Stories have been floating around that in order to make up for the shortfall in government over-spending and revenue shortfalls, Obama and Company will propose dipping into our retirement accounts. The rationale for violating the public trust will be that all of these tax-deferred retirement accounts were created by acts of Congress.

What the State gives, the State can take away. Blessed be the name of the State.

When the politics of envy kicks in with both feet, we will be told that it’s not “fair” that some people have been able to have retirement accounts while others unable. In order to equalize the disparity, it is necessary to spread the wealth to those who have not been able to realize the American dream. Consider the following:

“[T]he National Seniors Council has announced that ‘Obama (has) Begun to Push for a New National(ized) Retirement System.’ According to them, a recent hearing sponsored by the Treasury and Labor Departments marked the beginning of the Obama Administration’s effort to nationalize the nation’s pension system and to eliminate private retirement accounts including IRAs and 401k plans.”

******

“An immoral, thieving representative of the liberal Pension Rights Center, Rebecca Davis, testified that the government needs to get involved because 401k plans and IRAs are unfair to poor people. She demanded the Obama administration set up a ‘government-sponsored program administered by the PBGC (the governments’ Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation).’ She proclaimed that even ‘private annuities are problematic.’”

We’re beginning to see the breakdown of private stores of capital in Europe. We expect totalitarian regimes to raid sources of wealth “in the name of the people,” but we don’t expect such things to happen right before our eyes. The government of Cyprus wants to tax bank accounts from 6.75 percent to 9.9 percent.

“People with bank accounts in Cyprus were shocked Saturday to learn that as part of an agreement reached with international creditors, the government has imposed a tax on all deposits to help bail out the nation and its banks.

“While the island nation may be small, it’s an international favorite for offshore banking — particularly for wealthy Russians.”

If a government can arbitrarily tax the bank accounts of some people at one rate, then it can tax the bank accounts of everybody at any rate.

The money people put into banks is most often “after tax” money. They’ve already been gouged by the State. Now they’re trying to hold on to what’s left so they can take care of themselves when they are no longer able to work.

Money is a coward. It will go where it believes it’s safe. So it’s no surprise that people are in a panic and are beginning to take their money out of banks where they thought it was secure.

“As one of 17 nations that use the euro currency, Cyprus can raise or lower taxes whenever it wants. Early Saturday, it secured a €10 billion ($13 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund to save the banking sector and avoid bankruptcy. In return, the island nation has imposed the new tax, among other moves.”

Governments never have enough money. They will always find new ways to spend what money do have and go into debt to spend money they wished they did have. Spending other people’s money keeps them in power.

Democrats are watching these events very closely. If the people capitulate and the government of Cyprus is able to do this with little resistance from the people, don’t be surprised if it happens here.