AP:
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 "baby bond" from the government to help pay for future costs of college or buying a home.
Clinton, her party's front-runner in the 2008 race, made the suggestion during a forum hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus.
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Oh no! A PRIVATE ACCOUNT? Can't do that. Let's just earmark it in Social Security.
Sure, give them the money. But then deny them ANY federal aid the rest of their lives.
But that won't happen. Too many government tit-suckers, and too many government tit-providers.
Yeah, like Blackwater, and Halliburton, and the multitudes of other corporate tit-suckers.
It's ok to give outrageous amounts of money to corporations for nothing, but giving money to the people of this country, most of who pay taxes, is a bad thing. Amazingly stupid logic there.
But the people are not going to get the money for 22 years. Until then the Investment firms will manage the funds because the federal government isn't built for that.
And yeah it is like Blackwater, Halliburton, Bechtel...but it's going to be Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, American Express, etc that are going to get the money.
And yes it will be Hillary feeding the tit suckers this time.
Dumb idea but the something for nothing crowd will like it until they realize it's coming from them anyway.
Want to bet this idea will die on the vine?
As is all things Hillary, it was targeted to the crowd she was talking to and they ooo-ed and ahhhh-ed and that was, after all, the point.
It has so many problems and solves nothing.
Is it a "bond" worth $5000 and would only cost, say, $2500? Or do they get $5000 cash?
Do they HAVE to invest it? Who monitors that? What investment would be allowed?
What additional bureaucracy will be set up to manage this thing? How much will THAT cost?
Who monitors that they don't spend the money before they are of the government permitted age. What about children with severe health problems who don't survive?
If $5000 is due any child at birth then the children of illegal immigrants qualify. That should be interesting. Count on a lot more than $20B a year.
If this $5000 investment is such a good idea, why wasn't the SS partial investment a good idea?
both ideas could be studied invest public money is a trend in post capitalist societies and could make sense lets study it and other ideas and try them to see if it works.
There is no public money, only public debt.
That's right play with my tax money...
Does that go on top of the baby bonus checks welfare people get? Do we start investing in turkey basting companies now? What a stupid idea that has abuse all over it!
Warmglobe and others against the Billery bond Ploy, you are so right.
More of the undeserving will be lining up to get on the dole. We already have enough of them. Too many canidates are overtly pandering to the lowest cretons in society, those who abuse the expansive welfare system for their own gain.
Welfare create inflation this does not.
So would a kid born into, let's say the Hilton Family get $5000 too?
This is the stupidest idea Hillary has had yet. Frigin socialist thinking.
Now of course if she makes it retroactive [with interest] and I can have some & so can my kids...
I think it ia a bad idea. She needs to stop making these kind of promises. A better promise would be to award every child below the poverty level 5,000 dollars as a graduation present from highschool to help them seek a higher education. What she is suggestion is ludercrious.
Why? but your idea could be incorporate I figure if we give small increases for academics achievement this found could grow.I will add a few provisions not for children of Illegals and if you get in troubles as a juvenile you lose your money
This is pure capitalism for the masses.
giving a present is no good high schools student will just spend it and result in inflation.
This is a bright idea from a brilliant woman. Hillary is very smart I hope she is the next president we need original market oriented innovation this was, is and will be the American wat
"Frigin socialist thinking." ???
I disagree that this is socialist thinking. It is just plain stupid.
No this is not socialism it capitalism using self interest for the common good is the basis of capitalism.
$5,000 x 4 million newborns each year = $20 billion
This is not actually that much, and it is a much better use of tax funds than every single military expenditure made each year (which total well over 30 times as much per year).
Unless you take into account the Federal deficit, which is rapidly approaching the point where it will take our ENTIRE GNP just to pay the interest on the debt.
Then, add in all the underfunded programs we have now, plus the upcoming, and inevitable replacing and repairing of our national, state, and local infrastructure.
We can't fund our schools properly NOW, because there's not enough money, so tell me again how $20 billion is not much.
Once we balance the budget, pay down the debt, fund necessary programs to the proper amount (education, health care, social security, to name a few), and find ourselves with a SURPLUS, I don't think that we should be talking about spending ANY money.
Don't fall into the trap that conservatives set, that we Liberals can't be fiscally sound. I always have been. I've always thought that we could fund social programs AND the rest of the governments obligations with no problem, IF we cut out the waste and pork, and properly prioritized our spending. That, however, has now become impossible. The debt needs to be taken care of. We cannot remain a debtor nation, beholden to countries like China, for instance.
Lets meet the obligations we have NOW, and THEN we can obligate ourselves to yet unconceived generations.
Ah yes, finally someone with some sense. Remember lowering the deficit spurs growth. That means an increase in tax revenues. Which is a better life for everyone.
How about Hillary worry about paying down the national debt like her husband did.
That would give many of our young people a better start than a measly 5k.
That doesn't even pay for a semester at most colleges.
At the local private college where I live, it would pay for less than two classes.
Big whoop!
I think her idea is to put the $5000 in a savings account so that by the time the child was ready for college it will be a larger sum.
BUT this is still a dumb idea, another complication, when what is actually needed is an improved educational system.
Yup, and more grants and loans for kids trying to get through college today. Not 18 years from now.
Best Idea out of washington since they first came up with this Ownership Society notion...next, I'd like to see every citizen have a bank account and when the gov't sells off an oil permit or fishing right or timber sale, a few pennies goes into every account where it builds interest..then when the gov't asks for money...they can tax the profits on our native bank accounts...gee, the country is feeling more like mine every day! This must be how Alaskans feel! Every American should have a permanent fund account.
"this Ownership Society" ended up causing the sub-prime lending fiasco.
excellent idea!
Make this money available for bail bonds and I think you've got something.
Stop warehousing your citizens in jails and you've got something better -- a forward thinking idea.
I'll probably get crucified for this, but, as nice an idea as this one is, I do not want to do ANYTHING to encourage people to have MORE kids. I LOVE kids, but we've got more than we can care for now.
What fund will they set up to care for, house, clothe, feed, educate, etc., these kids while they wait for thier bond to mature?
Who manages these funds? I gaurantee you that some computer whiz, or financial evil genius will come up with a way to seperate kids from these bonds. A "Baby Bonds Futures Market" perhaps? Just a thought.
What happens if the child doesn't survive childhood? Another thing for the parents to face, having to return thier deceased childs bonds. Nice.
I would be all for this kind of idea, IF, and only IF, someone comes up with plans to care for the children we already have FIRST. There's kids sleeping on the streets, in shelters, going hungry NOW. Let's fix that THEN encourage MORE people to breed.
Believe me, I'm a life-long left-liberal, and NOT a member of the "hate Hillary" crowd, I just think we need to get our priorities straight here. Care for, feed and educate the kids who are already here, THEN let's talk about future generations yet to be conceived.
««I'll probably get crucified for this, but, as nice an idea as this one is, I do not want to do ANYTHING to encourage people to have MORE kids. I LOVE kids, but we've got more than we can care for now.»»
If we had enough population, we wouldn't be worrying about having enough people per retiree paying into social security...our problem is not the number of people, but the consumption level!
We're using food for fuel or for feeding animals instead of using it as food for people...our corporate agriculture is a monoculture that requires massive amounts of fertilizer (fuel-derived) and deplete our land...
I won't crucify you. I do have a grown child who has made the decision not to have children. A fault with this hair-brained scheme is that people who have no children, who have already had children grow up, or who never plan to have children will be paying for those who want to have children. And, as you say, as if we need more population. And the plan is for the money to be used for college, or if that doesn't occur, to be used to buy a house. I don't mind my tax dollars going for the common good, but you and I are also part of the commons. Let's spend the money on universal health care and on rebuilding the infrastructure of the country because everyone benefits from that, not just a certain segment. And is there no cut-off on qualifying income? Is Jenna Bush going to get $5,000 per kid?
But speaking of crucifixion, maybe this is a Clinton scheme to try to get the Catholic and Evangelical votes.
Why doesn't she just be honest and say "I will offer you 5K for you vote" and be done with it. You moonbats are going to get taxed (it willl have to come from the middle class) so bad in the next 30 years you will be lucky keep 30% of your income. SUCKERS
A $5,000 'Baby Bond'.
Right.
So it goes up to $10,000 in time.
Whooooopeeeeee.
Talk about playing to the choir.
And then there's that little matter of it having to be passed in Congress.
Please.
And let's not forget, there are more than 1 million births in the US alone each year.
Anyone care to do the math?
2005 there were 1,524,345 births "Recorded" in America to U.S. LEGAL citizens. That comes to roughly $7,621,725,000. How many teachers does 7 billion buy?
CORRECTION. Do over for fat finger.
Thats 4 BILLION births each year or
$30,486,900,000
30 BILLION dollars each year.
$30 BILLION dollars in new taxes
And Hillary will let Wall Street play with the money .
Why not just give it to the Mutual Fund managers outright ?
Nader told you that?!
No, but who is going to manage the fund? That's the first question that should be asked.
She is a brilliant person, she is thinking as a mother, it may actually works, is social security reverse, a capitalistic approach for the masses just brilliant. We may actually own some of America wealth a piece of the pie without producing inflation this woman is really smart no wonder she is the front runner.
This woman is smart in the fact she is playing to the crowd and will tell them whatever they want to hear. She is a threat to America's security and financial life. She is a complete socialist, 1 step beyond Stalin and Marx.
Social Security in reverse? Please!,You can not be that stupid. Do you think there is really money in your Social Security account if you are under the age of 50? Let's see Billary pledge to take Social Security off the books, out of the general fund and use it only for payments to SS.
And by the way, who do you think is going to pay for all of her cradle to grave communism? You are.
"She is a complete socialist, 1 step beyond Stalin and Marx."
NONSENSE ... but I wish she were.
Just like we're paying for Bush's Crony Capitalism now?
Have you gone to the grocery store lately? Do you even know what inflation is?
Geez, what a cheapskate! Since in Hillary World politicians (otherwise known as Elected Scammers) can create wealth by legislating productive capital into existence out of the nascent Void, why not give them $10,000....or $30,000....ah, heck, let's just give them a cool million and be done with it. I feel richer already.
Actually the money would not be spent since it must sit in banks accounts for 18 years.
If mexicans could wait that long. The idea is worth analyzing it will only cost 20 b a year a month of Iraq's war. And will be added to the capital and out of the circulation therefore will not produce inflation and it could only be used for college or housing not bad. Lets get Greenspan to sleep on it.
You mean like the Social Security Lockbox that is off limits yet somehow gets used and is nothing more than IU's right now?
Great plan
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First Posted: 09-28-07 10:30 PM | Updated: 03-28-08 02:45 AM