They will do it twice. The first and last time.
“It would leave the American working and middle classes with no retirement option other than a government handout.”
What is to stop people from saving anyway. I realize that we would loose the tax deferred benefit, but those who were using a 401k anyway would most likely continue to put back for retirement.
On the other hand, I have known few if any people who actually put back enough that they would not need social security and medicare anyway.