October 23, 2008
Killing 401Ks
Yes, the Democrat Congress & President Obama could be this dumb.
House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her idea to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created "guaranteed retirement accounts" for every worker. The government would deposit $600 (inflation indexed) every year into the GRAs. Each worker would also have to save 5 percent of pay into the accounts, to which the government would pay a measly 3 percent return. Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, said that since "the savings rate isn't going up for the investment of $80 billion [in 401(k) tax breaks], we have to start to think about whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that's not generating what we now say it should."2008 Posted by AlexC at October 23, 2008 6:51 PM
As the WSJ Ed Page says The election is still two weeks away, but we are already living in the world of Obamanomics"
Posted by: jk at October 23, 2008 7:36 PMAnd guess what: that's not real interest. That's interest we're paying to...ourselves. There's a reason the Social Security "bonds" are disparaged as "I-owe-me" notes.
Yeah. I'm going to go increase my net worth by writing a check to my savings account, with a promissory note to repay the checking account at interest. Yeah.
Soon it'll be time to start dealing purely in cash: getting paid in cash and paying for things in cash, and resultingly hiding from the IRS, just so you have a chance of scraping by without the goddamn tyrants stealing every last penny.
It'll be hard, but we're incredibly (I say that in the sense of "beyond believing") getting to the point of Soviet communism: work for no pay, only rations and coupons the government gives us. The feds are nationalizing the major industries (finance/banking, energy, health care, education and insurance), so what's left? Most farmers are already on the federal dole, and "American" automakers are being bailed out. We're already headed for UK/Canada-style "free" health care (for which we must make appointments months in advance). Once private schools are shut down via regulations, we'll have no choice -- meaning with guns pointed at our heads -- but to send our children to whatever "free" schools the government runs.
People always think "It could never happen here," but then it does, and 20 years later they wonder how it slipped under their noses.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at October 24, 2008 1:49 PMThe 401k remains the strongest link of middle class Americans to the ownership society. The enemies of freedom would be wise to try to kill it at this one point of history when its popularity is down.
"Whew, we almost let a few of those bastards get off the Government dole there. Thank God we killed it in time!"
Posted by: jk at October 24, 2008 2:29 PM | What do you think? [3]