I think the comment was earnest. Check out this article: http://www.vox.com/2015/4/2/8332115/rubio-lee-basic-income

  It's called the FairTax, and it would replace nearly all federal taxes with
  a 30 percent national sales tax. That on its own is a regressive idea —
  low-income people spend more of their incomes than the rich do, so would pay
  a greater share of their incomes in sales tax — so the FairTax would give
  each household a "prebate" equivalent to the sales tax they'd pay on
  poverty-level spending. For example, in 2013 the FairTax "consumption
  allowance" for a family of four (two parents, two kids) was $31,020. If you
  spent that much money in a FairTax world, $7,135 of it would go to federal
  sales taxes. So the FairTax provides a $7,135 annual rebate to families of
  four, distributed monthly.

  Make no mistake: this is a basic income. There is no work requirement. You
  get it regardless of whether you make any money. It is a straight-up basic
  income. FairTaxers object to this characterization, saying that because the
  prebate is meant to compensate for taxes you pay on necessities, it's "your
  money being returned to you." But if you live below the poverty level, you
  come out ahead from the rebate. It's just a cash transfer program.