Look at the beautiful horsy. Wonder what's inside?

So what’s the statist solution to a bankrupt Social Security? Of course, Social Security Pt. II.



Way, way back in ’08, KT turned us on to Argentina’s President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s government seizing the nation’s private pension system under the guise of “shielding” it from the global economic downturn when in reality it was really just cash-grab to pay off debt… something we know nothing about here.

But in this great country of ours where the unlikely occurrence of a light-skinned, non-threatening black man being President becomes reality, the similarly heretofore unlikely occurrence of the federal government seizing your 401(k) is becoming more and more likely.

Back in 2008, we blogged about Congressional hearings whose aim was the feasibility of eliminating the pre-tax exemption of your 401(k) contribution which amounts to $80billion annually not in the government coffers. The amount of your individual tax break would be directed to a new system of guranteed retirment accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute.

We always love it when the government starts using authoritarian code-speak like, “obliged”.

Here’s what we blogged back in October of 2008:

But don’t worry, Teresa Ghilarducci of the New School for Social Research (that title alone has train wreck written all over it) has got a plan. In return for wacking our 401(k) tax deferment, we would receive a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy (read: a, hey, no hard feelings, bub “government kickback”) in return for being “obliged” to “invest” 5 percent of our pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Admin which would pay a whopping 3% a year, adjusted for inflation.

And here’s Ms. Ghilarducci, herself:

“I want to stop the federal subsidy of 401(k)s,” Ghilarducci said in an interview. “401(k)s can continue to exist, but they won’t have the benefit of the subsidy of the tax break.”

Under the current 401(k) system, investors are charged relatively high retail fees, Ghilarducci said. (ed.: what this statement has to do with anything relative to what she is proposing is lost on us)

“I want to spend our nation’s dollar for retirement security better. Everybody would now be covered” if the plan were adopted, Ghilarducci said.
She has been in contact with Miller and McDermott about her plan, and they are interested in pursuing it, she said.

We thought this was all just a bad dream and that people and ideas like that represented by Ghilarducci would go away once we got the new presidency cranked up and we would be worried about healthcare, cap and trade, the economy, etc.

But proving that you just can’t sleep on these guys…

The U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comment as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort.

The article goes on to state the obvious:

Seven in 10 U.S. households object to the idea of the government requiring retirees to convert part of their savings into annuities guaranteeing a steady payment for life, according to an institute-funded report today.

Translation: No one. Repeat, no one likes this idea. That other 30% represent people who either do not have a 401(k) and/or are at an icome level by which they are not paying taxes of any kind so of course, they would think the further subsidization of their existence by the rest of us is a grand idea.

W.C. gives us a hint as to who is some of the politcal muscle behind this. Here is the webpage of a front group called RetirementUSA that is convened by the usual suspects among them the AFL-CIO and the purple people-beaters of the SEIU.

Here’s their opening salvo:

Retirement USA is a national initiative that is working for a new retirement system that, along with Social Security, will provide universal, secure, and adequate income for future retirees. The initiative has developed 12 Principles for a New Retirement System, which provide a framework for a future system in which employers, workers, and the government would share responsibility for the retirement security for all American workers.

That 12 principles for a New Retirement System is a cross between a description of the current Social Security set-up and a Leftist retirement Bill of Rights.

Well, since we already have Social Security then why do we need another nearly identical program?

Everyone knows that Social Security is insolvent. Everyone. So what the establishment of Social Security the Sequel and what this all represents is a Trojan Horse for the nationalization of your 401(k) and that, our friends, you can take to the bank.

With Social Security broke and our debt climbing out of control, the trillions and trillions of dollars setting in this country’s private pension accounts remain one of the last untapped sources of revenue for the government.

Fun with numbers

Today has been brought to by the numbers 135 and 312.

135 rhymes with the amount of money in billions that the federal government took in revenue for the month of October.

And 312 rhymes with amount of money in billions that same federal government spent in the month of October.

Having fun with that Hope and Change?

H/T: Chris Reed

Does this mean the Florida Gators will soon be playing off shore?

We suppose it was inevitable but in the never-ending search for revenue, the federal government has leveled it’s sights on collegiate athletics and, in particular, the nation’s largest Division 1-A sports programs.

A Congressional Budget Office report contends that 1-A athletic departments get 60% - 80% of their revenue from activities that can be described as commercial.

The study recommends changing the tax code by limiting the deductions for contributions and the use of tax exempt bonds as well as limiting the exemption from income taxation.

The Wizard of Odds has more, here.

P.S. We thought activities like this were the purview of the Treasury Department. Oh, that's right. They've been having some man power issues over there.

Oh, the Humanity!

Well, well, well...

This has to be absolutely crushing news for some people. Please have a little sympathy and remember to walk a mile in their shoes… or something.

The bogeyman that is Prop. 13 which to hear liberals tell it has been responsible for every ill to befall California since its enactment back in 1978 is actually responsible for a swelling of revenue from property taxes.

Despite the sliding real estate market, Los Angeles County's property tax base grew to $1.1 trillion, a 6.9% increase over last year, Assessor Rick Auerbach said.

Auerbach said that Proposition 13 is the main reason for this year's increase -- even though housing prices have been generally going down across Southern California.

The constitutional amendment, he said, has a stabilizing effect on assessed values.

"In a rising market, because of the 2%-increase cap included in Proposition 13, assessed values do not keep pace with market values," he said. "On the other hand, in a market such as we now have, the cap keeps us from experiencing a dramatic decrease in assessed value."

Please keep this in mind next time you hear about our friends in Sacramento attempting to do away with or skirt around the holy grail of conservative populism in their never-ending quest for revenue dollars.