Share the Wealth
I was just doing my nightly web-check before I head off to bed, and found this on the Yahoo! home page...
"The ASPIRE Act would give each child born in the United States a $500 savings account. Recipients could then use that money once they were older to pay for education, a first home, or retirement. Low-income children would receive additional funding, and all participants could add to their accounts over time." (The full article can be read here.)
The "$500" part is what initally caught my eye, so I clicked the article and began reading. At first I was like "oh. thats pretty neat. helping babies get a jump start on their future." But then upon reading further, I began to question the concept. If the government just freely gives that money (OUR TAX DOLLARS that could be spent on our own education or future ventures) to any baby born in the United States, then not only could they take it away at any time, but they would practically own you. They are putting it all under the guise of "economy stimulation" by investing the money in a "diversified stock portfolio," but really? What on earth does that mean?
If the money was truly invested in a myriad of diverse businesses, then the babies would not end up with an even amount of money in the end because of the stock market's moody fluxuations. Who would get to decide where the money could be invested. Surely not the parents of the child. That would be too good to be true.
Another thing that caught my eye, and gave me the whole idea of blogging on this topic was the part that says, "Low-income children would receive additional funding..." WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE? It is taking money from the working class via taxes, and sharing it with the less fortunate via handout. What a great idea! I mean come on; why did we not think of this one before now? Oh. wait. Maybe because it's SOCIALISM? Yet another tax that will be added to the 30% per year any tax-paying American is already dishing out. I have this picture in my head of a pie chart. Pretend you did some work for your boss and rather than getting paid with money, you get paid with a pie. Your boss says that you can eat the entire rest of the pie after you give a piece to your mother. Your boss tells you that you have to give your mom exactly 1/4 of it. No problem. You'll get to eat the other 3/4 yourself! Then, she says that you have to give 1/8 to your dad, and another 1/8 to your brother in addition to the 1/4 you are giving your mom before you get to eat any of it yourself.
SO now, whats left for you to enjoy? 1/2. Thats it. And really, would it even be so bad if you got to give some of your pie (money) to your family members to the betterment of their future? Nope. Probably not. But the problem lies in the fact that we don't get to choose where we get to invest a large portion of our money, and the more the government begins to take out of my paycheck the more Johnny Pot-Head down the street will be getting instead of ME. The one who actually did the work to earn the money in the first place.
Is there a solution? Sure there is. Don't give so many people hand-outs of MY money. Now if the government were to take a portion of the 30% of tax dollars that the parents of the child would already be paying to set aside in a bank account until the child was older, the whole senario would be completely different. But, unfortunately, I don't think thats how this one is going to work. There needs to be more public acredibility for government spending. After all, this is a country Constitutionally founded based on the idea of "for, by, and of" the people, right? Honesty and no loop-holes is what I would like to see.
I'd love to get some other opinions on this, so feel free to comment with your thoughts.
"The ASPIRE Act would give each child born in the United States a $500 savings account. Recipients could then use that money once they were older to pay for education, a first home, or retirement. Low-income children would receive additional funding, and all participants could add to their accounts over time." (The full article can be read here.)
The "$500" part is what initally caught my eye, so I clicked the article and began reading. At first I was like "oh. thats pretty neat. helping babies get a jump start on their future." But then upon reading further, I began to question the concept. If the government just freely gives that money (OUR TAX DOLLARS that could be spent on our own education or future ventures) to any baby born in the United States, then not only could they take it away at any time, but they would practically own you. They are putting it all under the guise of "economy stimulation" by investing the money in a "diversified stock portfolio," but really? What on earth does that mean?
If the money was truly invested in a myriad of diverse businesses, then the babies would not end up with an even amount of money in the end because of the stock market's moody fluxuations. Who would get to decide where the money could be invested. Surely not the parents of the child. That would be too good to be true.
Another thing that caught my eye, and gave me the whole idea of blogging on this topic was the part that says, "Low-income children would receive additional funding..." WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE? It is taking money from the working class via taxes, and sharing it with the less fortunate via handout. What a great idea! I mean come on; why did we not think of this one before now? Oh. wait. Maybe because it's SOCIALISM? Yet another tax that will be added to the 30% per year any tax-paying American is already dishing out. I have this picture in my head of a pie chart. Pretend you did some work for your boss and rather than getting paid with money, you get paid with a pie. Your boss says that you can eat the entire rest of the pie after you give a piece to your mother. Your boss tells you that you have to give your mom exactly 1/4 of it. No problem. You'll get to eat the other 3/4 yourself! Then, she says that you have to give 1/8 to your dad, and another 1/8 to your brother in addition to the 1/4 you are giving your mom before you get to eat any of it yourself.
SO now, whats left for you to enjoy? 1/2. Thats it. And really, would it even be so bad if you got to give some of your pie (money) to your family members to the betterment of their future? Nope. Probably not. But the problem lies in the fact that we don't get to choose where we get to invest a large portion of our money, and the more the government begins to take out of my paycheck the more Johnny Pot-Head down the street will be getting instead of ME. The one who actually did the work to earn the money in the first place.
Is there a solution? Sure there is. Don't give so many people hand-outs of MY money. Now if the government were to take a portion of the 30% of tax dollars that the parents of the child would already be paying to set aside in a bank account until the child was older, the whole senario would be completely different. But, unfortunately, I don't think thats how this one is going to work. There needs to be more public acredibility for government spending. After all, this is a country Constitutionally founded based on the idea of "for, by, and of" the people, right? Honesty and no loop-holes is what I would like to see.
I'd love to get some other opinions on this, so feel free to comment with your thoughts.
Obama is ruining our country.
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