Dems Target Private Retirement Accounts

RALEIGH — Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.

Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly.

The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. 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.

sodbuster wrote:Well IRA's and 401K's have really taken a hit with the stock mkt. the past few years.

Most people would probably be better off in a program such as you describe.

sodbuster wrote:If you had a $100K Ira when Pres. Bush took office, what do you think it would be worth now, Terri?

Compare that to what it would have been worth after 8 years of Clinton.

Then get back with me ok...

sodbuster wrote:If you had a $100K Ira when Pres. Bush took office, what do you think it would be worth now, Terri?

Compare that to what it would have been worth after 8 years of Clinton.

Then get back with me ok...

Armon Ayers wrote:

sodbuster wrote:Well IRA's and 401K's have really taken a hit with the stock mkt. the past few years.

Most people would probably be better off in a program such as you describe.

Yeah...Democrat government did such a great job managing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that I am certain that they would do a great job with my money.

ziggy wrote:

Armon Ayers wrote:

sodbuster wrote:Well IRA's and 401K's have really taken a hit with the stock mkt. the past few years.

Most people would probably be better off in a program such as you describe.

Yeah...Democrat government did such a great job managing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that I am certain that they would do a great job with my money.

Government did not manage Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae any more than it does any other corporations. All corporations are the product of public laws that allow their creation.

Some of the GSEs, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were privately owned but publicly chartered; others, such as the Federal Home Loan Banks, are owned by the corporations that use their services. Their lenders grant them favorable interest rates, and the buyers of their securities offer them high prices, as the implicit involvement of the Federal government gives them a sense of financial security.

In fact, GSE securities carry no explicit government guarantee.[1] In 2001 the then-director of the Congressional Budget Office, Dan L. Crippen, testifed before Congress that the "debt and mortgage-backed securities of GSEs are more valuable to investors than similar private securities because of the perception of a government guarantee. . . ."[2] This perception has allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to save billions in borrowing costs. Estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and the Treasury Department put the figure at about $2 billion per year [3].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_sponsored_enterprise

sodbuster wrote:Wel Aaron it is comparable to the deal with the Teachers Retirement System here in WV.

They had a defined benefit system where they knew exactly what they would get.

Then the so-called financial whiz kids convinced a bunch of them they would be better off managing their own money.

So the state set up a new system for the "free spirits".

And then after they lost their ass in the stock mkt. they wanted their money back and a chance to go back into the old system.

ohio county wrote:They have purged themselves to throw us off the track but the Board of Directors was full of former Clinton administration officials. We've printed the list here many times. It included Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, Rahm Emmanuel, and Louis Freeh. Those former Board members made over $100 million in bonuses alone.

You neglected to supply a definition of a GSE: Government Sponsored Enterprise.

You neglected to supply a definition of a GSE: Government Sponsored Enterprise.

I'll grant you that LBJ privatized Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae but, to my knowledge, they are the only corporations chartered as Government Sponsored Enterprises. The tacit understanding is that the taxpayers ultimately back them up which sure looks legit to me.