Scott commented on 'Democrats Want to Take Away Your 401K'

2008-11-03T00:46:03Z

Thanks, marl. Will delete the double-post, sometimes it takes a minute or two for comments to show on here.

marl444 commented on 'Democrats Want to Take Away Your 401K'

2008-11-03T00:27:45Z

Democrat's shape plans to abolish private retirement plans
by Lee Muller

Barack Obama and other radicals in the Democratic Party are calling tax-free contributions to 401-k plans a "loophole" and readying legislation to end all employer contributions and individual pre-tax contributions.

“We’ve invested $80 billion into subsidizing this activity,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif,
chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, referring to tax breaks allowed for
401(k) contributions and savings as "subsidies" and the government's "investment".

Rep. Jim McDermott, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her ideas to
eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k)

plans, she would have workers transfer their savings into government-created "guaranteed
retirement accounts" for every worker.

Common details of the schemes in both committees include:
http://www.house.gov/ed_workforce/testimony/2008-10-07-TeresaGhilarducci.pdf

* Abolish the 401-k, SEP, and Roth IRA plans
* Sell off some stocks to convert to cash
* Roll your accounts over into an account "managed by the federal government"
* The government would now own controlling shares of stock in many corporations
* Those without IRA accounts will get a new one, with $600 to start it off.
* Pay you 3% interest on your cash.
* You can make no more contributions on your own.
* The IRS will deposit $600 each year in everyone's account
* Some accounts with "excessive balances" may be reduced through asset taxation
* You will pay up to full income taxes when you withdraw funds.
* You cannot withdraw funds until you are 64 years old.
* The IRS can take your funds any time to pay income, payroll or other taxes you owe.

Special treatment for union members, government workers and teachers:

* Bankrupt union pensions will be guaranteed by the federal government.
* Underfunded state and teacher pensions will be guaranteed by the federal government.

Did you get that?

Tax-deferred investments are a "loophole" that "isn't working" and is receiving a "subsidy".
Workers who saved would be forced to sell out of stocks at the bottom of the market, and deposit
the cash into a government savings account.

The government would hold all the common stock formerly in the individual plans, except what it
sells off for cash. You would have no control of the timing of the sale, and the government
would now hold a controlling interest in most public corporations.

A 3% return on $10,000 yields $22,000 in 40 years.
A 7% return from the stock market average yields $150,000 in 40 years.

The amount of wealth which would be destroyed on the front end would be devastating to economic
growth, and leave millions of hard-working Americans dependent on government retirement plan
promises.

The majority of Obama supporters have no savings, and no retirement plans. They welcome taking
money from "the rich". This scheme has appeal to the reparations crowd as more get-back on "rich
folks". But a lot of Obama supporters mean well and just have not looked beyond his rhetoric at what he and other Democrats are cooking up in legislation.

Corporate and state pensions are also at risk.

The federal government has quietly been taking over pension plans of failed corporate plans, but
there is not enough money in the insurance fund to cover all that are at risk. On top of that,
all the state pension plans are grossly underfunded and unable to meet future promises.

In the financial bailout package for the mortgages, Democrats slipped in authority to bail out state pensions. Unions, which don't want to give up lavish retirement plans, are all for federal guarantees. But the radical Democrats do not want to guarantee trillions of future payments; they want to take the cash that is in the plans now, and replace it with a government pension that will be much smaller, just as they propose for the 401-k accounts.

The strategy of big-government Democrats is to prey on the uncertainty and fears of the market,
blame money managers, and convince the future retirees to let government take the money "out of
the hands of Wall Street", when they are actually taking it out of the hands of the workers.
There are lots of stories in the investment press, but none in the mainstream media.

Investment News
http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081007/REG/810079894

US News & World
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2008/10/23/would-obama-dems-kill-401k-plans.html

Copyright 2008 Lee Muller.
Reproduction in whole permitted for the purpose of defeating socialists like Obama.
Last Udated 10/28/2008

E-Rock commented on 'Democrats Want to Take Away Your 401K'

2008-10-24T18:19:32Z

I HATE LIBERALS!!

Scott commented on 'Democrats Want to Take Away Your 401K'

2008-10-24T00:23:43Z

Oh, my bad. Thanks Dana.

Dana commented on 'Democrats Want to Take Away Your 401K'

2008-10-23T23:40:52Z

Slight correction: that was Sharon's article, not mine. But I do thank you for the link.

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