Clinton: $5,000 for Every U.S. Baby

[kskiska]

Source: AP/Breitbart

WASHINGTON (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.

"I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18 if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that downpayment on their first home," she said.

(snip)

Clinton said such an account program would help Americans get back to the tradition of savings that she remembers as a child, and has become harder to accomplish in the face of rising college and housing costs.

Read more: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RUJEL00&show_...

---

I think Britain has a similar program.

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. ... or to go toward each citizen's $29,000 share of the national debt

... oh, wait. We'll have to borrow the money to do this, won't we.

[PittPoliSci]

2. it's a great idea.

but it's time to really crank up taxes on the upper class to start getting the wheels of progress moving. we need it up to where it was post ww2.

wR

[Doremus]

3. Heh, that was 90% wasn't it? n/t

[PittPoliSci]

7. yeah, but i'm thinking it should probably be a bit higher.

their war is what is responsible for running up the debt, they should be the ones to pay for it

[Doremus]

12. I'm down for that.

It kills me how they whine they don't want higher taxes. It could be worse ... much worse.


But what d'ya know? Businesses prospered, people prospered, life went on.

[provis99]

4. why do they even bother

mentioning silly ideas that are never even going to be brought up in a Congressional committee, let alone passed? Quit wasting our time, Clinton.

[Delphinus]

9. Yeah,

tell us what you think about Presidential Powers and Signing Statements - that's what I want to know.

[YOY]

5. As yes, $5000

That'll buy alot of housing/education... Maybe working to lower the costs might help.

Oh wait. Someone needs to make f***loads of cash.

[Warren Stupidity]

18. 5,000 at 5%/yr for 18 years is $12,305.68

Hey that still sucks! But it sure panders well.

[YOY]

24. Yeah and college/housing costs are not going to remain static over those years

I dislike pro-natal policies when they are not needed to begin with. In our country's case it's not necessary. Our birthrate is positive.

[MilesColtrane]

60. They can get one of those one-year degrees like Doogie Houser. n/t

[knight_of_the_star]

65. Assuming that keeps up with inflation

In the CSU/UC system that much will pay for one semester including cost of living and books, right now five grand would cover maybe three semesters if JUST spent on tuition assuming tuition doesn't go up (unlikely), and if you want to go for a private school with that kind of money dream on. Not even in spitting distance of a down payment on any house of any size, not in California unless you count living in a tent on a campground.

[fed-up]

6. I'd like that $5K for a retainer for a lawyer to get out of my nondisclosed meth lab home nt :(

[no_hypocrisy]

8. That beats a "chicken in every pot" as a political promise.

[liberal N proud]

10. There goes another liberal socialist program

[tears4terra]

11. WTF? Let's just encourage a population boom...

like we don't have enough problems as it is. Is she pandering, or what?

[Trillo]

17. Oh, don't worry,

food prices are accelerating their inflation. By the time the next President gets elected and settled into office, $5000 will only buy a months worth of food for a family of three.

[Yupster]

42. I thought of that too

Maybe we'd be better paying a $ 5,000 bonus to any man or woman anywhere in the world who graduates high school without having a kid. I think that would help the planet a lot more.

[MilesColtrane]

61. Part of Hillary's plan to fix Social Security? n/t

[MGKrebs]

68. Why would this encourage a population boom?

Assuming you can't collect until you are 18. Do people refrain from having kids because they think they will be $15,000 shy when they turn 18?

[Harper_is_Bush]

73. Your's is a silly argument

Do you really think that $5000 available to the child - and inaccessable until the child is 18 - will make MORE babies?

If so, explain please.

[treestar]

13. Funny that's exactly the sum a Z visa would have cost under the

failed immigration bill. A matching program?

[WCGreen]

14. That's just going to far..

All this would do is build in another $ 5000.00 that college presients and deans could add on to the cost of education...

The problem isn't the cost...

The problem is that their is no incentive to save because loans are easily available and...

The colleges know this and so there is no pressure to cut costs or run an efficient operation...

[Warren Stupidity]

15. Pander much?

How about we provide universal healthcare services, affordable education through university level, labor standards on par with our European cousins, public financed elections for all federal offices, and pay for it all by kicking the corrupt corporate lobbyists out of washington and reducing our military operations to defense of our borders and cooperative protection of international trade routes? How about we do something about peak oil and catastrophic climate change other than playing advanced king of the hill with mesopotamia?

[CountAllVotes]

16. given the population explosion

they should pay every man and woman in the USA $5,000.00 that never cared to "breed" and has not added to the problem of overpopulation IMO. Now Hillary wants to pay you to breed.

[hedgehog]

25. What is this, a liberal version of the old conservative saw that

welfare mothers have more babies so they can get bigger checks?

[CountAllVotes]

26. hell if I know

this is a pretty f'd up world to be bringing children into IMO.

However, I will add that I have thought this way since I was 16 years old.

Needless to say, I have no children.

I could see this one a comin'! YIKES!!!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

32. Not procreating is worth 72 years of recycling, I'm told.

Not that you should stop recycling, but I thought that was a pretty cool stat.

[customerserviceguy]

36. We already crossed that threshold

with fat tax credits for kids, no matter how many you've spawned. The religious right calls that "freedom"

[Megahurtz]

27. Exactly.

This is a disgusting offer.

[hedgehog]

31. Mycommnet wasn't aimed at the offer, it was aimed at the people posting here

who think it will entice women in to having more babies!

[Megahurtz]

64. I Think That It Will

entice some women into having more babies. Some people will do it for the money.

[MGKrebs]

71. But according to what was said, you don't get the money until 18

years later.
Basically, the deal is that every American born after a certain date would get a savings bond. It really has nothing to do with parents I think.

[DURHAM D]

28. If we don't breed can we get a $5,000 credit toward a new BMW?

I have always thought of breeding as a consumer decision.

I lived in a neighborhood filled with children. I do not mind paying property taxes for the purpose of providing a good public education even though I am without children.

My neighbors with children bitch all of the time about their property taxes. When I have asked the neighbors what they think property taxes are used for they never ever have any idea. People should definitely not breed if they don't know anything about our taxes.

[CountAllVotes]

34. gee I hope so!

[MGKrebs]

74. I have my issues with so-called" child- credits", but this does not appear to be one of them.

Around half of my property taxes go to schools and I have no kids.
No problem.
I see my neighbors get a child tax credit for each of their kids.
OK, a twinge if irritation.
"Sales tax holiday" in the late summer geared toward back-to-school items.
OK, this is getting annoying.

This latest idea however, is not like those others. It doesn't sound like the parents get the credit or the money or the bond or whatever it is going to be. The way it is described is just that every American born after a certain date would be eligible for a bond (or something similar), to become available to them when they become an adult.

[trogdor]

77. If we don't go to college, can we spend the money on beer?

Or blackjack? Or hookers? /bender Does Britain's program have any strings attached, or do they just turn over the money? I would be strongly against handing over that sort of money to most 18 year olds, no strings attached. Vouchers for higher education would be a much better idea.

[Zhade]

19. In an over-populated world, this is pretty irresponsible thinking.

Especially when USAmericans use five times the natural resources than third-world peoples.

[Quantess]

22. Agreed.

How about cash rewards for everyone who does NOT reproduce?

[Courtesy Flush]

20. Cross a border, have a baby, collect $5K n/t

[CountAllVotes]

21. you got it

Pass GO and collect five grand. How stupidly sweet eh Hillary?

I am NOT IMPRESSED.

[Raine]

23. Just what we need....NOT! More people

in this over populated world when there is a lack of resources and an over abundance of pollution!

[silverweb]

29. *sigh*

Hey, Hill? Why complicate things and encourage more unneeded population growth?

How about keeping it simple: Publicly financed higher education for every American who wants it and can do the work, right on through a four-year college degree.

Straightforward, uncomplicated, and keeps the Wall Street sharks out of the mix.

Okay?

[hedgehog]

30. I don't know whether to weep or laugh.

First, I doubt this offer is going anywhere even if Hillary is elected in a land slide.

Second, even if it is enacted, it does nothing for me and millions of others already trying to pay off student loans, save for a down payment or pay a mortgage, save for retirement and take care of our children and parents!

Finally; we may be crazy enough to have children, but no one is crazy enough to have a kid just to get a government bond for $5,000!

[Politicub]

33. Progressive idea

I like it!

[customerserviceguy]

37. Then you'll love

the Hillary Clinton presidency. It appears that she's headed for the nomination, and we all know the Repukes have no chance in '08, so be prepared for other useless ideas.

Me, I'd just kill off the war in Iraq, and save those kids at least $5,000 in debt they will have to pay off just to deal with the leftover costs for this war. But Hill's not gonna do that, either.

[lanlady]

35. what a silly, retrograde idea

We ought to be encouraging people not to breed. This is not post-war Europe when decimated populations needed to "replace" themselves with a new generation.

Hey Hillary, how about you pledge to slash military spending to the bare bones and use the money to educate our people and keep them healthy? How about you pledge to cease our mercenary wars in the Middle East and devote our energies to addressing global warming?

[Squatch]

38. This reminds me of somebody running for High School student president

"Vote for me and I'll put Coca Cola in all the drinking fountains!"

[Xithras]

39. Lol. And how should that be funded?

Something like 80% of households have children, and most have more than one. Money cannot be invented.

If the government promises to give $10,000 to every person in America, it will have to collect $10,000 from every person in America to cover it. In the average home with two kids, Hillary is talking about a $10,000 bonus. If 80% of the households in America have kids, that will require an $8000 per household tax to cover the expense of the program. That number would, of course, be broken up over the lifetime of the taxpayer, but the total gain wouldn't be over $2000.

The math doesn't add up.

And before anyone says "Make the corporations pay for it, " remember that this is friend-to-business Hillary we're talking about. I just don't see her laying $20.5 billion in new taxes at the feet of business every year to cover this proposal (do the math yourself...there are about 4,100,000 babies born in the U.S. every year X $5000 per kid...unless my math is wrong that works out to $20,500,000,000 anually). It will either be added to the debt, or it will come out of our pockets.

[rayofreason]

54. Funding? Easy!

Tax corporations, who then raise prices on consumers to pay the tax. Meanwhile college and universities will raise prices, now that there will be extra money floating around. Look at Yale's endowment growth in the past few years.

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/231490-3/NewEnglandNews... /

At $22 billion for Yale alone, may be rich university endowments should foot a bigger part of the education bill.

[Evergreen Emerald]

40. so much hostility

My guess is that if any other candidate had suggested it you guys would be wetting your pants.

[Odin2005]

41. I don't think we need to be encouraging more overpopulation, Hillary.

[TupperHappy]

51. Errr, no.

A bad idea is a bad idea, regardless of who is promoting it...

[droidamus2]

43. Read and understand

Hillary did not state this as a policy position. She just said she had seen the idea and it sounded good on the surface. These accounts would not be an incentive to have children as the bonds would be in the name of the child and only redeemable to that child (young adult at time of redemption). Just because you established the bonds does not mean you couldn't also work on i controlling the cost of a higher education. I would go one step further if the bond was not redeemed for education it would be redeemable at the age of 65 or whatever retirement age would be at that point. Now to my original point my statements are after a superficial look at a general idea would it, could it or should it work I think I would have to look deeper and see what the ramifications are. I have no children and don't intend to ever have any children but giving every child born some chance at getting a higher education does not seem like a bad idea. One more thing I looked at another message board discussing this and most entries were against the idea and the one common thread in the entries was the words I, me and mine. I don't want my taxes. I didn't get this help, blah, blah, blah. It would behoove the people of this country to remember the idea of a 'social contract' that says as a citizen of this great country you must give back to this country in ways that may not directly benefit you or yours. Having a more educated and healthier (single payer health care) is good for everybody. End of rant!!

[DrDan]

44. I am so confused as to trying to understand why she chooses

to not speak out on key issues - ones the population want to hear about.

But then comes up with a totally "socialist" plan such as this.

Did she now know it is just fodder for the reich-wing?

[natrat]

45. what an insult to inteligent people. Buy votes much you loser

[warrior1]

46. there's all ready

too many people. Stop with this pandering, and find a real solution.

[lumpy]

47. Oh yeah, "A chicken in every pot" promise.

nt

[leaninglib]

48. Hillary, you are such a cheap skate...!

Surely, YOU can afford more than that.

Why, I almost forgot, it's not your money, it's my money that you mean to give away.

Hillary, we are going to talk about this.

[lutefisk]

49. She needs to "grandfather" in every voting age adult, too...

...if she's serious about buying votes.

If Al Gore himself proposed this, I'd still think it's an insulting, ill-conceived, running-for-student-council kind of idea.

[-..__...]

50. Sure... but only if I get 5k also for not having a child.

[rayofreason]

52. How about $5,000,000 nstead of $5000?

Then everyone can retire at birth!

[Dr. Strange]

57. Well, now you're just being silly!

[rayofreason]

66. Sometimes silly...

...is all anyone can be!

[calteacherguy]

53. Yes, there just aren't enough humans already. Let's encourage more. nt

[sarcasmo]

55. Where are they going to get the money from?

Let me guess, the middle class.

[rayofreason]

56. They should get the $$$...

...from Yale and Harvard's endowments!

[Larry Ogg]

58. Gee what a grate idea,

it probably won’t be to long before 1 sheet of toilet paper is worth more than $1.00

Maybe she should give every child a role of supper sized Charmin

[kickysnana]

59. Is she getting senile? WTF?

[bunkerbuster1]

62. She must be bored.

Needed to put something really stupid out there just to see what people might say?

(My theory, and I'm stickin' to it.)

[TexasBushwhacker]

63. How about ONLY if the graduate from high school?

""I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18 if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that downpayment on their first home," she said."

Honestly, every person who goes out into the working world without at least a high school education costs us a heck of a lot more than $5K. It would be even better if we could someone tie the $5K to being child free until graduating from high school. I have to wonder where that $20 BILLION per year is going to come from though.

[truthisfreedom]

67. The gop will call it "vote-buying."

But that's what gw bush did when he gave billions in tax cuts to the rich.

[Cerridwen]

69. Will that be in mom's and dad's checking account or in a bank?

Who has access to the money? Is this a little slush fund for banking interests and corporations to have access to government funds during the next 18 years as they collect interest and allow a bit of the interest to "trickle down" to mom, pop and the baby?

Something about this stinks. But I'm, as I noted in another post, feeling very cynical today.

[ohio2007]

70. what tax rate will it be gutted at come time to cash in the voucher?

will the government play the stock market with this birth gift?
...and what about those disenfranchised teens of the country ?

[LisaL]

80. If parents have access to the money, the worry of course would

be people having children they don't want, just to get their hands on the money.

[Orsino]

72. Easier for her than pledging to support each baby...

...with health care, and oversight for same, for eighteen years.

[Carrieyazel]

75. Is it true that a poll conducted this weekend showed voters AGAINST the baby bonds 2 to 1?

I can't find it, but if anyone can It'd be great.

Wow, she may have handed the Repukes an issue for a general election.

I hope she is NOT our nominee.

[big E red]

76. Lets get them through school first

How about giving the elementary, middle, and high schools 5000.00 to teach children to read, spell, and count money. Then maybe they can go to college!

[Mountainman]

78. The tradition of savings went along with the tradition of earning the money you saved.

I don't know if giving money and forcing someone to save it until they are 18 is the same as the prior tradition.

Somehow I don't think this is a good idea. Why not make college more affordable or more accessible to all? People will not have a stake in this money since they did not earn it and everyone will have it. It is sort of like raising the floor. The cost of things will also be adjusted to compensate for the availability of the funds.

[Mz Pip]

79. Really bad idea n/t

[Javaman]

How about forcing the crooked college loan lenders to give a small

percentage of their profit to a pool fund that future students can pull from. Sort of a social security college education fund.

[Javaman]

81. How about forcing the crooked college loan lenders to give a small

percentage of their profit to a pool fund that future students can pull from. Sort of a social security college education fund.