It's because it's roughly the same amount as the average social security recipient. They want people used to that number because they want people on welfare, because they ultimately want to create a system where the average person is only allowed to make X amount of wealth a month before the whole rest of it is taken by the government.

First they'll start with a pseudo-UBI, then when that fails, they'll start saying, "The only way we can redistribute wealth is by making sure people don't make over a certain number". At first they'll be like "You don't have to earn more, but if you do, we're taking it and giving you a pat on the back with a social credit score boost for every X amount". They'll use that to effectively sell back freedoms they stole from us.

Then when people don't work enough to cover their redistribution of wealth, only working enough to stay under the limits, they'll start mandating people to work more so the government can have that money. Then you'll effectively be a full slave to the state. This is their end game.

Meanwhile, China will have dug in soo deep, it'll be like that one race on stargate that conquered planets to turn into their farmland, and China will be getting shipped the vast majority of our produce, sucking our farmable land dry to fill their gullets, and Americans will struggle to make it on the pittance they're allowed by the government while top Democrat politicians eat steaks and sip wine at their mansions. At that point we will effectively be N. Korea, but worse.