A Stitch in Haste

Or, perhaps better stated: Do the Democrats even understand the implications of their proposals?
Powerful House Democrats are eyeing proposals to overhaul the nation's $3 trillion 401(k) system, including the elimination of most of the $80 billion in annual tax breaks that 401(k) investors receive.
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-California, and Rep. [...]

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Barack Obama, October 27:
No matter what Senator McCain may claim, here are the facts – if you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime – not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes. Nothing. Because the last thing we should do in this [...]

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The Social Security Administration recently announced its annual (and automatic) increase in old-age benefits: 5.8%, the largest in recent memory, thanks to the recent (and temporary) oil price spike.
Of course, as is always the case, year after year, one has to read a bit further down to find any mention of the flip side of [...]

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John McCain has yet another proposal to save the financial markets:
John McCain proposed Friday that the elderly be allowed to hang on to the stocks in their retirement funds and not be forced to sell them in a bad market.
The Republican presidential candidate would suspend requirements that people start selling off retirement investments when they [...]

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The Urban Institute analyzes income inequality in post-retirement America:
Without savings, low-wage workers will have to rely on other sources of retirement income, such as Social Security and pensions. Yet these sources of retirement income are based on earnings. The Social Security benefit formula replaces a greater share of earnings for low-wage workers than for higher-wage [...]

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They support it:
The Congressional Budget Office reported on Tuesday that the government's finances are deteriorating rapidly: the budget deficit for this year is expected to reach $407 billion, more than double last year's shortfall, and to exceed $500 billion in 2009. The takeover of Fannie and Freddie, necessary though it is, will add to the [...]

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How much political courage does it take for a presidential candidate, who could serve no more than eight years in office, to assure America that nothing will be done about a problem for ten years?
Barack Obama's presidential campaign said on Thursday a potential hike in payroll taxes for wealthy Americans under an Obama administration would [...]

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To review: Health care, like any other good or service, is scarce and must therefore be rationed. The only question is how it will be rationed: by private market forces as determined by patients, physicians (and, yes, insurance companies) — or by politicians and bureaucrats.
The inability to see this simple economic truth — that we [...]

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Barack Obama has, as was widely expected, introduced a proposal to lift the cap on wages subject to Social Security tax, but with an exemption — often referred to as a "donut hole."

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