Booker bill would create federally funded savings account for every child

[cawacko]

We're going to see more of these progressive legislative proposals as Democratic maneuvering for 2020 begins. They're going to try and out left each other.




Booker bill would create federally funded savings account for every child

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is introducing a bill to give every U.S. child an interest-bearing savings account at birth in an attempt to reverse rising economic inequality.

The bill from Booker, who is seen as a likely 2020 presidential candidate, would create interest-bearing accounts funded by the federal government for each child born in the U.S, according to a summary released Monday.

The accounts would be administered by the Treasury Department and start with a $1,000 principal balance granted by the federal government. The government would then deposit up to $2,000 a year into each child’s account depending on total family income until the recipient turns 18.

The accounts would be federally insured, and the funds could only be used for homeownership and “human and financial capital investments that [change] life trajectories,” according to the summary.

“Everyone in America should have a real shot to succeed, but federal policy over decades and an upside down tax code that heaps benefits on the very rich and big corporations have grown the gap between those who have much and those who have little,” Booker said in a statement.

“Today, nearly one in three American families have zero to negative wealth, and it’s hard to get ahead if you begin life behind the starting line.”

The program would cost roughly $60 billion if implemented in 2019, a Booker aide told The Hill, and would be funded by increasing the capital gains tax rate by 4.2 points, increasing the estate tax to its 2009 level and raising taxes on multimillion-dollar inheritances.

Economic inequality, typically measured by the wealth gap between the richest and poorest Americans, has steadily risen since the 2007-8 financial crisis. While those wealthy enough to invest amid the recession benefited from low interest rates and loose financial conditions established by the Federal Reserve, the resulting spike in equity and property values has left much of the working class behind.

There is also a staggering racial wealth gap resulting from decades of discriminatory laws and business practices that prevented minorities from accessing the same financial products and investments as whites. The median net worth of whites is roughly 10 times larger than of blacks, and nearly 1 in 5 black families have zero or negative net worth, according to Federal Reserve data from 2017.

Booker’s bill is the latest sweeping policy proposal from a 2020 hopeful meant to bolster the economic stability of working- and middle-class Americans. Several of Booker's potential Democratic primary rivals, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) have rolled out bills to bolster the supply of affordable housing and increase low-income household wealth.

A similar federally funded savings program was instituted in Israel last year.



https://thehill.com/policy/finance/4...or-every-child

[archives]

Falls right in line with the David Brooks article you posted the other day about redefining the working class and the loss of manuel labor jobs to robots and productivity based upon consumption

[jimmymccready]

Interesting. Needs some more thought.

[kudzu]

We're going to see more of these progressive legislative proposals as Democratic maneuvering for 2020 begins. They're going to try and out left each other.




Booker bill would create federally funded savings account for every child

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is introducing a bill to give every U.S. child an interest-bearing savings account at birth in an attempt to reverse rising economic inequality.

The bill from Booker, who is seen as a likely 2020 presidential candidate, would create interest-bearing accounts funded by the federal government for each child born in the U.S, according to a summary released Monday.

The accounts would be administered by the Treasury Department and start with a $1,000 principal balance granted by the federal government. The government would then deposit up to $2,000 a year into each child’s account depending on total family income until the recipient turns 18.

The accounts would be federally insured, and the funds could only be used for homeownership and “human and financial capital investments that [change] life trajectories,” according to the summary.

“Everyone in America should have a real shot to succeed, but federal policy over decades and an upside down tax code that heaps benefits on the very rich and big corporations have grown the gap between those who have much and those who have little,” Booker said in a statement.

“Today, nearly one in three American families have zero to negative wealth, and it’s hard to get ahead if you begin life behind the starting line.”

The program would cost roughly $60 billion if implemented in 2019, a Booker aide told The Hill, and would be funded by increasing the capital gains tax rate by 4.2 points, increasing the estate tax to its 2009 level and raising taxes on multimillion-dollar inheritances.

Economic inequality, typically measured by the wealth gap between the richest and poorest Americans, has steadily risen since the 2007-8 financial crisis. While those wealthy enough to invest amid the recession benefited from low interest rates and loose financial conditions established by the Federal Reserve, the resulting spike in equity and property values has left much of the working class behind.

There is also a staggering racial wealth gap resulting from decades of discriminatory laws and business practices that prevented minorities from accessing the same financial products and investments as whites. The median net worth of whites is roughly 10 times larger than of blacks, and nearly 1 in 5 black families have zero or negative net worth, according to Federal Reserve data from 2017.

Booker’s bill is the latest sweeping policy proposal from a 2020 hopeful meant to bolster the economic stability of working- and middle-class Americans. Several of Booker's potential Democratic primary rivals, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) have rolled out bills to bolster the supply of affordable housing and increase low-income household wealth.

A similar federally funded savings program was instituted in Israel last year.



https://thehill.com/policy/finance/4...or-every-child

Wow.. in Israel, huh? Well they do have universal healthcare too.

The middle class in the US has been shrinking for more than 20 years.. Is it possible to turn that around?

[Mott the Hoople]

We're going to see more of these progressive legislative proposals as Democratic maneuvering for 2020 begins. They're going to try and out left each other.




Booker bill would create federally funded savings account for every child

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is introducing a bill to give every U.S. child an interest-bearing savings account at birth in an attempt to reverse rising economic inequality.

The bill from Booker, who is seen as a likely 2020 presidential candidate, would create interest-bearing accounts funded by the federal government for each child born in the U.S, according to a summary released Monday.

The accounts would be administered by the Treasury Department and start with a $1,000 principal balance granted by the federal government. The government would then deposit up to $2,000 a year into each child’s account depending on total family income until the recipient turns 18.

The accounts would be federally insured, and the funds could only be used for homeownership and “human and financial capital investments that [change] life trajectories,” according to the summary.

“Everyone in America should have a real shot to succeed, but federal policy over decades and an upside down tax code that heaps benefits on the very rich and big corporations have grown the gap between those who have much and those who have little,” Booker said in a statement.

“Today, nearly one in three American families have zero to negative wealth, and it’s hard to get ahead if you begin life behind the starting line.”

The program would cost roughly $60 billion if implemented in 2019, a Booker aide told The Hill, and would be funded by increasing the capital gains tax rate by 4.2 points, increasing the estate tax to its 2009 level and raising taxes on multimillion-dollar inheritances.

Economic inequality, typically measured by the wealth gap between the richest and poorest Americans, has steadily risen since the 2007-8 financial crisis. While those wealthy enough to invest amid the recession benefited from low interest rates and loose financial conditions established by the Federal Reserve, the resulting spike in equity and property values has left much of the working class behind.

There is also a staggering racial wealth gap resulting from decades of discriminatory laws and business practices that prevented minorities from accessing the same financial products and investments as whites. The median net worth of whites is roughly 10 times larger than of blacks, and nearly 1 in 5 black families have zero or negative net worth, according to Federal Reserve data from 2017.

Booker’s bill is the latest sweeping policy proposal from a 2020 hopeful meant to bolster the economic stability of working- and middle-class Americans. Several of Booker's potential Democratic primary rivals, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) have rolled out bills to bolster the supply of affordable housing and increase low-income household wealth.

A similar federally funded savings program was instituted in Israel last year.



https://thehill.com/policy/finance/4...or-every-child

Why not fund it by cutting the estate tax back to it's 2002 levels? Let those golden spooned tit sucking trust fund baby's have to earn a living like the rest of us do, while providing a source of funding for social programs like this or for say free public college/vocational education so that todays kids, unlike myself, won't be stradled with 20 to 30 years of debt. You'd also eliminate a debt bubble and you'd be doing what the estate tax is intended to do. Prevent the wealthy few from creating a permanent aristocracy.

Besides, if you can't finance your future off of a $1 million tax free inheritance you're a fucking looser and probably someone who will ever produce anything substantive on their own anyway.

Do you know why the GOP raised the minimum to 11 million? Because that's around the minimum you need to live an upper class life style, by living off the interest, without ever having to work. This is how you create an Aristocracy and not how you pervent one.

So yea... count me in...I'm all for using the Estate Tax for its intended purpose and not molly coddling trust fund babies. Who are some of the least productive people in our society.

[anonymoose]

We're going to see more of these progressive legislative proposals as Democratic maneuvering for 2020 begins. They're going to try and out left each other.

You could at least say Bernie started something. And it should keep hillbag at bay.

[Jack]

Not a new idea:

"To create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property:
And also, the sum of ten pounds per annum, during life, to every person now living, of the age of fifty years, and to all others as they shall arrive at that age."
http://www.constitution.org/tp/agjustice.htm

Thomas Paine ... "Agrarian Justice"

We're going to see more of these progressive legislative proposals as Democratic maneuvering for 2020 begins. They're going to try and out left each other.




Booker bill would create federally funded savings account for every child

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is introducing a bill to give every U.S. child an interest-bearing savings account at birth in an attempt to reverse rising economic inequality.

The bill from Booker, who is seen as a likely 2020 presidential candidate, would create interest-bearing accounts funded by the federal government for each child born in the U.S, according to a summary released Monday.

The accounts would be administered by the Treasury Department and start with a $1,000 principal balance granted by the federal government. The government would then deposit up to $2,000 a year into each child’s account depending on total family income until the recipient turns 18.

The accounts would be federally insured, and the funds could only be used for homeownership and “human and financial capital investments that [change] life trajectories,” according to the summary.

“Everyone in America should have a real shot to succeed, but federal policy over decades and an upside down tax code that heaps benefits on the very rich and big corporations have grown the gap between those who have much and those who have little,” Booker said in a statement.

“Today, nearly one in three American families have zero to negative wealth, and it’s hard to get ahead if you begin life behind the starting line.”

The program would cost roughly $60 billion if implemented in 2019, a Booker aide told The Hill, and would be funded by increasing the capital gains tax rate by 4.2 points, increasing the estate tax to its 2009 level and raising taxes on multimillion-dollar inheritances.

Economic inequality, typically measured by the wealth gap between the richest and poorest Americans, has steadily risen since the 2007-8 financial crisis. While those wealthy enough to invest amid the recession benefited from low interest rates and loose financial conditions established by the Federal Reserve, the resulting spike in equity and property values has left much of the working class behind.

There is also a staggering racial wealth gap resulting from decades of discriminatory laws and business practices that prevented minorities from accessing the same financial products and investments as whites. The median net worth of whites is roughly 10 times larger than of blacks, and nearly 1 in 5 black families have zero or negative net worth, according to Federal Reserve data from 2017.

Booker’s bill is the latest sweeping policy proposal from a 2020 hopeful meant to bolster the economic stability of working- and middle-class Americans. Several of Booker's potential Democratic primary rivals, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) have rolled out bills to bolster the supply of affordable housing and increase low-income household wealth.

A similar federally funded savings program was instituted in Israel last year.



https://thehill.com/policy/finance/4...or-every-child

[Fentoine Lum]

Wow.. in Israel, huh? Well they do have universal healthcare too.

The middle class in the US has been shrinking for more than 20 years.. Is it possible to turn that around?

Not until we the people demand it, no.

[kudzu]

Not until we the people demand it, no.

We could be investing in infrastructure, education and healthcare.. Our priorities are just skewed.

[SmarterthanYou]

I think Ocasio-Cortez should also introduce a bill that gives every graduating high school student a brand new hybrid vehicle and guaranteed employment/paycheck at the college that they choose to attend with free tuition and guaranteed sick days/holiday pay.

[countryboy]

Falls right in line with the David Brooks article you posted the other day about redefining the working class and the loss of manuel labor jobs to robots and productivity based upon consumption

Actually, it falls right in line with the liberal belief that government money comes from the money fairy.

[dukkha]

beyond silly.

[archives]

Actually, it falls right in line with the liberal belief that government money comes from the money fairy.

How, he explained exactly where the funding would come from

[archives]

beyond silly.

"Silly," not any more "silly" than giving a billion dollar stimulus to the wealthy when income inequality in the country is already at a historical level

[cawacko]

Falls right in line with the David Brooks article you posted the other day about redefining the working class and the loss of manuel labor jobs to robots and productivity based upon consumption

To me it's another massive federal program they try to make sound benign at the beginning in terms of cost and what it will do but once unleashed there will be no controlling.