NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a host of new measures designed to assist struggling middle-class individuals and families. Among other things, his proposals would expand existing tax credits for child care and retirement savings, and provide financial relief for families caring for children and the elderly.

Here’s a closer look at some of the administration’s new proposals, gleaned from a White House factsheet, and other legislative plans that are under consideration in the House and Senate:

- Boost Safety-Net Workplace IRAs: One proposal would require companies that don’t offer retirement-savings plans to automatically enroll their workers in tax-deferred retirement accounts, or “workplace IRAs.” (Employees would have the option to join or not.) After enrollment, a certain percentage of a worker’s income would automatically be directly deposited into the retirement account. The account would allow employees to choose how to invest their own savings, but a default investment — typically a bond or money-market mutual fund — would be chosen for participants who fail to choose an investment option. The government would provide a tax credit for companies to help offset the costs of setting up the new IRAs, but certain small businesses would be exempt.

- Expand the “Saver’s Credit”: This proposal would encourage saving for retirement by expanding the “Saver’s Credit” to families earning up to $85,000 (formerly, it was limited to income of $53,000 for married couples filing jointly). Eligible taxpayers now can take a credit of up to $1,000 (or $2,000 for joint filers) for contributions to a qualified IRA, 401(k) and certain other retirement plans. The administration also plans to match 50 percent of the first $1,000 of contributions for families with income of $65,000 or less. The tax credit is on top of other tax benefits available for retirement contributions, such as the deduction for contributions to a qualified IRA.

- Enhance 401(k) Transparency: The administration hopes to make employees more aware of retirement-plan fees and investment performance by requiring that plan documents be made clearer and easier to understand. One proposal would require that plan documents report all fees charged against a worker’s 401(k) — administrative, investment management, transaction and other fees — in a prominent place on quarterly statements. The proposals would require that plan participants receive clear information on risk, return and investment objectives before they contribute to a plan. Finally, the administration will promote the availability of annuities and other forms of guaranteed-income investments in 401(k)s, reducing the risks that retirees will outlive their savings.

- Bigger Tax Break for Families, Expand the “Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit”: The proposal would nearly double the child tax credit rate to 35 percent of qualifying expenses, from the current 20 percent for families earning less than $85,000 a year. Families making up to $115,000 would be eligible for a larger portion of the tax credit as well. The administration also proposes to increase child-care funding by $1.6 billion next year. Finally, another $102.5 million would be allocated to elder-care programs.

- Cap on Student Loan Repayments: College grads would get a break from onerous student-loan repayment schedules by capping monthly payments to 10 percent of a “basic living allowance.” The cap is now 15 percent. A student with $20,000 in loans, and an income of up to $30,000, would have a monthly payment of $115, almost half the $228 a month under a standard 10-year repayment plan, according to the White House factsheet.

by Karl Denninger

Now this is a guaranteed rape job.

In a short conversation this noontime that CNBC apparently has omitted from their archives (Why’s that folks?) Rick Santelli was talking about a potential to effectively force money into the Treasury market.

Where would they get this?

From your 401k and IRA accounts!

From Businessweek:

The U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comment as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort.

Let me tell you what this is – it is an attempt to prevent the collapse of the Treasury market!

Forcing people into Treasuries as an “annuity” is exactly what Social Security allegedly is. Except that Treasury stole the money that was collected in FICA taxes and spent it!

Guess what? They’ll do that here too – you’re going to “invest” in Treasuries which of course are effectively a CALL option on the future taxing ability of the government.

The problem is that with an aging population and the immigrant problem (illegal immigrants that is), along with offshoring, the aggregate wage base will drop and thus this is the most dangerous investment of all!

What’s even worse is that the government has intentionally suppressed Treasury yields during this crisis (and will keep doing so by various means, including manipulating the CPI – the “inflation index” – as they have for the last 30 years) so as to guarantee that you lose over time compared to actual purchasing power.

THIS HAS BEEN THE CASE SINCE THE 1980s AND IT WILL NOT CHANGE!

I have been talking about this for quite some time and recall writing a Ticker on it a year or more ago, although I can’t find the entry immediately.

Let me be clear:

I have no quarrel with the government mandating that you have a choice in your IRA or 401k account to buy short-duration Treasuries – much like the “G” fund that government and civil-service workers have.

But – “choices” have a funny way of turning into mandates, and this looks to me like a raw admission that Treasury knows it will not be able to sell its debt in the open market – so they will effectively tax you by forcing your “retirement” money to buy them!

This may be the only way for Treasury to hold down interest rates to something reasonable in the intermediate term, but doing so will instantaneously remove a major source of funding for the stock market – that is, the monthly and quarterly inflows from retirement accounts.

You can bet this won’t be good for you, the ordinary American.

You can also bet that once such an “option” is made available there is a very high probability of the government doing things that either promote or simply don’t stand in the way of another stock market crash as a means of “herding” your money into Treasuries – so they can blow it – all under the guise of being allegedly “safe”.

Of course this begs the question – what if the government can’t pay down the road when you retire, just as they can’t pay on a forward basis with Social Security and Medicare?

This “proposal” can only mean one thing – The Treasury smells smoke. Maybe you should pay attention to what they’re huffing!

And before you say “oh they’d never do that” I want you to read this:

Here is a warning to us all. The Argentine state is taking control of the country’s privately-managed pension funds in a drastic move to raise cash.

My fear is that governments in the US, Britain, and Europe will display similar reflexes. Indeed, they have already done so. The forced-feeding of banks with fresh capital – whether they want it or not – and the seizure of the Fannie/Freddie mortgage giants before they were in fact in trouble (in order to prevent a Chinese buying strike of US bonds and prevent a spike in US mortgage rates), shows that private property can be co-opted – or eliminated – with little due process if that is required to serve the collective welfare.

Any questions?

PS: If the video shows up I’ll update this ticker…. and if you’re wondering what hammered the dollar starting at about 9:00 today, this is probably it. Such a “move” would free the government to further abuse the issuance of Treasuries rather than take necessary austerity steps and places us even further down the road toward a political and economic collapse.