[jules17]

I understand the logic behind this possible proposal. It just struck me as wrong how often "child born in America" was emphasized.

What about my children?

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

Cut and pasted:

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.

The New York senator did not offer any estimate of the total cost of such a program or how she would pay for it. Approximately 4 million babies are born each year in the United States.

Clinton said such an account program would help people 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.

One way of building a stronger economy, she said, is "more savings, starting with the so-called baby bonds idea where every person born in this country would be given that kind of account because we want to make an investment in America's young people."

She argued that wealthy people "get to have all kinds of tax incentives to save, but most people can't afford to do that."

The proposal was met with enthusiastic applause at an event aimed to encourage young people to excel and engage in politics.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," said Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat who attended the event and has already endorsed Clinton. "Every child born in the United States today owes $27,000 on the national debt, why not let them come get $5,000 to grow until their 18?"

Blake Zeff, a spokesman for the senator's campaign, said a baby bonds program "is not a firm policy proposal but an idea under consideration."

Britain launched a similar program in January 2005, handing out vouchers worth hundreds of dollars each to parents with children born after Sept. 1, 2002.
Earlier this month, Time magazine proposed a $5,000 baby bond program.

[CEB]

The devil is in the details of course. The campaign is using broad language but its not clear what they mean by born (and she should know better than that - kinda like it depends on what the definition of is is). If they mean issued a US birth certificate - well that includes my little one. I dont imagine that the proposal, if it really sees the light of day, would exclude babies born to US parents living overseas although they also woudl technically not be born in this country. Does anyone know how they do it in the UK program mentioned in the article?

[mksilvermoon]

i don't know how it would be implemented in the usa - but for what it is worth - in the United Kingdom/Great Britain this payment is also 'applied'/available to children who have been adopted internationally - would be nice if that was the case in usa too!

MK

[jules17]

Good to know, mksilvermoon.

I'm a bit too literal.

[SKL]

Well, that's an interesting question, and it gets more interesting if your non-US-born child was adopted at, say 10 or 12 years old or older. And then, how would they treat the child of parents who came to the US and became citizens shortly after the child was born overseas? Would children of illegal aliens be included, and what about those born in the US whose parents are here only temporarily (but legally)? Does the child have to be living in the US to cash in on the "bond" later?

I think it's pretty unlikely this will really happen without other benefits (such as the child tax credit) being taken away. However, I could see it possibly happening in an amount much less than $5K. I would think they would put restrictions on it, such as that it would have to be spent on education.

In many European countries, they are giving these payments to encourage population growth, as theirs is shrinking. We don't have that problem here, so the policy behind it would have to be different.

[JillnChris]

I think its a great idea. But who knows if it will every actually happen. It would be interesting to see how many promises presidents made in their campaigns and how many of them actually followed through. I guess part of the problem is that they don't really have the power to implement things if the congress and senate vote against them.

[chester5]

I just e-mailed Hillary's website. If I hear something back, I'll let you know.

[bethy724]

It is so vague - it seems impossible especially since she doesn't know where the $$ would come from. Why doesn't she promote decent wages so people could afford college for their children or regulate colleges that cost a fortune yet they have multi-million dollar budgets for sports teams & entertaining? It is a great topic to get people to think & talk about.

[cjrogers]

First off, I'm a huge fan of hers. (so maybe this is a beware!! )She is all about the women and children - and minorities. I think that her site hosts a lot of her proposals and bills. I think her healthcare plan is fantastic and I know she'd do some work on our HORRIBLE deficit...... She moved from being somewhat "socialist" in the original proposed bill in 93 to a human/capitalist balanced plan that might actually work.

Her site people email me back all of the time... I've also sent her an email about the Guat problems going on... Please do send a post about this - I'd love to know how she plans to work on this bond... Thanks!!!

[Disneycrazed]

hmmm what about service men who are in another country right now and their child is born in that country?

[allerseelen4]

Ummm... that is nice but she probably didn't mention that when the government pays for it, she means that you pay for it. Out of your paycheck. I, for one, have a huge problem with this.
Hilary Clinton is on the record as saying she believes in income redistribution (read: socialism).... in a nutshell, that means she is taking money from the folks that work hard and giving it away.

Remember, the Clintons never met a tax they didn't like. Think about how much YOU could invest for YOUR baby, if you didn't have to pay even more in taxes investing for everyone elses kids.

[JPDakota]

Ditto allerseelen4!
Work with me here. I have 1 child. She has a savings account for college. It will far exceed $5,000 because her Dad and I will put money in there. Now, if Sen. Clinton gets her half-brained idea passed, then the government will take more money from ME to give other kids a savings account for college, etc. Huh? Then I can't take care of my own child's future because I'm taking care of someone else's kid's future? Yet again, the working class foots the bill. We are the government, and there ain't nothin' free.

[PorkChop]

Children born in the US? Hmmm, let me get this straight. My child, who is a legal US citizen, and whose mother now owes an arm and a leg in adoption loans just so she could be a LEGAL citizen of the US, would not qualify for this $5,000 because she was not "born in the US"?

However, any child born in the US to an ILLEGAL immigrant is automatically a citizen of the US and WILL get this $5,000. What's wrong with this picture?

And to add fuel to the fire, I already pay for their health care plan (Medicaid) through my taxes. And I pay for MY child's health care plan through premiums and deductibles and copays. So now I'm supposed to pay for their savings account AND my child's savings account, too?

Me thinks I smell a rat.

(and please don't take this to mean I do not approve of immigrants. I approve of all LEGAL immigrants. My mother was one in 1959, and my child was one in 2006!)

[allerseelen4]

Go Pork Chop!

By the way, my dog's nickname is Pork Chop.

[gwenrenee007]

I like Hillary, but I don't see this plan as a good one. I guess in theroy it would be good, but we are going to be the ones paying for it so why not everyone pay for their own children. I will likely only have 1 or 2 children - so why would I want to pay for someone who has 5 or 10 children.

I really don't think she meant any harm with her American born words, I would "think" that it would include any children that are adopted to the US no matter what age. With that said, I really don't see it happening or even possible to accomplish.