Beware Talk of Universal Savings Accounts

As if we didn't have enough to worry about already, keep a sharp lookout for the phrase "universal savings account," which is progressive/liberal/socialist-speak for the next phase of the Social Security Ponzi scheme.

The phrase popped up again Wednesday in a White House release (courtesy CBS) discussing Mr. Obama's proposed budget plans:

And we must also begin a conversation on how to do the same for Social Security, while creating tax-free universal savings accounts for all Americans.

The last we heard about this one, the plan was to take Americans' 401(k) plans, which individuals own and control in the free market, and convert them into savings accounts that are linked to one's Social Security "account." This account is, as most of us know quite well, a fictional device since there is no Social Security trust fund, unless you consider the countless IOUs a fund of some sort, since the federal government spends every stinkin' dollar that comes in through FICA withholdings.

I fear it is likely that the government is getting ready to annex private retirement accounts by claiming that they have been so decimated by stock market reversals that government must act to protect what you have left. Many will probably buy this rationale, sadly, and the government will have another huge pot of money that it will misappropriate for all sorts of pet social-engineering causes.

And Social Security will still be teetering on the brink.