The urban legends about Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are already beginning to circulate. For example:
The Carolina Journal and LGF reported:We all know, after listening to his speeches, that Barack Obama wants to work for you. The notion that the government under President Obama would even consider confiscating your hard-earned and scrupulously saved retirement nest-egg is absurd. President Obama will work to lift us all up. He would not simply take away our futures. He would not make us all beholden to the government for handouts.
Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.
Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly.
The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration. [HT]
And the New School for Social Research??? What's that supposed to be... a joke?
This is obviously some right-wing claptrap. There is no such person as Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York.
I bet this will be traced to Sarah Palin.
..