LEGALIZED EXTORTION

I am often asked why I am a libertarian, and exactly what is a libertarian. In general terms, libertarians  believe in a very small and limited government because 80% of all politicians are unprincipiled, arrogant and ignorant. I will provide an example of the ignorance of our elected officials.

One of the constant themes that government promotes is about "saving." Politicians and economists lament that Americans do not save enough of their hard earned wages, and they are not incorrect in that appraisal. Save, we are told. SAVE. SAVE. SAVE. Save for a rainy day. Save for your retirement because you can't count on social security or medicare to do it all. Save if you want your golden years to be financially secure and worry-free.

Save I did. Not because the government told me, but because it is the sensible, practical and rational thing to do. Like tens of millions of Americans, I have a 401K account and an IRA. Now here comes the interesting part. When I hit 70 1/2 years of age, I received a notice from the IRS advising me that I would now have to make a compulsory withdrawal from my IRA and 401K on an annual basis, or face severe penalties. So what happened to the virtue of saving money? What happened to setting money aside for protection and security in our senior years?

What happened is this: the 401K's and IRA's are tax exempt, which means the money growing in those accounts can't be touched by the IRS. At some point, the politicans realized they were losing billions of dollars, so in their utter lack of wisdom and economic commons sense, they passed a law that forces American seniors to begin making minimunm withdrawls when they reach 70 1/2, the amount determined by the amount in their accounts. In plain and simple terms it amounts to a money grab the way the mafia used to extort money from honest shopkeepers. (You don't pay us, somethin' bad could happen to yer establishment.)

The government wants a piece of those billions, and to hell with your financial security or the wisdom of saving. Added to that is the tax placed on the interest earned on everyone's savings. How does that promote frugality?  Can you think of a more short-sighted, self-defeating, stupid and unprincipiled policy?

That is one reason I am a libertarian. Discuss amongst yourselves.