Hillary, why give every newborn $5,000? (To the parents, of course)

[Colobo]

That would be excessive government spending. Many American families earn enough money to take care of their kids and to open saving accounts for them. This would be nice if it was based on economic status and the age and social status of the mother (underage and single moms, for example), but I think it shouldn't be for every newborn.

Wouldn't it be better to spend a good amount of that money on sex education and birth control methods for our teenagers and young adults?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/09/28/clinton-give-every-newborn-5k/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. What's a baby going to do with $5,000, anyway?

[emilyg]

4. For college education.

[Colobo]

5. But that's excessive spending. Many middle, upper middle and high class

families don't need a dime for their kids.

[iconocrastic]

26. IT'S NOT HER MONEY - but she wants to buy votes with it

It's that simple.

[Colobo]

Dupe.

[Colobo]

2. Also, I can imagine some people having babies just to get the $$$.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

6. Hey maybe they're looking towards the future....

They know we'll have to have more Americans to pay for all the wars we're starting. ...Think about the return they'll get on that $5k.

[Colobo]

7. LOL! Europe is in need of more babies. The US is in need of more birth control.

[amandabeech]

55. self-delete

self-delete

[killbotfactory]

18. If the $5000 can only be used for certain purposes

Then there would not be much incentive for having a baby just to rake in the cash.

[Der Blaue Engel]

19. Rigggggght.

Just like welfare moms have babies to get more welfare.

:sarcasm:

No woman in her right mind has a baby just to make a few bucks. (Not counting surrogate mothers who give birth for other people in exchange for financial compensation.) That's a really bad return on investment.

[Colobo]

21. My cousin's wife did it a couple of years ago.

They live in NYC, and the government wanted to put her off Welfare and send her to work. They decided to have another child to prevent that from happening, and they did. They kid is 4 today, and she is on Welfare.

It happens. My family does it. In fact, you don't know the things some of my family members do to rip off the government.

[sandnsea]

39. There are limits now

Generally can't be on welfare longer than five years, and you don't get more money for extra kids either. 40% of all babies are born on Medicaid, so being low income is very common in this country. People aren't ripping off the government, they're using the benefits necessary to survive.

[Colobo]

44. Check your inbox.

[avrdream]

61. Except that the money doesn't go to the parents.......

and the "money" would be obtained after finishing high school.

We have a baby bonus down here in Australia where the parents actually get a cash check for $5000.00 when the baby is born. Now THAT has been a dumb idea because there really are a lot of people having babies just to get that quick cash infusion (I know this because I'm an Obstetrician here and am present at many deliveries where the new mother comments about where this money is going.)

Hillary's comment: "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 down payment on their first home," she said.

By itself, it's an interesting idea. Doesn't help those of us who have already been born, had our children, or aren't going to have children but it does seem to be a way of giving newly graduated students a boost.

[donheld]

63. Um, They don't get the money for 18 years.

If they don't get the money till the child is 18, why would they have babies for the money? Those kind of people, I know plenty, want money now not in 18 years.

[babylonsister]

3. What's that word everyone's using, pandering? nt

[enid602]

8. debt

These kids will need the $5K to help them cope with their share of the $9 trillion debt with which we'll be saddling them.

[Colobo]

9. The more money we spend in war and in unnecessary programs

The bigger the debt.

[enid602]

10. agreed

I hear ya.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. She's appealing to people who aren't too bright, but are very very poor.

She figures it's the way to get them to vote for her? I don't really know. When I heard of it, my jaw dropped open. It's one hell of a stupid idea.

[Colobo]

14. I guess you can't be very bright if you think this idea is "great".

I guess some people who are in need will vote for her because of this.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

20. Hillary thought of this?

:rofl:

[Carrieyazel]

15. Yes, Hillary's strategy is not going to work. I agree this plan is ridiculous.

When I first heard it today, I just shook my head in consternation. She's making a lot of stupid mistakes, lately. Hopefully, she keeps making these blunders. (I was gratified to see her doing poorly in the last couple of debates, and on Meet the Press. She's highly flawed and cannot win the general for many reasons.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

17. Not to mention that this promotes getting pregnant.

The message is, "You'll get a cool $5,000 if you go and get yourself pregnant." Which advisor is coming up with this shit for Senator Clinton, anyway? She should fire him/her asap.

[ElizabethDC]

59. It's a bond, not cash

it would be available to the child when they turn 18. So the parents would have to be really patient if they were getting pregnant for the money.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

60. It's an insane idea. Really, I can't believe it came out of her mouth. nt

[ecstatic]

67. Those people don't vote nt

[wain]

12. The greed of the DC Beltway with our taxes is obscene

Look at what they have done with Social Security - spent it all leaving our IOU in the lock box. Now they want a "baby" trust fund with more of our money? In turn this will exacerbate the illegal immigrant problem. Are they nuts?

It sounds like a good idea, but how can you trust any of the bunch?

Pandering with our taxes really is spinning out of control.

[Gman]

13. This country is now considered mediocre in math, science and technology

when we used to lead the world. This sounds like a damn good way to get raise the sorry level of education in this country. And, it's a helluva lot more productive than spending it on war.

[amandabeech]

54. If you want to raise the overall level of education in this country,

you don't give $5,000 to folks who send their kids to private school.

This is a needs-based issue.

All candidates come out with clunkers, and this is Hillary's.

[Carrieyazel]

16. Is Hillary playing with a full deck right now?? She sure is making a lot of blunders.

Obama's done well lately, and Hillary's starting to get tight.

[GreenArrow]

22. it's a bribe

nothing more, nothing less.

[Colobo]

23. Is that the candidate we want to have?

[GreenArrow]

25. it's the candidate we're going to get

.

[Colobo]

27. Not if we vote the right way.

[GreenArrow]

28. I don't believe Americans are prepared to do that

.

[Colobo]

30. We are, Green. Come join the Obama movement and feel the energy!

[GreenArrow]

50. Hey, I like your guy best of the "big three"

but neither he, nor Edwards or Clinton are really modeling the kind of self reflection or proposing the kinds of actions this country needs. There are too many things broken, and neither the electorate nor the aspirant electees wish to talk about them except in the most generic, and anemic terms.

[Colobo]

24. Kickin.

[Lucinda]

29. You do know what the word "bond" means right?

Just checking. My read on the program is that its a bond. Its not a fist full of moola for the parents.

Gonna have to go check now....

Yep. Its a bond.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RUJEL00&show_article=1

"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..."

[Colobo]

31. Thanks for the link.

[zalinda]

52. Did any one see the irony in this?

She said it at a forum hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus, not any of the many, many forums that she attended which were primarily white. The timing is so, so questionable.

zalinda

[2rth2pwr]

32. How can you be for taking money away from children? nt

[Colobo]

33. Taking money away from children? LOL!

I'm against giving away government funds to people that don't need it. Every type of government financial aid should be based on economic need.

[2rth2pwr]

41. That's the laugh of a very cruel person. nt

[Colobo]

42. Don't be ridiculous. Government aid should be based on economic need, don't you think?

That's all I'm saying. Why give $5000 in bonds to the baby of a rich family or a middle class family that can open an account for their kid without government help?

It's not cruelty, it's common sense.

[dajoki]

57. I can see...

money and/or help for the poor. People already struggling to keep their homes, get a home, buying food, medicine, pay their bills, healthcare etc. Of course I am talking about helping lift people out of poverty, not someone who makes enough money to take care of themselves. I always felt the term "working poor" does not belong in the same sentence. But for having a baby, I don't think so.

[tammywammy]

58. Yep, agreed

Though I haven't made up my mind on the Hillary proposal, I need to see more details.

[Colobo]

70. Fair enough.

[HuffleClaw]

34. the archetype of an empty election campaign promise

she IS getting desperate

[NoPasaran]

48. Yeah, the desperation that comes from having a huge lead

Yeah, the desperation that comes from having a huge lead in virtually every poll.

[HuffleClaw]

69. she's been propped up by the corporate media AND the republicans from the beginning

both of which will cheerfully destroy what they have made.

[BeyondGeography]

35. Check out the comments on this...voluminous and 1000% opposed

and for good reason; it's a terrible idea. She'll be panned for this and drop it like a hot potato. The MSM will forget it as well and the "sure-footed and flawless" nature of her campaign will be continue to be touted as if this act of monumental stupidity never occurred.

[Colobo]

36. I hope they don't forget it. The real Hillary is starting to come out.

[AZBlue]

37. What pisses me off the most about it: why are the already-living always forgotten?

Why give all children, many of whom don't need it, $5K while we have people living in the streets? People without enough to eat? People without healthcare?

It's the stupidest thing I've heard any candidate propose.

[Colobo]

38. Good point.

[Clanfear]

40. I think the idea has some merit.

I haven't heard many specifics but many European countries pay for college for anyone who qualifies, although more of them are turning to a nominal fee based payment system. It is is still a much lower cost than what students pay over here.

One thing it helps address is the overwhelming number of students who are saddled with these huge loans that take forever to pay off. While it probably won't turn into a lot of money over 18 years it should at least double in that amount of time. It could also serve as a carrot to get more kids interested in higher education.

I think the costs could be offset by the current loan and grant system eventually. By my estimates we are talking $20 billion a year with roughly 4 million babies being born. With what we have spent on this war we could have funded this idea for 25 years.

Is it a good plan? I don't know yet but I'm not ready to crap all over it just yet. We have some serious problems with the cost of our higher education systems and it should be a goal to somehow figure out how to make them more affordable for more people.

[Colobo]

43. European countries don't have the massive amount of debt we have.

[Clanfear]

46. Not so.

If you look at this list there are several European countries that have a larger public debt as a percentage of GDP than we do, including Germany, France, and Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_public_debt

[Clintonista2]

45. It's a bond, it's not cash. nt.

[dazzlerazzle]

47. Hillary tosses out the bait

I believe that she kind of embraced this idea floated by someone else for a reason. She will wait for a reaction from an opponent who questions where the money will come from, then she will ask them where the money for the Bush war in Iraq is coming from. Critic's put in their place, "waiter, check please!"
When discussing funding to repair our aging infrastructure, the best argument is that "we are spending billions re-building Iraq, why not our own country?"

[calteacherguy]

49. I agree with you. I don't believe we should be subsidizing having babies. nt

[noamnety]

51. This is an idiotic idea for sure.

Under this, the taxes of hotel maids and janitors would go toward giving a $5,000 fund to people like Paris Hilton so they can "afford" college. That's not social justice.

If it's meant to make college more affordable, she should focus on that - making college more affordable. Put all that money into a fund for Pell Grants, and give out more of those, in larger amounts, to students who need financial aid.

This is worse than repealing progressive tax structures - it's the equivalent of charging everyone $1,000 for income tax, regardless of whether they earned $14,000 or $1,400,000 during a year.

[MGKrebs]

53. Britain is already doing this it seems...

http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article303234.ece

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-banking/article.html?in_article_id=396807&in_page_id=7

[TheFarseer]

56. This is a freaking boondoggle

There are ways to pay for college that don't involve giving away $5,000 to every millionaire and illegal immigrant in the country. What is $5,000 + interest going to do anyways? Maybe pay for a semester? I agree totally with you on birth control.

[Norrin Radd]

62. I'd like my five grand retroactively. n/t

[Adelante]

64. Well, I like the idea

I would like to see it linked to income with a $50,000 (or so) cap. But a government-provided savings bond for poor and working class children to be reserved for college or home ownership has a goal of producing a future society of educated and invested adults of all classes, rather than mostly adults who had better advantaged childhoods. Lifting people up is a Democratic principle that needs reviving. Children who will need a more level playing field going into adulthood might find this small, but anyway there, investment an incentive and their parents might see an opening for economic advancement for their kids instead of yet another generation of struggle in the cycle of poverty.

I imagine the presentation (which was made to a group of legislators) as a universal, rather than anti-poverty benefit, had to do with bettering its chances of eventual acceptance in congress and society at large, because if people are getting something out of it, whether they need it or not, they're more likely to go for it. In addition, it was a mention of a possibility, a topic, not part of a plan or platform, though I would like to see it become a consideration for all of our candidates. It's still good that this discussion take place and I hope it can come to something.

We pay for all kind of anti-social crapola. Paying for something like this would be a relief.

[noamnety]

65. Did you feel the same about Bush's $300 tax refund thingie? (nt)

[Adelante]

68. No nt

[ncteechur]

66. This idea is long overdue.

1. It is a bond--an investment in the children of the country. It is paying a little now
to get a bigger payoff later.

2. It is optimistic. It is saying, "You're an American. We welcome you here. You are part of the family. We have high hopes and big expectations for you."

3. If the kids can see over the years how it grows, it may be an incentive to do well to get the payoff.

4. It is not for and should not be accessed by the parents. If a child dies, the $$ is absorbed back into the country's coffers. Only the child can access it for specific purposes. You can't just cash it out. It can help pay for college, a home downpayment, a catastrophic illness, etc.

5. Let's invest in life for a change instead of death and destruction like the war in Iraq.