Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) said that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 "baby bond" from the government. Clinton made the suggestion during a forum hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus.

"I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 government bond that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18 if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that down payment on their first home," Clinton said.

The plan would be funded by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. “Most taxpayers have more money than they need,” Clinton asserted. “When I’m president, the government will take this money away from them and put it to better use.”

Clinton said such a program “would help build a stronger economy by making an investment in America's young people."

The idea of encouraging savings that would grow over time is a key feature of President Bush’s proposal to permit private investment accounts as a way of rescuing the Social Security system from insolvency. Asked if her new enthusiasm for saving and growth meant she was reconsidering her opposition to Bush’s proposal for Social Security reform, Clinton said “No, the president’s plan is predicated on private accounts and individual decisions. He would allow people to choose their own investments. That is too much latitude. We need an approach aimed at the collective good. The government bond in my proposal will ensure that the funds remain securely in the government’s hands.”

NY Governor Wants Illegals to Get Driver Licenses

The revelation that the 9/11 hijackers had accumulated 35 driver licenses from states with lax requirements led Republican Governor George Pataki to issue an executive order in 2002 requiring driver's license applicants to submit Social Security numbers, to prove that they were legal residents, or provide proof that they were ineligible for a Social Security card.

Under Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer’s new policy, foreign passports and birth certificates will be enough to obtain a New York driver’s license. Spencer claims this will make the state’s roads safer.

“Look, people have to drive,” Spitzer explained. “It’s better that they get licenses than drive without them. It’ll be safer, at least that way they’ll have to pass a test.”

Spitzer pointed out that while they are getting their licenses, these “undocumented workers” could also register to vote. “These hard-working Latinos are currently underrepresented in our government,” Spitzer said. “They pay taxes. They have needs. They should be brought into the system instead of being forced to live in the shadows.”

Homosexual Protections Tacked onto Defense Appropriation Bill

The Senate has adopted legislation giving homosexuals additional protections under federal hate-crime laws and attached the measure to the defense authorization bill, daring President Bush to veto it.

Chief sponsor of the gay protection provision, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), congratulated himself for the strategy of attaching it to the defense authorization bill. "The president of the United States has never vetoed, in the history of the United States, a defense authorization bill," Kennedy said. “By linking gay rights and national defense we give the president the choice of supporting or abandoning both.”

Kennedy maintained that the linkage was relevant because of “the continued terrorizing of gays by the heterosexual community.” “We don’t allow gays to marry,” Kennedy pointed out. “They must resort to artificial mechanisms if they want to have children. They are exposed to deadly diseases that are virtually unknown among the rest of society. They’re the butt lewd jokes. Daily humiliation is their lot in life. They need this extra protection.”

Under Kennedy’s bill, anyone convicted of a crime against a gay person would face doubled penalties. Defendants who cannot prove that they have at least “experimented” with homosexuality would be classified as prima facie anti-gay and subject to the doubled penalty.

A potential filibuster of the gay provision was headed off by Kennedy’s argument that if he had been gay, Mary Jo Kopechne would still be alive today. 

Gore Continues to Rebuff Debate Challenges

Former Vice President Al Gore, the most prominent proponent of the theory of human-caused, global warming, continues to rebuff repeated challenges to debate the issue. The latest challenge came from Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Others have come from climatologist Dennis Avery, director of the Center for Global Food Issues, Lord Monckton, former adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Professor Scott Armstrong of the University of Pennsylvania.

Gore insists that there is nothing to debate, citing his Oscar Award as the conclusive demonstration of the validity of his contention that the planet is doomed unless his prescription for total government control of the environment is adopted. “My film on global warming won an Oscar,” Gore reminded. “Can any of these so-called challengers say the same for their ideas? It should be obvious that they’re not in the same league as me. This will be further verified when I win the Nobel Prize.”

Congressman Wants Crackdown on “McMansions”

Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.) wants to eliminate the mortgage tax deduction on what he calls "McMansions." “People’s homes are just getting too big,” Dingell said. “There’s no need for the average American family to live in a house larger than 3,000 square feet. It wastes energy.”

“In Europe, the average person lives in a 1,000 square foot home and rides a bus to work,” Dingell said. “Americans need to take a lesson from this and live more modestly. My proposal will help give them the incentive to do so.”

Dingell dismissed comparisons with the 30,000 square foot homes of such luminaries as former vice-president Al Gore and former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) as “irrelevant.” “These gentlemen have made greater than average contributions to their country,” Dingell said. “They deserve greater than average rewards. They can’t be fairly compared to your run-of-the-mill, 9 to 5, clock-puncher.”

Currently, the average U.S. home is around 2,300 square feet.

University Program Excluded Jews

Until an Israeli protest induced a revision in the rules, a U.S. State Department-funded University of California business training program for residents of the Middle East specifically excluded Jews. Charlotte Tan, spokesman for the university defended the exclusion saying that “training Jews in business would be like ‘preaching to the choir.’ They already know how to make money.”

Group Says Voter ID Laws Aim at Curbing Democratic Turnout

A group called the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights is mounting legal challenges to state laws that require voters to show photo IDs before being allowed to cast ballots.

“Proponents of these laws say that they’re just trying to prevent voter fraud,” said Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights spokesman, Jonathan Crooke. “The problem is that any so-called anti-fraud measure always has a disproportionate impact on Democratic voters—many of whom are unemployed, poorly educated and non-English-speaking minorities.”

Crooke observed that it was ironic that many would-be Democratic voters who have solid photo IDs are barred from voting because the photo ID is a prison “mug shot.”

Poll Shows Support for Bill Clinton Policy Role in Hillary’s Administration

A USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans about Bill Clinton's possible role as First Spouse and found that 53 percent of Americans say they would like him to play an active policy-making role in his wife's administration. 44 percent say they would prefer that he “diddle the hired help.”

Arlene Portman, a poll respondent from Arkansas, said she is looking forward to a resumption of the Clinton presidency. “We had peace and prosperity during the first Clinton Administration,” Portman said. “Hillary is hard to take, but it’s the price we have to pay to get Bill back in the White House.”

“Bush is boring,” said Chuck Walla, a respondent from Washington. “He’s all ‘fighting for freedom and democracy against the terrorists.’ I’m tired of it. I loved the sex, lies and video tape of the first Clinton Administration. I’m looking forward to more of the same in the second.”