Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

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Economy

...to Hell in a Handbasket, Part 2: Nationalizing the 401(k)

Next in our cheery run-down of recent news, Obama has begun to think the unthinkable and suggest that the government nationalize private 401K accounts.

First, this plan is only half (if that) motivated by a sense of necessity to protect retirees. The true motivation is egregious spending and unsustainable entitlements - and the fear that China and foreign countries will abandon the dollar, stop buying treasury (junk) bonds and leave us too far in the red to sustain our indebted economy. One cannot but see the similarities to cash-strapped Argentina's recent banana-republic-style nationalization of retirement accounts. Have we sunk so far that socialist tyrants are our role-models?

Also, Obama's "option" seems to have all the fixings of a true hustler's scam. In return for 5% of your wages, the government offers a mere 3% interest return. Compared to the 7%-11% average enjoyed in the stock market, that seems a shabby deal. Of course, the government promises an assured dividend for life - but consider the plight of Social Security before buying into such a proposal.

Americans don't need more low-return options for investing their money - they need more money! This proposal reeks of the same government-entitlement, unfunded-mandate syndrome which presently plagues our economy. Just as was done with Social Security, Congress will immediately spend the accumulated wealth and press for higher taxes (or beg foreign buyers to bolster our exponential debt) in order to recover shortfalls down the road.  

The Social Security crisis has apparently taught the Euro-socialist Democrats nothing. I could quote him almost daily, but this issue truly deserves Einstein's observation: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Categories > Economy

Discussions - 4 Comments

Well, as long as you're tossing around Einstein quotations (although I think it's far from certain that Einstein is the true origin of the quote you offered - many people have been given credit for that quote, including Ben Franklin), try these:

"An oligarchy of private capital cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society because under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information."

and

"This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation."

More here:
https://monthlyreview.org/598einstein.php

Do us all a favor - move to Europe. I believe that you will feel quite at home there. And by the way - take the Messiah in the White House with you.

If the Dems are actually insane enough to try to expropriate Americans' personal retirement savings in this fashion, the resulting public backlash and voter revolt will make the Tea Party hullaballoo look like, well, a tea party.

But in the end I doubt that even the Dems are that crazy. Instead, I suspect that their talk of this latest socialist scheme is just so much smoke-blowing and posturing, designed to please their whackadoodle pinko base.

that 2% won't even come close to covering inflation. Look at how much the dollar has lost in the last year in terms of gold and oil(once it hit the proper price after it crashed it crept back up for no reason other than its priced in the increasingly worthless federal reserve note.)

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