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To address wealth gap, WA to consider $4,000 ‘baby bonds’
The Seattle Times ^ | December 1, 2022 | By Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks

Posted on 12/02/2022 8:28:17 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

A new proposal coming to the Washington Legislature for consideration next year aims to break the cycle of poverty that’s trapped families like Bereskin’s and lift future generations of low-income residents toward a path of financial independence.

The Washington Future Fund would create a pool of money that every child born under the state’s Medicaid program, Apple Health, could access a portion of upon adulthood to use toward homeownership, education or pursuing a small business.

The trusts are intended to even the financial playing field for lower-income residents by providing a chance to catch up to their wealthier peers.

Beginning in 2024, a minimum of $4,000 would be set aside for each eligible child to access when they’re 18 to 35 years old. The program would cost about $150 million annually, according to state estimates, with the first investment coming from the general fund, the principal fund used to support the operation of the state.

Momentum around the policy idea picked up steam in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, as lawmakers turned to the baby bonds model as a way of addressing longstanding racial and economic inequities.

About 30% of Washington households of color lack the sufficient net worth to subsist at the poverty level for three months without income, compared with about 18% of white households, according to a 2018 report by Prosperity Now, a nonprofit focused on serving low-income communities. Households of color in the state are also 1.5 times more likely than white households to have zero or negative net worth, according to the report.

(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: babybonds; democrats; redistribution; socialism; wa
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1 posted on 12/02/2022 8:28:17 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Sounds legit.


2 posted on 12/02/2022 8:28:59 AM PST by crusty old prospector
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

***aims to break the cycle of poverty***

I thought Lying Lyndon Johnson solved poverty back in 1964 with his”War on Poverty!”

I still remember an old political cartoon showing a hillbilly lounging on his porch. His wife, reading a newspaper says to him...”It says here the President has declared WAR ON POVERTY!”
The Hillbilly replies..”Well if he wants me, he is going to have to draft me!”


3 posted on 12/02/2022 8:34:01 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (BACK in Facebook Jail for quoting a line from the Dean Martin movie "Rough Night In Jericho.")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Excuse me.

Give away your own damn money.


4 posted on 12/02/2022 8:34:19 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer” )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Just in time for all the illegal aliens.

Oregon has a similar plan of destruction through health care for illegals.


5 posted on 12/02/2022 8:34:52 AM PST by Cold Heart ("Miracle Grow for tumors")
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Poverty is a cultural phenomena. See lottery winners.


6 posted on 12/02/2022 8:35:19 AM PST by dsrtsage ( Complexity is just simple lacking imagination)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Redistribution of wealth.

We’re just going full communist.


7 posted on 12/02/2022 8:36:16 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (We are already in a revolutionary period, and the Rule of Law means nothing. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

How does a government hand-out put anyone on a path of financial independence?


8 posted on 12/02/2022 8:37:22 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: ClearCase_guy
Redistribution of wealth.

We’re just going full communist.

They've lessened the direct redistribution of wealth. Since Covid, the preferred model has been trillion dollar federal aid packages to states, "paid for" by mass printing of money.

The redistribution is now largely indirect, which is politically easier. Redistribution by devaluing currency, which punishes savers and rewards spendthrifts.

9 posted on 12/02/2022 8:40:59 AM PST by Angelino97
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

At least it isn’t one of those radical proposals to teach children to read, write and count...


10 posted on 12/02/2022 8:45:32 AM PST by eyeamok (founded in cynicism, wrapped in sarcasm)
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To: dsrtsage

This is a stimulus package for the hooker and blow industries.


11 posted on 12/02/2022 8:46:00 AM PST by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I never ceased to be amazed by this country. Pay to kill babies in the womb, but give them money if they are born.


12 posted on 12/02/2022 8:46:45 AM PST by SaxxonWoods (The only way to secure your own future is to create it yourself.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I hope Gavin Newsom gets wind of this and sends me a check. I’m experiencing a wealth gap here in southern California. The cost of living is outrageous.

/sarc


13 posted on 12/02/2022 8:47:15 AM PST by Deo volente ("When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God's creation." Pres. Trump)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
People who make poor financial decisions will never get out of their hole. You can't fix stupid.
14 posted on 12/02/2022 8:50:35 AM PST by kickstart ("A gun is a tool. It is only as good or as bad as the man who uses it" . Alan Ladd in 'Shane' )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Only good solution to remove poverty is create more high paying manufacturing jobs. Those jobs were sent to China by greedy corporations for cheaper workers. Service and retail does not create prosperity.
Only wealth creators are:
Manufacturing
Mining
Agriculture


15 posted on 12/02/2022 8:50:43 AM PST by entropy12 (Food is most popular anxiety drug, exercise is the least popular.)
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To: crusty old prospector

By the time they are 18, a single trip for a week’s groceries will cost $4000


16 posted on 12/02/2022 8:52:11 AM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: Oldeconomybuyer; All

I surmise that WA lawmakers are products of WA public schools.


17 posted on 12/02/2022 8:53:54 AM PST by Amendment10
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Filthy commie scum


18 posted on 12/02/2022 8:55:44 AM PST by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

When did we empower our government to engage in these activities with our money.


19 posted on 12/02/2022 9:00:31 AM PST by VTenigma (Conspiracy theory is the new "spoiler alert")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

So Momma will be havin 9-10 keedz again since she expects to cash in bout time she retires.

Where will the money come from then? When the state is majority moron?


20 posted on 12/02/2022 9:02:32 AM PST by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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