Mac Cool, 11/8/2008,1:42:23 AM, wrote:

Tin foil hat republicanism... everything posted on the internet is
true!

If you actually read the woman's proposal, she did not recommend
seazing 401k accounts. She recommended a voluntary program where
people could exchange their 401k accounts for a equivalent amount of
government bonds at a guaranteed 3% interested rate keyed to
inflation. Its expected that boomers who lost big in their 401k will
not have time to recover before they retire so this is an alternative
that at least guarantees them some income. Long term she wants to end
the tax deferral for 401k contributions and setup a government run
retirement program.

I don't agree with her plan but it is not the government seizing your
money.

Its very hypocritical to have a tantrum over this yet happily ignore
that up to 200B of the 700B bailout will be used for executive
compensation. I guess spreading the wealth is okay if its taken from
the middle class and given to the upper class.

Voluntary? Please translate the below paragraphs for me to understand
better:

"Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci
proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and
similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’
retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed
Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security
Administration."

"GRAs would guarantee a fixed 3 percent annual rate of return, although
later in her article Ghilarducci explained that participants would not
“earn a 3% real return in perpetuity.” In place of tax breaks workers
now receive for contributions and thus a lower tax rate, workers would
receive $600 annually from the government, inflation-adjusted. For
low-income workers whose annual contributions are less than $600, the
government would deposit whatever amount it would take to equal the
minimum $600 for all participants."

"Analysts point to another disturbing part of the plan. With a GRA,
workers could bequeath only half of their account balances to their
heirs, unlike full balances from existing 401(k) and IRA accounts. For
workers who die after retiring, they could bequeath just their own
contributions plus the interest but minus any benefits received and
minus the employer contributions."

"On Oct. 22, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Argentinean
government had seized all private pension and retirement accounts to
fund government programs and to address a ballooning deficit. Fearing
an economic collapse, foreign investors quickly pulled out, forcing the
Argentinean stock market to shut down several times. More than 10 years
ago, nationalization of private savings sent Argentina’s economy into a
long-term downward spiral."

"In the interview, Obama said, “The Supreme Court never ventured into
the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such
as political and economic justice in society.” The Constitution says
only what “the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government
can’t do to you,” and Obama added that the Warren Court wasn’t that
radical."