by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
At least the LA Times is considering this idea on the merits. Encouraging working Americans to save and build assets is a key part of building the middle class. Baby bonds are something that anti-poverty-centric candidate John Edwards has said good things about these sorts of plans before. As far as I can tell, the points against the idea are:
- It came out of Hillary Clinton's mouth
- Republican candidates came out against it
- The name "baby bonds" somehow makes it sound unserious
None of which are good reasons to oppose her policy. Bill Clinton supported a very similar looking proposal for cleverly named Universal Savings Accounts ... or "USA Accounts", for maximum political advantage. Sadly, most links to Clinton's proposals consist of right-wing "think tank" pieces opposing the idea. But it was important enough to Clinton that they made it into his final State of the Union address.
