My Mom was wrong: Money does grow on trees ...

[dogtag]

Just ask any Democrat as they seem to know where these trees grow. I wish
I did as the trees where I live just drop leaves all over my roof, so I have to
climb up there and blow them off before the Fire Marshall gets on my case.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/22/17999558/cory-booker-baby-bonds

Give everyone $50,000 ? Now why can't the Republicans
come up with great ideas like that ?

[Vern Humphrey]

Senator Booker is perfectly free to give them all of HIS money that he wants. I want him to keep his hand out of MY pocket, however!

[Mark in Ottawa]

About 20 years ago I was on a familiarization trip to see some of the rural operations of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. At one point we stopped in a small town in the Province of Alberta where the Force had a detachment that policed a nearby Indian Reserve. While driving around the reserve with the sergeant in command of the detachment, I noted that most of the houses were large, new and seemed to have both a pickup truck and a car. He explained that the Reserve was sitting on a lake of oil that was being exploited and that the Band was raking in about $100M per year in royalties. The royalties were being distributed to the Band members; hence the very high living standards. He also said that they had a policy that when the children turned 18 they were given a one time start-up grant of about $20,000. He then asked me, "If you are 18 and are given a pot of money, what you do?" I immediately said I would buy a car. That was correct except that the sergeant said that they either buy a pick up truck or a very powerful car. He then went on to say that the money has not actually cured the social ills of the Band members. They have money but they also have a lot of alcoholism and it shows up about twice a year when the drunk kids in their powerful vehicles play "chicken" and are too drunk or too brave or too stupid to lose and they end up killing 4 to 6 kids at a time.

Bottom line here is that giving large amounts of money to young people with little experience in using money wisely, does not work.

[Vern Humphrey]

About 20 years ago I was on a familiarization trip to see some of the rural operations of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. At one point we stopped in a small town in the Province of Alberta where the Force had a detachment that policed a nearby Indian Reserve. While driving around the reserve with the sergeant in command of the detachment, I noted that most of the houses were large, new and seemed to have both a pickup truck and a car. He explained that the Reserve was sitting on a lake of oil that was being exploited and that the Band was raking in about $100M per year in royalties. The royalties were being distributed to the Band members; hence the very high living standards. He also said that they had a policy that when the children turned 18 they were given a one time start-up grant of about $20,000. He then asked me, "If you are 18 and are given a pot of money, what you do?" I immediately said I would buy a car. That was correct except that the sergeant said that they either buy a pick up truck or a very powerful car. He then went on to say that the money has not actually cured the social ills of the Band members. They have money but they also have a lot of alcoholism and it shows up about twice a year when the drunk kids in their powerful vehicles play "chicken" and are too drunk or too brave or too stupid to lose and they end up killing 4 to 6 kids at a time.

Bottom line here is that giving large amounts of money to young people with little experience in using money wisely, does not work.

And only a fool would think it would.

Children must be raised in hard-working, thrifty families before being given money.

[Vern Humphrey]

There was a book written in the 1950s, Stay Away, Joe, about how many Indian cultures militate against thrift and savings. It was made into a movie. I suspect the behavior in that novel extends to non-Indian cultures as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_Away,_Joe