Michael and Susan Dell pledged Tuesday to donate $250 savings accounts to as many as 25 million American children. That adds up to $6.25 billion that the couple could have spent on yachts, jets, islands, and gold toilets. Kudos to them.
President Donald Trump called the Dells’ gift “one of the most generous acts in the history of our country.” And indeed, it comes with good intentions, and measured strictly in dollar terms, it may be.
Another thing the Dells deserve credit for is making an effort to direct their money so it doesn’t go to those who need it the least. Their grant is limited to children in zip codes with median incomes below $150,000. That’s still well above the median U.S. household income ($83,730 last year), and will cover most of the country, but it does carve out people living in the wealthiest areas.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the government savings program that the Dells are supplementing through their generosity, which will help upper-middle-class and middle-class families far more than working-class and poor families. That’s not on the Dells; it’s on Congress and President Trump.
