I warned you 18 months ago the Democrats were looking at getting their greedy little hands on your retirement accounts to finance their deficit spending. Even their base is starting to get worried about the runaway deficit spending by the Obama/Geithner/Bernanke axis and how we can pay for it. Well, apparently Argentina's recent gambit of seizing private retirement accounts is an inspiration of sorts to these guys as Businessweek reported recently:
"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..." Article
Anyone want to guess what those annuities include? Treasuries, the prime financial instrument used to finance deficit spending. The Fed has purchased over a trillion dollars in Treasuries and Fannie/Freddie bonds (which has kept mortgage rates low) since it initiated its policy of quantitative easing (printing up dollars to buy such bonds) nearly a year ago. However, the Fed can't keep creating money out of thin air to buy Treasuries forever and when it stops purchasing said securities, interest rates will rise.
Such a market is tempting for the Democrats as Investments News reports "Some $7.5 trillion is invested in 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts, about half of which is invested in mutual funds." Mark Iwry of the Treasury Department wrote this paper a few years ago in which he advocated taking a portion of Americans' 401k plans and converting them to annuities. Bloomberg reported last week one of the main beneficiaries of such a policy would be.....AIG.
This announcement by the government stoked fears in the financial community and blogs that this is the government's way of putting its nose in the 401k tent. Rick Santelli mentioned Friday on CNBC the government was looking at forcing 401k-holders to buy Treasuries (See last 90 seconds of video above) but for some strange reason, CNBC did not put this clip on its website (Should be between the 11:00 and 11:15 clips Friday). His comments sparked much interest over the weekend and while some of it is undoubtedly hysteria, there is a great deal of justification for such fears, starting with a little hearing the Democrats held 18 months ago.
JJ reported last year Congressman George Miller, the Chairman of the House Labor and Education Committee, held hearings on abolishing the tax breaks for 401k plans and grabbing the money for the government. Earlier post. Read it. Professor Theresa Ghilarducci, the intellectual godmother of Miller's scheme, even stated on Mark Levin's radio show she wanted to "nationalize" 401k plans. Just as Cleopatra's gold financed Augustus's expansion of the Empire, so do Miller and his friends see your 401k plans.
Democrats hold hearings on abolishing the tax breaks for 401k plans. Their leading expert declares she wants to "nationalize" private retirement accounts. The Treasury official spearheading the effort to change retirement plans just happens to write a paper in 2008 that advocates forcing workers to buy annuities. AIG stands make a great deal of money as it will be one of the main companies to sell fixed-rate annuities to individuals. The government needs new methods to sell treasuries or else yields will go up, damaging the economy even more. Argentina last year seized private retirement accounts and told account-holders they would get a fixed-payment and IOU in return.
Is it any wonder people start worrying about their retirement accounts when the Obama administration announces it 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"? Motive, means, opportunity, and absolute immunity: the perfect combination for the perfect crime.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Are Democrats eyeing your retirement accounts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
Slowly but surely our money is no longer ours. Get the coffee cans and shovels ready.
you mean the powder.
More and more you understand why there are those who live "off the grid".....no checking account...cash only.
Until the cash becomes worthless.
When cash is worthless, then it's on to bartering with goats & chickens...I guess....
Isn't this the "hope and change" Jacksonians voted for?
Never let it be said that the Democrats aren't ambitious.
1:56. That's exactly what I was going to say. Democrats are clearly thinking creatively here, and are seizing the moment to get their stubby little fingers on those funds.
Soap Box
Ballot Box
Cartridge Box
My grandparents lived completely off their land, and with some adjustment, I could too. I'm sure then I would be taxed on the number of cows and mules I owned....if they could find them to count them that is..LOL
never heard of Wickard v. Filburn, did you?
Let's see...first they took your Social Security to use for welfare and called it SSI. Then they let corporations raid pension funds. They did nothing when the court ok'd developers stealing your property in the name of economic development and improving the tax base. They did away with the usury laws.
And, still,they retained ,in both parties, a 95% incumbency re-election rate. Why would THEY think YOU'D mind?
You ,the voter, are too busy blaming the other party and letting your party tell you how to think than making demands or holding anyone accountable or doing your homework on issues. Pissing contests are far more fun,right?
They're all snakes in both these so-called "parties". Same snake, different side. Rehearsing together like the old wrestlers on Muscle Beach in the 50's.
My 401K lost about 60K in the summer of 2008 in a litle over two months. I snatched it out before it was totally depleted. It was a Halliburton account. Hardly a dem. related corporation.
7:56 the job of a money manager is to make money for himself and his firm. If he does that best by making money for you, that works for you both. But, if he can make enough money by duping you in the short run or get all the money you have to lose so that losing your business is not a long term concern, that works equally well for him.
Aside from that, most money managers are salesmen that are urged by their firm to push certain investments which result in the most money for the firm. Much of the time, all they know about an investment is what they are told. It's not that they don't believe what they tell you, they just don't have all the facts.
If an insurance agent can sell you one policy that pays a big commission and one that pays a small one, which do you think he'll push? Which will he want to believe is the best?
Post a Comment