits were even going around quoting Victor Hugo – “Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come.”
白宫的一项民意调查发现，90% 的报纸热情接受该计划。《芝加哥太阳报》称其为“一次巨大的飞跃”，《洛杉矶时报》称其为“大胆的新蓝图”。 全国基督教协进会表示支持，工会甚至企业界也表示支持。 白宫收到一封电报，宣称：“两位将为该计划付费的上层中产阶级共和党人说，太棒了。” 专家们甚至到处引用维克多·雨果的话——“没有什么比时机成熟的想法更强大的了。”
It seemed that the time for a basic income had well and truly arrived.
看来获得基本收入的时代已经真正到来了。
“WELFARE PLAN PASSES HOUSE… A BATTLE WON IN CRUSADE FOR REFORM,” headlined the New York Times on April 16, 1970. With 243 votes“ for and 155 against, President Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan (FAP) was approved by an overwhelming majority. Most pundits expected the plan to pass the Senate, too, with a membership even more progressive than that of the House of Representatives. But in the Senate Finance Committee, doubts reared up. “This bill represents the most extensive, expensive, and expansive welfare legislation ever handled,” one Republican senator said. Most vehemently opposed, however, were the Democrats. They felt the FAP didn’t go far enough, and pushed for an even higher basic income. After months of being batted back and forth between the Senate and the White House, the bill was finally canned.
1970 年 4 月 16 日，《纽约时报》的头条新闻是“福利计划通过众议院……改革运动取得胜利”。尼克松总统的家庭援助计划 (FAP) 以 243 票赞成、155 票反对的结果获得压倒性多数通过。大多数专家预计该计划也会在参议院获得通过，其成员资格甚至比众议院的成员更加进步。但在参议院财政委员会，质疑声却出现了。一位共和党参议员表示：“这项法案代表“了有史以来最广泛、最昂贵、范围最广的福利立法。” 然而，最强烈反对的是民主党。他们认为 FAP 做得还不够，并要求提高基本收入。 经过参议院和白宫几个月的反复争论，该法案最终被搁置。
In the following year, Nixon presented a slightly tweaked proposal to Congress. Once again, the bill was accepted by the House, now as part of a larger package of reforms. This time, 288 voted in favor, 132 against. In his 1971 State of the Union address, Nixon considered his plan to “place a floor under the income of every family with children in America” the most important item of legislation on his agenda.
第二年，尼克松向国会提出了一项略有调整的提案。该法案再次被众议院接受，现在作为更大规模改革方案的一部分。这次，288票赞成，132票反对。在 1971 年的国情咨文中，尼克松认为他的计划“为美国每个有孩子的家庭设定收入下限”是他议程上最重要的立法项目。
But once again, the bill foundered in the Senate.
但该法案再次在参议院失败。
Not until 1978 was the plan for a basic income shelved once and for all, however, following a fatal discovery upon publication of the final results of the Seattle experiment. One finding in particular grabbed everybody’s attention: The number of divorces had jumped more than 50%. Interest in this statistic quickly overshadowed all the other outcomes, such as better school performance and improvements in health. A basic income, evidently, gave women too much independence.
然而，直到 1978 年，西雅图实验最终结果公布后出现了致命的发现，基本收入计划才被彻底搁置。一项调查结果特别引起了所有人的注意：离婚数量猛增了 50% 以上。对这一统计数据的兴趣很快就掩盖了所有其他结果，例如更好的学校表现和健康状况的改善。显然，基本收入给了女性太多的独立性。
Ten years later, a reanalysis of the data revealed that a statistical error had been made; in reality, there had been no change in the divorce rate at all.
十年后，对数据的重新分析显示出现了统计错误；事实上，离婚率根本没有变化。
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