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Hearing on 401(k) plan grows to urban legend (MSM preparing people for government seizure of 401K!)
MSNBC ^ | Nov. 7, 2008 | John W. Schoen

Posted on 11/07/2008 5:33:43 AM PST by FocusNexus

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To: FocusNexus

urban legend my bu** why have hearings then. . . why want to raid those accounts? it is my money and I will pull it all out then and ship to cds and annuities. not putting in another cent


21 posted on 11/07/2008 5:47:12 AM PST by volslover
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To: Rummyfan
There will be civil war if the Feds try to take away people's 401(k)s.

Rush Limbaugh apparently got a hot tip on how they'll do it, and explained it yesterday.

They'll offer to restore your portfolio to its pre-"Win The Election For Obama" condition - provided you sign your life away.

Many will fall for this.

22 posted on 11/07/2008 5:47:39 AM PST by an amused spectator (I am Joe, too - I'm talkin' to you, VBM: The Volkischer Beobachter Media)
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To: FocusNexus; All

Wouldn’t this qualify as an an ex post facto law?

You cannot have a system which says the money is THEIR and THEN pass a law which confiscates the money. How many people would have been adding to it in the first place?


23 posted on 11/07/2008 5:47:42 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (Little known fact: Barack Obama translated into Kenyan means "Jimmy Carter")
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To: nralife

I wish the idiot dems and their minions in the press would correctly say these are not “tax breaks” but “deferred taxes”. Taxes will be paid —but the dems are too greedy to wait a few years until the boomers start retiring.

But the press won’t go for the truth —they didn’t during the Obama campaign and election, why would they start now? Let’s start with their 401(k)s and pensions first!


24 posted on 11/07/2008 5:48:03 AM PST by duckbutt (Those who pay no taxes have no check on their appetite for services.)
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To: FocusNexus

Shariah financing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ5LHI7m3tw


25 posted on 11/07/2008 5:48:22 AM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood (LET'S ROLL!)
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To: Red Badger

“I tell my acquaintances that the Dems are doing this and they don’t believe me. These people are blind sheeple”

Have them read this article:

Dems Target Private Retirement Accounts. Democratic leaders in the U.S. House discuss confiscating 401(k)s, IRAs

http://www.carolinajournal.com/articles/display_story.html?id=5081

And you can go to the link of the hearing:

Full Committee Hearing: “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security”
Tuesday, October 7, 2008

http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/fc-2008-10-07.shtml

On that page, you can click on Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci’s testimony and read it.

Direct link to her testimony in pdf:

http://edlabor.house.gov/testimony/2008-10-07-TeresaGhilarducci.pdf


They want to use people’s anxiety to scare/force them into giving up their hard earned savings for government promises.


26 posted on 11/07/2008 5:48:25 AM PST by FocusNexus
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To: mefistofelerevised
“the government SPENDS as much as $80 billion on tax breaks” Spends?

Apparently, in the thief's mind, failure to steal is the equivalent of spending.

27 posted on 11/07/2008 5:48:45 AM PST by meyer (We are all John Galt)
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To: Red Badger

It is Bush that will be doing this don’t you know. Just as the Vietnam War was, according to the media a/k/a Democrats,was Nixon’s War nevermind the fact that there were two Democrat Presidents before him. Every screw up from this point on will be Bush’s fault.

The fact is that the idiots believe the former and will believe the latter.

Another fact is that most people who call themselves no longer have the desire to live as free people.


28 posted on 11/07/2008 5:49:14 AM PST by sport (ost)
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To: volslover

It’s not just a raid on people’s piggybanks. The government wants to increase the number of people who are dependent of the government’s largesse. It’s about increasing the size of the dependent class.


29 posted on 11/07/2008 5:49:53 AM PST by mewzilla (In politics the middle way is none at all. John Adams)
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To: nralife

Shariah financing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ5LHI7m3tw


30 posted on 11/07/2008 5:50:09 AM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood (LET'S ROLL!)
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To: FocusNexus
Ghilarducci paper from November, 2007

............How Guaranteed Retirement Accounts work

Structure. Guaranteed Retirement Accounts are like universal 401(k) plans except that the government, as befits a large and enduring institution, will invest and manage the pooled savings.

Participation. Participation in the program is mandatory except for workers participating in equivalent or better employer defined-benefit plans where contributions are at least 5% of earnings and benefits take the form of life annuities.

Contributions. Contributions equal to 5% of earnings are deducted along with payroll taxes and credited to individual accounts administered by the Social Security Administration. The cost of contributions is split equally between employer and employee. Mandatory contributions are deducted only on earnings up to the Social Security earnings cap,2 and workers and employers have the option of making additional contributions with post-tax dollars. The contributions of husbands and wives are combined and divided equally between their individual accounts.............

31 posted on 11/07/2008 5:52:41 AM PST by Hamiltonian
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To: FocusNexus
the government spends as much as $80 billion a year in tax breaks to subsidize 401(k) savings plans

In what upside down $hitweasel DemoKrat universe does not taking your income equal government spending?

32 posted on 11/07/2008 5:54:50 AM PST by RoadKingSE (How do you know that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a muzzle flash?)
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To: FocusNexus

Since the market has been crashing over the last couple of weeks. And has been almost non-existant since Obama got elected. Well I started thinking that I am jsut dumping money into an empty bucket so I stopped my 401K contributions at work yesterday. I would rather just save my money then watch it disappear every quarter.


33 posted on 11/07/2008 5:55:52 AM PST by Jessica2677
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To: Rummyfan
There will be civil war if the Feds try to take away people's 401(k)s.

Why? No one gave a toss about SS or pensions. 401ks were never intended to replace those.

401ks are supposed to be a supplement to SS and pensions.

I'm just playing devils advocate here. There was no Civil war when companys started reneging on their pensions.

34 posted on 11/07/2008 5:57:02 AM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Sacajaweau
Individually managed 401(k) plans also come with a much bigger investment risk.

Baloney! Corporations manage 401K plans, not individuals. In most cases, individuals have but a few choices.

Some of the choices are cash and other "safe" investments. Further, stocks are risky, but provide a much greater reward. Every company that I have ever put money into a 401K has provided education and suggested age appropriate investment models.

Most people have not been taken to the cleaners. Rather, dems want an excuse to get their hands on more wealth.

35 posted on 11/07/2008 5:58:35 AM PST by mlocher (USA is a sovereign nation)
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To: FocusNexus

I checked every bill in my wallet. I don’t see my name on any of them so I guess they don’t belong to me. Oh, well.


36 posted on 11/07/2008 5:58:57 AM PST by Fresh Wind (Hey, Obama! Where's my check?)
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To: P-Marlowe

They are not the ones that are stupid,those that elect them fit that category. The Democrats stole untold wealth with Fannie/Freddie now they are going after what is left. Most of them have their money in of shore accounts like the Kennedy’s.


37 posted on 11/07/2008 5:59:18 AM PST by gunnedah
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To: FocusNexus

My gold & silver are up. My ‘contrarian’ fund that shorts the S&P has garnered 50K in the past 8 months. I pay little in taxes each year due to doing everything legal that I can to keep Government mitts off my hard-earned cash. Aside from a little debt that I’m paying off due to starting up another business, I live below my means. Alway have. I’ll have an Army retirement should I live so long. I’ll have a spot in a Vet hospital if need be, but I’m not counting on that, so when I get a little older, I’ll carry an insurance policy for a nursing facility.

If you ever for one MINUTE have been paying more in taxes than you have to, and if you ever for one MINUTE haven’t been educating yourself about your investment funds and investing all of your eggs in one basket...you are your own worst enemy and you will lose a lot of money, or have it taken from you via Big Government.

I’m sorry people are losing their money, but I’m a middle aged white woman who is doing just fine, financially. Since I was a young woman, I vowed to never go into Old Age without TONS of cash. I’ve watched other women suffer needlessly and it breaks my heart. Husbands leave you and husbands die. Children can be troublesome, expensive or will desert you when you need them most. Women really only have themselves to rely on, when it comes right down to it. (I’m married and have three boys that love me dearly, but I don’t want to be stuck living with any of them, LOL!)

But then, nobody ever listens to me because I’m pretty ‘invisible’ as a segment of society. You think White Men are invisible? White women are only looked at during election time and as marketing tools for consumer products.

I keep my head down, do my job and laugh all the way to the bank. :)


38 posted on 11/07/2008 6:02:12 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin ('Taking the moderate path of appeasement leads to abysmal defeat.' - Rush on 11/05/08)
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To: Jessica2677

Assuming that the Democrats won’t actually take the money already in your 401k:

You can still contribute to your 401K and get the tax break, you can just direct that your money go into cash, instead of mutual funds. Check the investment options for your 401K - they may not have “cash” as option, but they will have at least one money market fund, which is not subject to market variations.

You can also move your investments around inside of the 401K, without incurring tax consequences.

Also, you might consider that putting small amounts of new money lets you buy stocks at the current very low prices and in 10-15 years they will have gone up significantly.

Call your 401K administrators and check with them about what I said above.


39 posted on 11/07/2008 6:02:28 AM PST by FocusNexus
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To: duckbutt

tax breaks vs. deferred taxes

I see your point. Good one!

The Dems also want the mandatory 5% deduction from our paychecks to spend as they like, just like they did with the so-called SS Trust Fund.


40 posted on 11/07/2008 6:02:51 AM PST by nralife (Sarah doesn't know it's a damn show! She thinks it's a damn fight!)
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