401K's in Jeopardy

Retirement funds, particularly 401K's, are at risk. As previously mentioned in the article Democrats Discuss Taking Over People's 401K's Democrats are looking to eliminate the tax break for 401K's and to subsidize a takeover of these savings plans. Investment New reports in their article House Democrats contemplate abolishing 401(k) tax breaks point out the problems with this plan.

"From where I sit that's just crazy," said John Belluardo, president of Stewardship Financial Services Inc. in Tarrytown, N.Y. "A lot of people contribute to their 401(k)s because of the match of the employer," he said. Mr. Belluardo's firm does not manage assets directly.

Higher-income employers provide matching funds to employee plans so that they can qualify for tax benefits for their own defined contribution plans, he said.

"If the tax deferral goes away, the employers have no reason to do the matches, which primarily help people in the lower income brackets," Mr. Belluardo said.

US News and World Report has also written articles on Democrats plans to target 401K's and retirement plans if they obtain control of the presidency and congress...
Why Democrats Will Target the Investor Class in 2009

Would Obama Dems Kill 401K Plans?

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Hat Tip other bloggers covering this issue...

Smart Girl Politics Kiss Your 410K Good Bye

Ms Placed Democrat Obama's 401K Plan is Nothing More Than a Junk Bond

Say What You Really Mean Under President Obama Kiss Your 401K Goodbye, Your Net Pay Shrinks, And The Constitution Will Be Walked On Like It's His Daily Exercise Routine.

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401K's in Jeopardy

Heeeere's Johnny...

Who can make both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama roll with laughter? ...John McCain at the Albert E. Smith Dinner.

Video picks up at 2:38

Oh please, please, please, let this be a sign that McCain will be McCain in the last three weeks of this election.

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Here's Johnny...

Obama, FactCheck.org, Ayers, and the Annenburg Foundation

There is a disturbing link between Barack Obama, FactCheck.org, and William Ayers. National Review reports that William Ayers and Barack Obama both served as co-chairs of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge. Obama called for an $3.5 million dollar earmark for the Annenburg Foundation that sponsors FactCheck.org. Several FactCheck articles have been viewed as promoting the Obama campaign line instead of truly acting as a fact checkers. Controlling the ‘facts’ is a hallmark of a totalitarian regime, and this is a truly unsettling connection.

Mission statement from FactCheck.org.

The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.

Requested Annenberg Earmark from Barack Obama - Citation from Answers.BarackObama.com

Obama Requested $3.5 Million For The USC Annenberg Research Network. In 2005, Obama requested $3.5 million for the USC Annenberg Research Network on International Communication, in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to support the deployment of pervasive broadband for education and economic development.Funding was for the construction of a large-scale broadband wireless systems in two communities—one in South Los Angeles and the other in small-town Illinois. In each community, broadband network coverage will be provided over a minimum of about a half-square mile area, utilizing leading edge wireless technologies. In Los Angeles, this will include the five schools in USC’s immediate neighborhood, with about 8,000 K-12 students. USC also will provide wireless equipment and access to every family with a student entering the first grade of a new Science Center School, and in Illinois, a similar group of students will be selected to receive wireless equipment and access within the coverage area. The impact of these technologies on the students and their families will be tracked. [Obama Request Letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education, 6/7/05]

Obama’s Challenge from the National Review

Let’s first review CAC’s [Chicago Annenburg Challenge] initial setup. In the first year, 1995, Obama headed the board, which made fiscal decisions, and Ayers co-chaired the Collaborative, which set education policy. During that first year, Obama’s formal responsibilities mandated close cooperation and coordination with the Collaborative. As board chair and president of the CAC corporation, Obama was authorized to “delegate to the Collaborative the development of collaborative projects and programs . . . to obtain assistance of the Collaborative in the development of requests for proposals . . . and to seek advice from the Collaborative regarding the programmatic aspects of grant proposals.” All this clearly involves significant consultation between the board, headed by Obama, and the Collaborative, co-chaired by Ayers.

Hat Tip to Death by 1000 Papercuts for first reporting this in their article Obama, Bill Ayers, and FactCheck.Org: All Have Ties To Annenberg Foundation

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Clarification: The connection between Obama and Ayers is through
the Chicago Annenberg Challenge that received money from the Annenburg
Foundation, but the Chicago Annenburg Challenge Challenge and the
Annenburg Foundation are not directly connected philosophically.  The
earmark Senator Obama requested was for the Annenburg Foundation, which
funded the Chicago Annenburg Challenge and also funds FactCheck.org. 
Obama is tied to both groups one via earmark, the other via direct
participation, however, Ayers is not directly connected to
FactCheck.org.

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Obama Controlling the Facts

Obama's Ties To Acorn

Obama's Ties to ACORN

More New Hampshire Newspapers Endorse McCain

Senator McCain is leading the pack with New Hampshire Newspaper Endorsements. First, the Union Leader endorsement, now the Salmon Press endorses Senator McCain stating he could "become among our greatest presidents". Salmon Press publishes a number of local papers around the state, here is their endorsement...

"Salmon Press (NH): New Hampshire’s Salmon Press Endorses Sen. John McCain

Abraham Lincoln once observed that before you can become a statesman you have to get elected.

U.S. Sen. John McCain has the right stuff to become a statesman, indeed to become among our greatest presidents, but standing in his way is the prickly business of having to get elected. Once considered the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, his presidential campaign stumbled in the early going — in part because he refused to bend his principles — but is now gaining some momentum. We hope that momentum continues, for in our judgment John McCain towers over his political rivals and is our unwavering choice in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary next month.

Sen. McCain is a man of great depth and character. He has demonstrated an enormous capacity for growth over his political career and his military record is truly heroic — in stark contrast to those of his opponents. As a congressman and senator from Arizona he has exhibited the ability to attract both sides of the political aisle. And yet he is a conservative in the best sense of the word: principled, unwilling to cave for political gain and an unbowed enemy of wasteful spending. His experience in foreign affairs and in military issues is unmatched in the field.

Sen. McCain’s support in Iowa is anemic, mostly because he correctly refuses to support the ludicrous ethanol subsidies currently enjoyed by Iowa farmers. Indeed, it is hard to imagine him stooping to the kind of pandering that has marked the candidacies of other Republican suitors, particularly that of Gov. Mitt Romney.

New Hampshire occupies a unique position in American politics. It is the only state in which presidential campaigns are run at the retail level, and because that is so, New Hampshire voters have exerted an enormous and historical influence over those who would occupy the White House.

Sen. McCain needs New Hampshire now. If he can win or show well here, his candidacy will not only survive but will thrive as Republicans finally grasp that they have a giant among them, one, who alone among Republicans, can defeat the Democratic nominee in what looms as a Democratic year.

Salmon Press publishes 11 newspapers in New Hampshire – The Littleton Courier, Coos County Democrat, The Berlin Reporter, The Granite State News, Carroll County Independent, Meredith News, Record Enterprise, Winnisquam Echo, Gilford Steamer, Baysider, and The Mountain Ear. "

http://www.salmonpress.com/118241.112113body.lasso