If you haven't heard, the state of California is making a convincing push toward seceding from the union and becoming a socialist breeding ground. What I am referring to here is a new bill (entitled SB 752) introduced in the California state Senate that would give every child born on or after Jan. 1, 2008 a $500 savings account. However noble it is to build a nest egg for the child's future, I feel the bill is absolutely absurd and not well thought out.
My problem with the bill is this -- who is going to pay? It has been estimated this bill would cost taxpayers a whopping $285 million per year. Objecting to this bill might sound rude, insensitive and downright ignorant. Who wouldn't want children to have financial stability in the future? That is simply not the issue. The bill's sponsors say that if families put $50 per month into the account, it could grow to $17,500 by the time the child reaches age 18 when he or she could begin using the money. The money could only be used for one of three purposes: college, a home down payment or a retirement account.
I guess we can just put capitalism to the side and start handing out money to everyone.
Forgive me for sounding greedy, but I do not want my tax dollars liberally handed out to every child just for being born. I understand that this is happening in California, but remember that disease has a tendency to spread.
What's the worst problem of all? This bill does not take into account the immigration status of the parents. This means the children of illegal immigrants who are simply born in the United States would also be entitled to the money. We might as well open our borders so everyone across the world can give birth to their children here and have money handed to them.
As if it wasn't bad enough, the child would also be required to repay the initial $500 investment when he or she turns 18. Now the government will have a $500 claim on each and every human being born in the state of California.
Also, what would happen to the money if the child were to die before reaching age 18? Would the government keep the taxpayers money? Would it go to the parents? Unfortunately, we do not know because the geniuses who wrote the bill did not cover the issue of death.
Should we really be surprised at something like this coming out of the liberal disaster that is California? I'm not surprised at all.
This is the same state that has attempted to make it a crime for you to spank your children. I don't know that I would spank my children, but I am certainly not in a position to tell someone else how to parent theirs. And, as far as I am concerned, neither is the government.
This is also the same state where a federal judge ruled that Jessica's Law could not be applied retroactively. In other words, sex offenders living within 2,000 feet of child-gathering places before the law went into effect do not have to follow the law. Don't you wish all laws worked that way?
Obviously, the bill in question would require a lot of work in order for it to pass. I highly doubt it will gain enough support to become law. However, in the state of California virtually anything absurd is possible.
Geographically and meteorologically speaking, California is probably an amazing state. From a political standpoint, the state of California is another story entirely. I prefer American politics to have some underlying logic and remain democratically intact.
To quote comedian Fred Allen: "California is a fine place to live--if you happen to be an orange."
