I had an earlier post from May, 2011, via Denninger.
And now there's this from the National Seniors Council: Obama Begins Push for New National Retirement System --
Maybe they benefit the people who saved their money and didn't buy $150 jeans or $300 sneakers.A recent hearing sponsored by the Treasury and Labor Departments marked the beginning of the Obama Administration’s effort to nationalize the nation’s pension system and to eliminate private retirement accounts including IRA’s and 401k plans, NSC is warning.~
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Deputy Treasury Secretary J. Mark Iwry, who presided over the hearing, is a long-time critic of 401k plans because he believes they benefit the rich.
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"This effort ultimately is designed to grab the retirement nest eggs of America’s senior citizens. This new government annuity scheme, even if it is at first optional, will turn into a giant effort to redistribute the wealth of America’s older citizens," explains Crone. "This scheme mirrors what I expect the President will try to do with Social Security. He wants to turn that program into a welfare program, too."
We knew this was coming because Social Security and especially Medicare are not sustainable. Instead of doing the smart thing and encouraging younger people to invest and save, they will just steal from those who have acted prudently. This probably goes nowhere, but given the re-election of the HKB*, who knows.
* Half-Kenyan Bastard, and, note, I am not a "birther".
Ok, before I get too worked up, I noticed the article was vague on the date of the hearing. Is this new news or recycled? I am keeping an eye out for 401k grabbing, believe me. I have convinced myself that this may not be as big a threat as I had previously thought because I don't think the big investment houses will fork over all those accounts to Uncle and lose all their maintenance fees.
ReplyDeleteDigging around, it looks like everything on the site is from last year, so there is a good chance this article is, too. I ran across it in a cross-posting on another site earlier today, so I assumed it was recent. Thanks for catching that.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think I'll leave it up since the dynamics of what they think they can get away with have changed. It won't make it through the House in this Congress, but the left will try to lay groundwork for something like this ahead of time. Nip it in the bud, as Deputy Fife would say, if it does show up.
That's a good point about the mutual funds. And, too, the government pulling that money out of the market -- a lot will be in equities -- would cause a crash. I wonder if they have thought of that?