Congress Plans to Confiscate Savings

Already addressed this on the other thread about this:

As far as I am aware, they are not going to "take" anyone's 401k. It is just a new system they are proposing and if YOU WANT to trade in your 401k they will reward you handsomely for it.

Originally posted by David9176
My grandmother is SO cheap that she saves USED napkins and puts them back in the little napkin holder. I know this because one day i grabbed a napkin after eating to wipe off my hands and mouth only to find the napkin had some old food or something on it. I said, "Grandma! There is something on this napkin! Is it used?" She said," Bah, quit complaining and use the clean part!" The woman steals straws and salt from McDonalds. She even washes and reuses the straws. She's a bit wacky but i love her..HA.

That's a really charming story and it made me smile.
My grandparents lived through the Depression as well, and they have similar habits. I'd comment on McDonald's straws and salt, but honestly I can count on one hand the number of times I've known Grandpa to go to McDonald's. In fact, the only reason he goes out to a restaurant is if it's for a major occasion - a 50th wedding anniversary (HIS OWN!! And the family had to argue with him to go!!!), a 75th birthday, etc. Gram likes to "splash out" once a month and go to Olive Garden with my Mom - you should see her stuff all the extra breadsticks and scrape the last of the salad into her doggy bag!
They have cash stashed all over the house. I never understood why I'd come across coffee cans or empty margarine tubs with $40 or so in the strangest places when I was getting into everything as a kid. Now I understand!
My favorite "quirk" came this summer when I was home for a visit (I live in another state). I'd emailed Gram a little before to ask if she happened to still have the recipe she'd used to make raspberry preserves when I was a child. I loved her raspberry preserves, and to this day the only jam/jelly I'm happy eating is raspberry preserves with seeds. Anyways, I'd started to do some canning and such in the spring, and I wanted to use her recipe if it was still around. She said she'd look for it. When I arrived, Gram happily presented me with a large box - inside were half a dozen booklets/cookbooks on canning from the 1950s, her dusty "jellyjars," canning funnel, the whole canning kit that she hadn't touched in nearly twenty-five years. Meanwhile Grandpa was hovering around, asking "Are you sure you won't use those again, (Gram's name)? What if you want to make jam, you'd have to buy everything new..."



She just barked at him, "Oh shut up, you cheapskate!"
Couldn't point out to her that she's the one who'd saved the things for a quarter century, but it gave me the excuse I needed to burst out laughing.
I love my Gram.

reply to post by ColoradoJens

This congress you are talking about has been around for the last eight years right? Oh, that's right, they are idiots when they are democrats but when the idiots are republicans, we are in a better place. Sheesh. They are both idiots - if you voted for bush once, let alone twice you are, by your own standards, an idiot. Please don't tell me you voted for the worst president ever - please tell me you didt - if you did, and then you voted for him again, you are literally an idiot and this conversation is over - keep talking - what you have supported and said was gospel has turned out to be wrong - are you telling everyone how WRONG you were - what a TOTAL IDIOT you are for pushing for the WORST president ever? When you are so 100% wrong, why should I listen to you? You were the most wrong ANYONE HAS EVER BEEN EVER. I don't think what you have to say is worth the paper it is written upon.

Jens...you have it out for me don't you? heh

Ok..

I was not praising anyone in this. What i was trying to state is that there isn't going to be a change. I wasn't sticking up for Bush...i never voted for him either. I don't understand why u are throwing these accusations at me. Did something strike a chord?

They've all screwed up. I'm not picking any freakin sides. We have a president that we can start new with....but the same people in Congress will be there who have done a terrible job.

Your post was almost all speculation. You went on rant about GB assuming i voted for him when i voted FOR NO ONE in either election he was in. I don't like GB. He didn't do a good job obviously. What is the point of this again?

This isn't the first time you have tried to insult my intelligence and quite frankly i don't appreciate it. I will give you due respect if you do the same to me.

Thanks for the idiot comments as well.

reply to post by anachryon

I'd comment on McDonald's straws and salt, but honestly I can count on one hand the number of times I've known Grandpa to go to McDonald's. In fact, the only reason he goes out to a restaurant is if it's for a major occasion - a 50th wedding anniversary (HIS OWN!! And the family had to argue with him to go!!!), a 75th birthday, etc. Gram likes to "splash out" once a month and go to Olive Garden with my Mom - you should see her stuff all the extra breadsticks and scrape the last of the salad into her doggy bag!

Funny stuff! Thanks for sharing that. It was nice to read your post and others telling stories of their grandparents. We really have no idea how bad it was for them to deal with those dire times...but look at how great of a person it made them be. There is so much we can learn from them which may prove to be valuable in the times ahead.

I love my Gram.

I'll second that!

Click here for more information.

Originally posted by Irish M1ck
Already addressed this on the other thread about this:

As far as I am aware, they are not going to "take" anyone's 401k. It is just a new system they are proposing and if YOU WANT to trade in your 401k they will reward you handsomely for it.

WOOL YOU CASH IN ON THIS NEW DEAL!! EWE SHOULD A BIT SHEEPISH!!

I just changed my sig based upon this thread.

Truly, truly frightening. I guess the gov't thinks that if they call them "Guaranteed Retirement Accounts" that people will swallow the idea more easily.

And, 3% return? Anyone with a medium to long term investment in a 401K or IRA knows that that is an unacceptable return.

Soon they will tax the untapped equity in your home - which they will determine the value of.

But the Democrats will push for this confiscation and redistribution of your money. And those who continue to vote for the likes of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and Frank will continue to turn a blind eye to the raping of this country.

Words like this truly frighten me:

In a radio interview with Kirby Wilbur in Seattle on Oct. 27, 2008, Ghilarducci explained that her proposal doesn’t eliminate the tax breaks, rather, “I’m just rearranging the tax breaks that are available now for 401(k)s and spreading — spreading the wealth.”

Starred and flagged.



[edit on 9-11-2008 by jsobecky]

reply to post by David9176


Many Depression era people learned to live like what you described. They keep doing I thinking it can always happen again. They are a tough bunch of people. Many grew up in the Great Depression just to find themselves running to the Armed forces for WWII.

In my opinion these are the greatest generation of Americans since the ones brave enough to start the country we live in. It saddens me to think the ones still surviving are seeing these tough times and thinking here we go again.

No star, no flag here. Just another looney right wing sore looser post about phony ideals...give me a break. I come on to ATS to learn something...to grasp some insight, and instead it's one thread after another after another of this rediculous McCarthiesque extreme right wing paranoia. Nobody is going to confiscate your savings...the idea is completely nutty!

Please, for the sake of quality on this site, and for your very own credibility first as a poster, secondly as a concerned citizen, post factual information, or don't post at all. Most of us see right through this balonia anyway.

We have a very sick economy, due to no regulation the Wall St. Executives were allowed to gamble and the house of cards has fallen down. Both Democrats and Republicans are trying to do their best along with an army of economic advisor professionals, to try and prevent it from a complete melt down. It doesn't mean anybody is a communist for pete's sake. The problem started before Dem's had control of congress anyway, and besides the majority isn't large enough to over ride a veto, so quit sprinkling bogus propaganda and stop with this silliness, please. It's not about politics anymore anyway, it's about fixing this disaster before it gets really bad, and then regulating the criminal behavior.

Good thread.

However, I am slightly confused.

From what I've read, the government will be taking peoples savings out of banks that are liable to collapse and bankruptcy (as we've seen MANY banks/institutes go under in the past few months).They are then placing them into government accounts where they are probably safer along with the rest of the government managed savings.

confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration."

Doesn't this mean that the government are now guaranteeing workers retirement plans?

Isn't this a good thing?

...Further to that,

Why can I only find one source for this news piece and it's only on this one website. The news broke 6 days ago according to your link and yet this is the ONLY news carrier to publish the story.

I find the article suspicious.


[edit on 9-11-2008 by IceColdPro]

[edit on 9-11-2008 by IceColdPro]

Don't worry folks - Change is coming....more change


English People - What think ye of this old poster? Americans Be Warned!



[edit on 9-11-2008 by TruthTellist]

To paraphrase the late great George Carlin "They're gonna come fore your retirment money too, and they'll get it too. All the corrupt business and congressmen and all they're rich buddies."

I refuse to work full time, so I don't need to contribute to retirement funds ( iget higher casual rates) because all it would take is one freak'n "law" to wipe out years of slave waging to the asswipes of the world...

Originally posted by SevenThunders
Apparently it is impossible to learn the mistakes of history. We have to keep repeating them over and over. For some reason big government socialists always think they are doing you a favor by taking away your money. How many failed economies and lives mired in misery do we have to go through before they will understand that socialism doesn't work. When this was tried in Argentina, their economy completely collapsed and it has never recovered.

Congress to US citizens: Give me your money or else

hey pal, we have had a socialist country for quite along time and it has worked just fine. who do you think pays for the roads and bridges you drive on, the firemen, the police, the sewer system, the parks,...we all benefit from a socialist type of goverence... only the very wealthy do not like it, because (they think) they do not benefit from it. and since they have the money to express this publicly, that's the majority of what you hear. me personally... i'll gladly take more socialism since i'm middle class, and i'm going to go after my own self-interest, just like the wealthy class does. i think it's about time the wealthy become more patriotic, more generous with their time and money, help their nieghbor that is less fortunate then them.... isn't that what the rest of us are always told?

Some people will believe anything. This whole thread is a great example of that.

Good topic...
I've always been a "hard money" believer, ie: gold and silver. Governments and banks are always looking for a way to steal the citizen's wealth. Since they produce nothing themselves they must resort to thinly veiled theft to confiscate our hard earned money. They do this by debasing the coins/currency and charging usury for the very funds they've stolen from you already. Hopefully the citizens aren't smart enough to recognize the fleecing. This has nothing to do with liberal or conservative. It has only to do with greed, and that comes in both flavors.

The government can be counted on to lie in order to effect this transfer of wealth. Example: the silver certificate currency, used in the past, promises that the US Treasury will pay in silver (no time limit on the promise) upon redemption. But it was ended under Nixon. I have warned publicly before to avoid the Roth IRA because it is founded on faith that the government will honor its promise to not tax your investment or earnings. These promises are worthless since future administrations can make them no longer binding.

Look, as long as we continue blaming liberals or conservatives for our demise financially we waste our efforts. The true culprits here are the Bilderburgs, Trilateralists, CFR, Club of Rome types who are hell-bent on enslaving a populace and taking all they've earned to finance their NWO and extravagant lifestyle...laughing all the way to the bank at our foolishness in blaming one another. Awake America! Educate yourself, arm yourself and prepare yourself.

Originally posted by marg6043
Or just do what our grandparents did or great grandparents they stuff their cash in cans and buried them all over their back yard.

If you keep your money in a bank account is easily traceable, but under the mattress that is another story.

Sorry, but I have to disagree. When you put your money into mattresses and tin cans, you are wasting it. The money devalues so much these days, you would be better off burning it. My investment advisor at Citibank had a sheet on his desk that stated 1 1983 dollar is now worth 40 cents. THAT IS SCARY!

If you can't hide your money outside the US-somethign I've read up on. It seems to be hard to find the anonymity that used to be available. Even the Caymans aren't a solid bet anymore.
I think investing in useful commodities for later use-including food, water treatment equipment, guns, gold, and ammo is a good solution. Guns never lose value. If they ban them-they'll be worth even more. Ammo is always useful and never drops, either. Look at ammo costs now versus pre2001. They went up, up, up! .308 is horrible now.
Gold and silver are a nice way to keep the value you invested-since they fluctuate, but never lose their real value.
Food purchased on the cheap now will be useful later.
Water treatment is good is there are ever problems with the chain of supply.
Finally, I read somewhere that wealthy people accumulate expensive things. Not just to enjoy them, but because it's a convenient way to store money for later. An expensive persian rug will never lose value. Neither will an expensive painting-although my grandma's collection of nice landscape paintings never sold very well.

I'm thinking the future is in under the table business. If you can't be a king of finance, you can probably make some money in the grey market and the penny saver business. The penny saver or nickel saver is always full of people buying and selling things that will never be taxed. Same with the farmers markets and parking lot sellers I see in my town. My brother recently revealed a stunningly simple idea to me-selling vegatebles to restaurants. He took some excess garden produce to a restaurant as a gift and received a free meal for his trouble and a request for more.

Enjoy-Polarbear6

Cmon guys, can we start posting facts and not emotional dribble?

Let's post stuff with sources and not what we think and feel about this change. We all know you hate Obama, that's great, don't care.

Now post something with some substance.

reply to post by TheHypnoToad
my god man you talk about history & socialism canada seem to be doing good and many other countrys a well do you realy think the u.s will fall? the power that be wont allow that

reply to post by TruthTellist


The pictures you posted are classic examples of right wing propaganda and to be honest we both know that they add nothing valuable to the discussion. Is it really so hard for you to state your opinion in CLEAR words?

Can anyone point me to a second article that can confirm the OP, Before i continue, I want to at least know that I'm debating something factual. The article was posted quite a few days ago and I can't find a second source to verify this.

Is this article even true?!