In September 2007, Hillary proposed giving every American child a $5,000 “baby bond” at birth. The Republican National Committee immediately condemned it as a “budget busting baby fund.” Rudy Giuliani dismissed it as pure “pandering” to voters.
They were right then. What changed?
Trump’s version offers $1,000 per child — originally branded “MAGA Accounts,” now called “Trump Accounts.” With around 4 million births annually, taxpayers face a minimum $4 billion yearly obligation. The same policy framework Republicans spent months attacking has somehow become Republican orthodoxy. //
From a corporate finance perspective, this program creates perverse incentives that benefit wealthy families and financial institutions while providing minimal help to working Americans.
The structure allows families to contribute an additional $5,000 annually to these government-seeded accounts. Wealthy families who can afford maximum contributions receive ongoing tax shelters, while working families get a one-time $1,000 payment they likely can’t afford to supplement.
Meanwhile, Wall Street firms are already positioning to manage these accounts. Billions in new assets under management mean substantial fee income for financial institutions. Taxpayers fund the initial deposits, Wall Street collects the management fees, and wealthy families get tax advantages — a perfect trifecta for everyone except the middle class citizens who foot the bill.
Trump’s version contains another critical flaw that makes it worse than Hillary’s income-restricted proposal: no income limits and minimal citizenship verification. While children must be U.S. citizens, parents only need Social Security numbers.
This creates a massive incentive for illegal border crossings. //
Genuine America First policy should focus on proven strategies: cutting spending so working people aren’t killed by government-caused inflation, reducing regulatory burdens on small businesses, curtailing the skyrocketing costs of health insurance by repealing Obamacare, and eliminating corporate welfare programs that benefit connected elites.
Instead of creating new government programs, Republicans should expand existing vehicles like Education Savings Accounts and Health Savings Accounts that already provide tax advantages without requiring taxpayer funding.
Real pro-family policy means letting families keep more of their own money through tax cuts and other conservative reforms, not redistributing taxpayer dollars through government accounts managed by Wall Street firms.
President Trump and Sen. Cruz are sound conservatives who received bad advice from establishment insiders. But they can still correct course.
The test of conservative leadership isn’t avoiding all mistakes — it’s recognizing bad advice quickly and changing direction.
