The leftist want more of your money

Independent retirement accounts (401k, IRAs, etc) have been a target of the leftists for years. They allow individuals to accumulate wealth that is not controllable by the government which gives men and women true liberty. It comes as no surprise that the leftist want to seize you money.

A couple of years ago Barney Frank and other socialists held hearing on changing the 401k. It’s really interesting that hearing the key speaker Teresa Ghilarducci, an econ professor really likes the government taking over personal assets:

On Oct. 7, they heard testimony from Teresa Ghilarducci, an economics professor from The New School for Social Research in New York. She proposed a radical, short-term fix, where 401(k) plans would be turned over to a guaranteed retirement account composed of government bonds earning a 3 percent annual return, adjusted for inflation.

When workers begin collecting Social Security, the account would pay them an inflation-adjusted annuity, based on the accumulated funds. For example, a 55-year-old worker with $50,000 in a 401(k) account in August would swap out the $50,000 for a guarantee of $500 per month in retirement.

Q: What about a long-term solution?

A: Chilarducci proposed the creation of universal guaranteed retirement accounts in which the federal government invests $600 for every worker. Workers would put 5 percent of their pay in and the account would earn a guaranteed 3 percent rate of return, plus inflation. The cost of this plan would be offset by doing away with most tax breaks currently offered on 401(k) accounts, so the government wouldn’t have to pay any more than it does now. The accounts would be safer and guarantee all workers an income during retirement.

Q: What are the chances one of these proposals will be implemented?

A: That’s probably not very likely right now — but if they get backed by enough political will, who knows? There certainly is a groundswell of concern over the current system, considering that many workers have lost half of their retirement funds in the stock market.

Why bring this up now? Well, they are moving forward with the attempt. In February the Obama regime released its “Annual Report on the Middle Class” and Little Joe Biden floated the idea in the propaganda. At least the Republicans have sent him a letter to the tax cheat Geithner and the Labor Secretary on this matter and are starting to raise the issue.

At no surprise to anyone, B Hussein Obama’s administration is looking at killing the 401k. They want to take the money, in theory use it to reinforce Social Security and give everyone a GSA, Guaranteed Saving Account. It would be a government guaranteed account that says “trust us” you'll have the money when you need it. Well, I guess the GSA is a new fangled “Defined Benefit” account, as opposed to a “Defined Contribution” account like a 401k.

Then again didn't Congress supervise another “Defined Benefit” program called Social Security? How has that worked out?