Investing in the Future

This is an intriguing bill. Some California legislatures would like to provide every newborn in California with a $500 savings account for them to use as they wish when they turn 18 (say, for college, or for the down payment on a home). It's would be a $283 million dollar annual investment in the state's people, an opportunity for kids to lighten their debt burden and use the magic of compound interest to give them a real head start in life. Such a system has been in place in Great Britain since 2002. Interestingly, it's a bipartisan bill (about as frequent in California as a Britney Spears book on proper parenting), promoted by Sens. Darrell Steinberg (D) and Bob Dutton (R).

Fox News' story on the bill made sure to mention that children of immigrants - IMMIGRANTS! - would be eligible for the account, forgetting the fact that children born in this country are American citizens, and that any money for the account would not be available until the child turned 18 (but if illegals came to our country, and waited 18 years... they'd be taking our money!).

One of the biggest problems we have in our society is the negative savings rate, which ensures that everyone in the country is in hock to credit card or student loan companies for most of their young adult years. Giving Californians a chance to stay in the black, and teaching them the value of saving money, is the least we can do for our citizens.