(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 they're 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."
Republican rival Rudy Giuliani criticized the idea, saying on the Sean Hannity radio show that the Clinton campaign is "based on pandering to the point where I think they think the American people are stupid."
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.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Gender: Male Location: Dreaming...Or am I living...
Could be an interesting idea.
But probably more Hillary crowd pleasing blather.
Oh well. Not expecting any more from here, and thats probably why I'm voting Edwards.
You're bitching about $20 billion a year, KidRock? Then man, you must really be pissed about the $106.75 billion per year we've been wasting in Iraq. Without that, we could repair our bridges, fix our mine network, properly respond to natural disasters like hurricanes, all sorts of other things that are more of a danger to our national security than Iraq.
And for your information, babies born in the United States aren't illegal immigrants.
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Last edited by Strangelove on Sep 30th, 2007 at 10:08 AM
Depends whether or not they are in America at the time of being called that, and if they are abroad, whether or not they went through the proper entry channels..
Seriously though, I cant see how that schemes gonna work.
Gender: Female Location: every which way but loose
Just sayin'
There's no guarantee the money given freely would be used positively. Don't be blinded by patriotism, you know drug use is rife in every country. How many babies a year are born in American alone? Remind me.
I'm not being nationalistic, I'm just saying that it's unlikely that government-funded bank accounts are going to fall victim to drug users. I'm pretty sure there would regulations on how the money could be used. Require documentation for where the money is going, such as college expenses, loan on a new house, etc. That's how I'd run it, anyway.
And I'm sure there would be a few problems, like excellent forgeries of aforementioned documentation, but that happens.
Oh no, America using ideas that Europe is using, how ****ing aweful. Socialism in America is the worst thing ever. How dare the government help it's people.
Giving money to new born babies is great. Then you guys can actually get decent homes, education, healthcare, etc.
"but but but lets not look at this problem..lets instead try and divert attention over to the problems republicans cause, because that is a very valid argument!"
Keep your socialism bullshit out of this country.
lol chump change..just more money coming out of my pocket.
I was pointing out the obvious flaws in your argument. $20 billion is nothing compared to military action such as in Iraq. And giving money to American children does not help illegal immigrants.
Well to each their own I guess. If this ever does get passed it will be a sad day in America..and if Hilary Hitler gets elected and also brings universal health care to America we will get raped even more by the taxes.
KMC Community Forums
Sep 30th, 2007 07:20 AM
You give up too easy. I'd be arguing with some other GDFer for hours about this.
