MSNBC editor Ryan Teague Beckwith believes Republicans have given life to a good idea — sort of.
As many on the left call ‘Trump Saving Accounts’ for kids a political gimmick or a bad policy, Beckwith claimed it's a great idea in his Monday column.
This is because it “borrows the basic framework from a "baby bonds" proposal that Democratic Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Ayanna Pressley pushed unsuccessfully throughout President Joe Biden's administration.”
“Under the Booker-Pressley proposal, every child would get $1,000 in a savings account and as much as $2,000 more each year up to age 18, depending on the family's income,” Beckwith recalled.
“By contrast, the Trump accounts only include the initial $1,000 deposit, though parents could add up to $5,000 a year of their own money up to age 18.” He added, “Those seemingly minor changes make a huge difference.”
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Democrats shouldn’t be poo-pooing the idea in the slightest, according to Beckwith. “The biggest mistake that both Republicans and Democrats make when considering a proposal from the other side is to treat it as static," he wrote.
"Good ideas often start as bad ones, and good policies often grow out of flawed ones.”
“The four-year time limit might even be a blessing in disguise, as it gives the next president an obvious demand to ‘extend the Trump Accounts’ while tinkering with them to make them more like the Booker-Pressley baby bonds,” the editor added.
“If they're smart, they'll even leave the Trump name on them, to make it that much more painful for Republicans to vote against the extension,” he wrote. “The fact that they began under a Republican president will also make it easier to respond to wild claims of ‘socialism.’"
Beckwith noted, “Like the kids they're meant to help, the Trump baby bonds are still in their infancy. But one day, they might grow up to be something great.”