Herman

Cain

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October 10, 2007

This Week’s Hillary Giveaway: ‘American (Socialist) Retirement Accounts’

Less than a month after Hillary Clinton proposed giving every child born in the United States a $5,000 gift, she told a crowd in Iowa last week that she now wants to give families $1,000 in annual matching funds into a 401(k) retirement account. Of course, all of this giveaway money would come from the government after she confiscates more money from the evil rich.

According to a report from the Associated Press’s Nedra Pickler, to qualify for this annual gift toward your retirement, you need to make $60,000 a year or less, or not be working at all. If you make between $60,000 and $100,000 your annual gift is $500 instead of $1,000. If you make over $100,000, you do not get a gift because you are part of the evil rich.

Other than being another idea that fits the communist manifesto, this latest idea ignores the broken promises of Social Security and adds another layer to the politics of envy. Of course, Hillary and her followers would describe it as simply taking from the greedy and giving to the needy.

The communist manifesto says, “From each according to his ability and to each according to his need.” So in addition to Hillary health care and Hillary baby care (although she now says that idea is off the table), we now have Hillary retirement care. She calls this progressive thinking. I call it a prescription for faster economic disaster. All you have to do is look at where federal spending is headed right now if Congress continues to do nothing.

Social Security was supposed to be that safety net for our retirement. It was supposed to be an assistance program, but it has grown into a dysfunctional entitlement program. To that issue, Hillary says her “American Retirement Accounts” should not be used to replace any part of Social Security and that she is committed to addressing the long-term challenges of that program.

In other words, let’s just put aside the fact that the average person never receives at least what he or she contributed to Social Security before death, or the fact that the money is being used for other government spending, and by 2017 the Social Security taxes coming in will be less than the promises of benefits going out.

Hillary claims people need help because they aren’t making enough to save, although she doesn’t seem to have a problem taking the FICA tax out of their paychecks. So with the help of the rich, Hillary is going to encourage families to save some more of their already overtaxed income by giving them back some of what they have already been taxed. What a deal!

Hillary and the other Democratic presidential candidates believe they can legislate financial security, health and happiness for people from the cradle to the grave. And when one idea or program does not work, don’t fix it or get rid of it, just throw some more money at another idea that panders to the politics of envy.

This country suffers from an entitlement mentality that encourages politicians to make more and more promises to get elected, because they realize that voters are less and less informed. The outdated tax code is their weapon of choice to try to fulfill those promises, and taking more from the rich is still their most popular target.

The Declaration of Independence says, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It does not say a guarantee of happiness regardless of how hard you try, or of the risks you are willing to take to achieve happiness. It does not say income should be taken from one group of people and redistributed to another group of people.

It says happiness is the result of individuals’ aspiration, motivation and determination using their own sweat equity, not someone else’s.

If Hillary Clinton becomes president and delivers on all of her promises, there will be nothing else to give away. On second thought, she’ll find something.

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