401K watch

In Europe, where the administration seems to be getting a lot of inspiration, several countries have come up with clever ways to rob Peter (that would be the peasants) to pay off Paul's (that would be Prime Minister Paul to you) overcharged credit card. It's fairly simple. You know all that boodle the peasants have been hoarding in anticipation of retirement on a better scale than the national pension plan? Well, it's more urgently needed to avoid a national bankruptcy a la Greece, than to buy anyone a better grade of dog food.

Admittedly, in this country, the government has long since cleaned out the Social Security fund, leaving behind a stack of IOU's. Retirees who have paid into the fund are being paid from the general revenues, which leaves that much less for the general pork and such, you know, like national defense.

Proposals were floated last year to nationalize peoples 401K's and replace whatever's in them with government bonds. This got quashed fairly quickly as no politician wants to be the target of angry geezers with firearms and bad eyesight, but if it can be done there, it can be at least proposed here.

If such a thing is proposed, you can bet you won't hear about it in the local fish wrap until the legislation is up for a final vote, and probably not until the day of the vote. Keep your eyes peeled, as we used to say.