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* Two Dirty Little Secrets and a Plan to Address them both


* Contact Lou Dobbs about his Interview with Senator Carl Levin

*
Comment on Carl Levin's appearance on Lou Dobb's


* No Way on the Port Deal: UAE Leaders Vacationed with Bin Laden in 1999 (03/01/2006)

Just one Box Car - The Song

The UAE Port Deal is also about preventing the Colonization of the United States by Foreign Elite's (03/01/2006)

The 401(k) Could Prove a History-Making Fiasco

Act Against BushImportant Quotes:New Content: (02/22/2006)

 

The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future—and What It Will Take to Win It Back.  by Jeff Faux   

Saving Democracy

"It is time to fight again. These people in Washington have no right to be doing what they are doing. It's not their government, it's your government. They work for you. They're public employees - and if they let us down and sell us out, they should be fired. That goes for the lowliest bureaucrat in town to the senior leaders of Congress on up to the President of the United States."

--Bill Moyers (February 24, 2006)
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0224-20.htm

Stopping Bush's Fall 2005 Guest Worker Program


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New Essay from Professor Hemp (07/14/2005):

Two Dirty Little Secrets and Professor Hemp's Plan to Address them both

Dirty Secret #1: The American Worker is tired of being sold out by our Corporations and Politicians.

The corporate elite (the guys from Davos) are afraid of much more than being falsely accused of Islamophobia.  They are even more afraid that nixing the "UAE Port Agreement" will derail the Globalization Agenda.  They are afraid Americans will rise up against further losses in American jobs and sovereignty.  They are afraid the "Sell Off" of America, to foreign interests, is about to face unprecedented resistance from the American worker. 

Dirty Secret #2: The American Worker is getting ready to demand an end to "Free Trade Agreements" that essentially "screw" the American worker.

The American Worker is getting sick and tired of being sold out by US Multinational Corporations -- through control of the political infrastructure -- and we are demanding that this government chart a new course for our individual and collective future.

Yes, the UAE Port acquisition could very well be the "straw the broke the camel's back."  [Pun very much intended].

Every American should read this story (below) AND the related links:

The Dirty Little Secret Behind the UAE Port Security Scandal
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views06/0222-28.htm


The thesis: This Port deal is important to the architects of a global one world corporate government: the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF. If the "UAE Port Deal" does not go through they are worried that it could cause a cascading crescendo against the destructive move towards a one world corporate theocracy.

Yes, the blind faith in laissez-faire Capitalism is also a presumptuous faith based religion, of which we should also be extremely circumspect. In this case the American public's rejection, of UAE controlled ports, could jeopardize the MEFTA (Mideast Free Trade Agreement), the latest tentacle in the evolving set of FTA's (Free Trade Agreements). It could also call into question the entire globalization strategy that is already crumbling in Central and South America.

Of course we have already seen the destruction of millions of jobs from the earlier tentacles of these FTA's: NAFTA, CAFTA etc. Now, not only are these Multinational Corporate Traitors (GE, Microsoft, Ford Motor, etc.) willing to sacrifice more US jobs . . . now they are willing to jeopardize our National Security as well.

And don't think for a microsecond that the Democrats are really going to help out, beyond a symbolic set of gestures. I was recently at an Arabic Trade Summit that was held in Dearborn at the Fairlane Club. Though touted to be focused on "Mideast and African Trade" it was truly dedicated solely to trade with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. I was awestruck when, during the meeting, Jewish Democratic Senator Carl Levin made a speech via cell phone, from his DC office. His speech was a rubber stamp for MEFTA. Democratic Congressman John Dingle was also slated to speak.

But you would never know this from watching CNN.  Here is how Levin is positioned to speak on Lou Dobb's (sho airs 02/27/2006):

“Homeland Insecurity: Sen. Carl Levin says the Bush administration ignored the law requiring a complete national security review of the port deal. He joins us.  And, a port security consultant tells us why she says handing operational control of our ports over to the United Arab Emirates poses no threat to security.”
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/

Carl LevinBenjamin FranklinJohn Dingel
Likes to emulate Benjamin Franklin by constantly looking over his bifocals.Invented the bifocalLikes to be thought of as a supporter of the same values Franklin, Jefferson and Washington had written into our Constitution.  Professor Hemp ran against him in 1996.
These 2 representatives (Levin and Dingle) have nothing in common with Franklin who once said "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."  Yeah they like to be thought of that way, yet behind closed doors they are selling out the security and livelihood of the American worker to Mid Eastern Oil Sheiks.  Franklin, Jefferson and Washington were also advocates of Hemp -- what we know as Marijuana or Cannabis.  Levin and Dingle, on the other hand, have always been staunch opponents of Marijuana reform.  We DO need leaders with the intelligence and intuition of Franklin, Jefferson and Washington.  Unfortunately, these two don't fit the bill.


Here is a the first page of the itinerary for the 12/05/2005 Arabic Trade Summit:
[Click to view full size document]



During this meeting I voiced my opposition to any further immigration or trade agreements with the Mid East and especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

In point of fact I am opposed to any further legal or illegal immigration, into the United States,  until both mean and median real wages and benefits rise above the peak levels that occurred in 1973: it has been downhill since.

 The next day I got a extremely rare death threat, via email, in the form of an Aesop fable: "The Owl and the Grasshopper." When I attempted to contact the sender I found that the email account was no longer active. Later I found that the owl is a religious idol worshipped by one of the "secret societies" associated with globalists such as the Illuminati and the World Bank.

I highly doubt that either of these representatives [Senator Levin (D, MI) or Rep. Dingle (D, MI)] would like to be publicly associated with their support for MEFTA. But they really didn't think someone like me would be attending such a meeting. The charge for attending was $30 and the only other attendees were businesses, the Department of Commerce and Arab business lobbyists.

The point that I am trying to drive home is this: Do not think that the media will not inoculate the public with reasons to accept this UAE Port Deal over the next couple of weeks.  Do not think that traitors like Levin will try to "grandstand" this issue, acting like they are protectors of US jobs for American (not foreign) workers.   Just like Justice Alito, CAFTA, the Bankruptcy Bill, the Prescription Drug Bill, etc., the media will brainwash the American public into reluctant acceptance of a further erosion of American Sovereignty.  And the politicians (e.g., Levin and Dingle) will act like they are protecting American interests and jobs, while doing the complete opposite.  And in the end both Democratic and Republican representative will cave in and rubber stamp the UAE Port Deal because of pressure from their "corporate sponsors." If we want to change course it will be up to us.

To that end I am preparing a 1 hour presentation that is currently going under the working title: "The Case Against Immigration: Legal and Illegal." I want to give this talk before audiances accross the state of Michigan and I want it to serve as an opportunity to rally against the Traitors who would sell out our future and security for the short term benefits of the Multinational Corporations. I love public speaking so the larger the venue, the better. I would be perfectly comfortable giving this talk at the Palace of Auburn Hills, but will be satisfied to start at the local VFW or AFL-CIO Hall. If you are interesting in purchasing tickets for this "happening" send me an email to the following address:

newagecitizenx@comcast.net

I hope to deliver the first lecture before July 4th, 2006.

Paste the following into the Subject Heading: "Immigration Lecture" so that I can sort it out from the other mail. As time, date and location become clearer I will send instructions for purchasing tickets. And please forward this to your friends. We have to start getting beyond talking amongst ourselves. If we can get media coverage for these lectures it will reveal another, more important, dirty little secret:

The American Worker is getting sick and tired of being sold out by US Multinational Corporations and we are demanding that this government chart a new course for our individual and collective future.

To learn more about my background please visit my website and read through my preliminary attempts to define an alternative future for American and the world:

http://www.newagecitizen.com/

Yours in Freedom,

Professor Hemp

Contact Lou Dobbs about his Interview with Senator Carl Levin (D, Mi) on (02/27/2006)

This is the email I just sent to Lou Dobb’s. If you also want Lou to ask Levin, about his ties to Arab Commerce, you might also want to demand the question is asked by sending a letter to Lou Dobb’s yourself. Here’s the link:

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/

Letter to Lou Dobb’s:

I just read the following preview for your show this Monday (02/27):

“Homeland Insecurity: Sen. Carl Levin says the Bush administration ignored the law requiring a complete national security review of the port deal. He joins us.  And, a port security consultant tells us why she says handing operational control of our ports over to the United Arab Emirates poses no threat to security.”
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/


You might want to ask Levin "if you are so against the Port Deal with the UAE why did you speak at a Arab Trade Meeting (12/05/2005) that was promoting trade with primarily the UAE and Saudi Arabia? Kind of odd for a Jewish guy from, Detroit, the Auto Capitol of the World, until you realize that his district is also home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.

Go to my webpage to view the first page from the meeting, which lists both Levin and Dingle as speakers:

www.newagecitizen.com

Once at the homepage, click on the following text:

"Two Dirty Little Secrets and Professor Hemp's Plan to Address them both"

Read through my "rant" until you come to the thumbnail of the document.

If you click on the thumbnail the full size document will appear in another window.

Call me if you have additional questions or would like to have me on your show sometime.

Comment on Carl Levin's appearance on Lou Dobb's (02/27/2005)

The three most important points being made here are as follows:

(1) The 45 Day Review means nothing -- Bush can sign it regardless of what the committee or Congress decide.
(2) Levin, Dingle and most of Congress are going to allow this "sell off" of American Infrastructure to a nation that has aided and abetted terrorists.
(3) 80% of the American public opposes the UAE Port Purchase.

If you didn't know better you would think Carl Levin was against both UAE Port control as well as further UAE investment in the United States. This is how he "positioned" himself on Lou Dobb's on Monday (02/27/2006). I have included that transcript at the end of this email.

Now Levin does say one important thing here that the media is purposefully obscuring:

(1) THE PORT IS GOING TO BE SOLD NEXT WEEK AND THEY WILL INSIST THAT IT CANNOT BE UNDONE.
(2) AT THE END OF THE "45 DAY RE-REVIEW" BUSH CAN ELECT TO SIGN IT REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS AND CONGRESS CANNOT CURRENTLY DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
(3) BUSH HAS INDICATED THAT HE WILL SIGN TO APPROVE THE UAE PORT DEAL.


So basically we are looking at a government which has already screwed us on Credit Card Penalties, Bankruptcy Legislation, Pensions, Iraq, Prescription Drugs. Now they are going to lie to us with a straight face (e.g., Levin and Dingle) while in private they are found at Arab Trade meetings encouraging the foreign colonization of the United States.

Once you have read the Lou Dobb's transcript go to my website:

www.newagecitizen.com

On the homepage you will find the article:
"Two Dirty Little Secrets and Professor Hemp's Plan to Address them both"

In that story I reveal how both Levin and Dingle were both slated to speak at an Arab Trade Summit on 12/05/2005. The two primary countries represented at the meeting: the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

I think we need new leadership in this country.


Here is what he said on Lou Dobbs (02/27/2005):
LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: Levin on the UAE Port Deal
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0602/27/ldt.01.html

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dubai Ports World says it will delay taking over operational control of six U.S. port facilities. But if you read the fine print, once the company closes the deal it will be the new owner.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: I don't think we ought to fool the American people on what's going on here. This -- if this closing takes place, Dubai owns these facilities.

And one of Dubai port deals strongest critics is Senator Carl Levin. He's a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. He'll be my guest here.

I'll also be talking with two of the country's leading port security analysts who have opposite views on this deal.

DOBBS: Kim Petersen, Michael Kreitzer, gentlemen, we thank you very much for being here.

Still ahead here, Senator Carl Levin, a key opponent of this Dubai Ports takeover. He is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and he'll be here to give us his view. Our nation's governors in Washington. They are demanding action on an illegal alien crisis that the federal government has yet to recognize.

Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona joins me here next. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: We have been reporting to you this hour on what appears to be on the part of at least Senator Bill Frist, the Majority Leader in the Senate, other members of the leadership of both the House and the Senate, but principally the Senate, to be an entire change of direction from last week when they were defying the White House to rolling over for this White House and falling in line if you will.

The U.S. Senate has just concluded a closed door briefing on this Dubai Ports World deal. The Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee Senator Susan Collins now says she still has major concerns about the deal. Ed Henry has just talked her. Ed Henry has a report for us. Ed.

HENRY: That's right. This basically was all sparked by the fact that, as you know earlier today, Senator Collins released an unclassified document that revealed the Coast Guard had concerns and raised some questions about what they call intelligence gaps in this port deal. The Bush administration response to this hearing was they knew about the concerns in December. They addressed them. They got assurances from the company involved here. If they went to a classified briefing they would allay the concerns of the senators.

Senator Collins and the top Democrat on that committee, Democrat Joe Lieberman, just went to the classified briefing and came out, and Senator Collins said that she is more convinced than ever, even after this classified briefing, that the process that led to this port deal was flawed.

She also called it a rush to judgment. That's a quote from her and said there was not a quote, painstaking, thorough analysis in the early stages of this actual analysis. She also stress she has confidence now in the new 45-day review moving forward. But said that she thinks it could be a new result that results from that 45-day review.

She also said that the assurances letter that the administration has been pointing to basically is flawed and too weak. Take a listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R) HOMELAND SEC. CMTE. CHMN: At the end of this afternoon of briefings, I am more convinced than ever that the process was truly flawed. That the national security and homeland security implications of this proposed transaction were such that a 45-day formal investigation as called for under the law should have been undertaken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now Senator Lieberman also said this cannot be what he called a 45-day review for better P.R., public relations, instead he says that this is review now needs to convince what he called a skeptical Congress that this deal is worth moving forward on.

DOBBS: Remarkable developments, this story itself taking remarkable twists and turns. We appreciate it, Ed Henry. Keep us up to date as always.

Senator Carl Levin, a fierce critic of the Dubai ports deal, is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Service Committee, as I say, joining us from Capitol Hill. He was in today's Senate hearings on the port deal. Good to have you with us, Senator.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), RANKING MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES CMTE: Lou, good being with you.

DOBBS: We just heard from Senator Collins, the leader, the Committee Chairman of Homeland Security, she is not rolling over for this administration. She is not falling into line.

LEVIN: Well I admire her if a lot of reasons. This is an additional one. She is apparently going to stake out a position of independence from this administration. I think that's critically important in the fact that apparently the Republican leadership here are accepting a statement that, well, we're going to close the deal on this transfer of ownership but there's going to be a 45-day investigation.

If they close the deal, the way they now say they are going to do, that just completely changes the status quo.

DOBBS: We should be clear, close the deal means that Dubai Ports World would take ownership in this transaction of Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Navigation, the company that has the contract, in 21 or 22 ports, six of the operational terminals in six major U.S. ports, logistics contracts in those other. That makes the 45-day review a farce at best.

LEVIN: It sure looks like it's just papering over the issue until they can go through the motions of this review. If it's a real review, that's fine. But now it's even more unlikely it will be a real investigation because the actual ownership has been transferred.

They would have to unravel that ownership and according to the law they have to go to court to do it. The administration would actually have to go to a federal court to undo what is apparently they are going to allow to be done in the next few days. That seems to me to be totally unacceptable.

DOBBS: Senator Levin, this administration in all fairness to the previous administration, put great emphasis on commerce, on international trade, as we have reported here tonight. The world is awash in American dollars. Our debtors, our creditors, excuse me, are buying up now hard assets instead of investing all of that money in our securities markets, our capital markets. Are we going to see a change here in direction?

It's remarkable I have to ask this question four years after September 11 with our young men and women dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, but are we going to see an awakening, a concern for the national security and the national interest that overwhelms this mad rush to commercial interests?

LEVIN: We can only hope so when the Secretary of the Treasury talks about the importance of investment in the United States.

DOBBS: Was that not incredible?

LEVIN: I tell you I throw up my arms and say wait a minute. How do you in the same breath, in the same room, talk about the need for investment when you're also talking about the security of the United States and some of our most vulnerable assets which are our ports. I am amazed that they'll even discuss it at the same time.

It should have no place in this whole debate. The question is, is there going to be a possibility of a weakening of our security by transferring ports to foreign governments. That's the issue. And we ought to focus on it and abide by our law.

DOBBS: Do you think the U.S. Senate will?

LEVIN: Not after today's statements by the leadership. I think it's a lot less likely. If we do not insist this sale be put on hold until this investigation is complete, it seems to me it's a done deal.

DOBBS: Senator Carl Levin, good to have you here. Thank you.

 

Its 10:00 PM, March 1st.  I was just listening to Rep. Sanders address the following committee on C-SPAN.  The actual hearing occurred today at 2:00 PM:

*****
House Financial Services Cmte. Subcommittee hearing on CFIUS Process
http://www.c-span.org/videoarchives.asp?CatCodePairs=,&ArchiveDays=100
Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) chairs a subcommittee level hearing of the House Financial Services Cmte. on the CFIUS Process. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is responsible for reviewing the Dubai Ports World deal. The UAE company will request a full 45-day CFIUS review.
3/1/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 4 hr. 15 min.
*****

If you have a chance you really owe it to yourself to listen to some of this.  The link (above) is not currently working and I cannot yet find the transcript so let me paraphrase what Sanders asked the CFIUS members. 
 
Sanders asked members of CFIUS, the traitors that OK'd the UAE Port deal, the following question:
 
'Two years before "911" we received information that Bin Laden had been sighted in Afghanistan/Pakistan.  Apparently he was at a hunting reserve entertaining high ranking rulers of the UAE, so the decision was ultimately made not to take Bin Laden out (e.g., treat him with extreme prejudice . . . kill him).  Did the CFIUS committee make sure that none of these UAE leaders is now directly or indirectly involved with the UAE-owned company that will be in charge of the ports?
 
The question was directed at CFUIS member Robert Kimmitt, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Treasury.  Amazingly Kimmitt had to reply that he would find the information and get back to the panel.  How could they have OK's this port deal, with the UAE, without considering this and many other factors?
 
There is no way that this deal should EVER go through.  Furthermore we need to insulate all US property from and further foreign ownership.  All property, not just "national security assets.  And we also need to determine how much foreign ownership has already taken place under the auspices of CFIUS, over the last 30 years.  CFIUS is part of a shadow government as far as I am concerned because it is totally outside our system of checks and balances.  The very idea that such an important deal could get by both Bush, Cheney and Rumsfield is nearly beyond belief.  Frankly, I'm not buying it.
 
If this deal goes through it is time to gather up our weapons and take this country back from this secretive foreign domination which is hollowing out the dreams of millions of working Americans.
 
I am seriously thinking of staging a demonstration in from of Ford Motor in Dearborn in the next couple weeks.  Here's a possible sign design which fleshes out some of the important issues: 

 
THIS COUNTRY IS NOT FOR SALE:
No Way on UAE Ports
No More CFIUS
No More Legal or Illegal Immigration
No More H1B jobs in America
No More foreign ownership of US Assets
No More EB-5 Visas

 
I'm thinking of staging this on a Saturday in Dearborn Michigan
Michigan Avenue Between Southfield and Evergreen
Parking at the Centennial Library
 
Anyone interested in attending should send me an email with the following subject:
Port Protest.  Send to newagecitizenx@comcast.net.
 
Yours in Freedom,
 
Professor Hemp
http://www.newagecitizen.com/
 

Just one Box Car
[To the Tune of "Just One Kiss"]
 
Just one box car
That' all it took, took, took
Cause it's Cargo was a thermo nuclear bomb
 
Just one box car
In a UAE run Port, Port, Port
And our Economy blows right to Kingdom Come
 
Just One Box Car, That's all it Took
Just One Box Car, That's all it Took
Just One Box Car, That's all it Took

 
Bang!

 
I also want to let people know that Lou Dobb's has not yet contacted me regarding Sen. Carl Levin's curious behavior.  On one hand he appears to be questioning the UAE Port Deal.  On the other hand I was at an Arab Trade Summit (12/05/2006) where he was a guest speaker in support of UAE trade.  Hopefully, Lou Dobb's will check out the program itinerary, posted at the website (http://www.newagecitizen/) where both Levin and Dingle are listed as guest speakers.
 
Finally a germ of a solution . . .
 
In the spirit of thinking outside of the sand box:
 
We are in the midst of one of the greatest betrayals of the American people since the Federal Reserve Banks (Note: These are actually private owned banks, that are controlled by global financial interests, that get to print US currency and get interest] implemented the Great Depression in 1929. 
 
The question is really . . . who is going to get screwed this time.  The current answer is "you and I" if we don't do something about it. 
 
And so here is my 5 step solution.
 
(1) Create a "American People's Reserve" to replace the Federal Reserve
(2) Print enough money to pay off all of our domestic and foreign creditors.
(3) Allow one month for every American to put all of their money into the banks
(4) On D-Day all American held bank money will be multiplied by 100.  So if you have a dollar you now have 100 dollars.
(5) Once step 4 has been transacted multiply all wages by 100.
 
Whalah!!!!  No more debt.  No more foreign ownership.  Oh happy day.
 
Of course this isn't probably going to happen without a lot of your help.  In fact given the docility of the American worker it probably won't happen at all.  It may not even be a smart idea.
 
 What will probably happen instead, is a further colonization of the US by foreigners who are buying up this country through CFIUS deals and with EB-5 Visas which also grant them citizenship for their efforts.  You and I, average working Americans, will be both figuratively and literally SCREWED.
 
 
Stop walking around with you Eyes Wide Shut!!!
 
Yours in Freedom,
 
Professor Hemp
http://www.newagecitizen.com/

The UAE Port Deal is also about preventing the Colonization of the United States by Foreign Elite's


The UAE Port Deal is about both Security and derailing the Colonization of the United States by Foreign Governments and People. Of course the Corporate Controlled Media prefers that we relegate our energy to the first, as they are cooking up the disinformation to inoculate the malleable American public. What the Multination Elite fears is that we just might start focusing on the second concern: the colonization of the United States by Foreign Elites (Mid Eastern, Chinese, Indian, etc.).

I will expound on this shortly. But I think you will get a good idea as to the subthemes from reading these two links:




When Americans No Longer Own America
by Thom Hartmann

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0227-20.htm

U.S. Reviewing 2nd Dubai Firm
Israeli Deal Also Faces Security Check

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102192.html



If these articles are not enough "good news" consider that this 45 "UAE Port" Review may be nothing more than a Kabuki show (e.g., the sale is a done deal despite 80% disapproval by scientific polls of American workers).

I think what is interesting is the framing of the UAE Port Issue. They are trying to say it is all about National Security and then go on to argue that (1) even China owns vast berths within our harbors and (2) those that are uncomfortable about the deal must be Islamophobic.

What they don't want to see is this issue framed in terms of a foreign colonialization of the United States where American workers will find themselves at the mercy of foreign born employers. If this reality permeates the media, as it should, there just might be a small chance that we can reclaim this republic

The 401(k) Could Prove a History-Making Fiasco


http://www.thestreet.com/funds/belowradar/10016126.html
By K.C. Swanson Staff Reporter
04/08/2002 07:06 AM EDT

It's starting to look like 401(k) plans will go down in history as a costly failure. In fact, the abandonment of old-fashioned pension plans is likely to leave many Americans poorer in their old age.

Evidence shows that as 401(k)s have taken hold, employees have lost ground in their retirement savings -- even during one of the greatest bull markets in history.

In the last 10 or 15 years, companies have increasingly pushed the burden of managing pensions onto their workers. During the market's boom years, workers rarely complained. Indeed, few regretted the disappearance of defined-benefit plans in an era in which 401(k) plans offered access to double-digit stock market gains.

Now it's clear that many employees either can't afford to make adequate contributions or don't understand that they must. In 2001, fewer than 7% of 401(k) participants contributed the maximum allowed amount to their plans, according to Cerulli Associates, a fund consulting group.

Moreover, because the average U.S. worker has little training in financial planning, some have assumed far too much risk, while others have invested too cautiously -- and both moves damage long-term returns.

Granted, not everyone has lost out with 401(k) plans. Employees with high incomes, financial know-how and an interest in investments stand to benefit from a system of self-managed retirement accounts. But few people fit that profile.

Retirement Savings: Facing a Shortfall
Surprising as it may seem after a decade of prosperity, Americans on the verge of retirement actually have less money saved now than 15 years ago. For those aged 47 to 64, inflation-adjusted median retirement wealth -- including defined-contribution plans, defined-benefit plans and the value of Social Security benefits -- actually fell by 11% between 1983 and 1998, according to a study by New York University economist Edward Wolff.

Yet for the same age group, average retirement wealth rose 4%. In other words, over the last 15 years, wealthier people gained retirement wealth, the less affluent lost it.

It's no coincidence that in the meantime, 401(k)s were elbowing out defined-benefit plans as the retirement plan of choice. By 1998, well over half of workers close to retirement owned a 401(k).

"401(k)s are good if you can accumulate a lot of money, but medium-wage workers just haven't accumulated as much. Lower-income workers did much better under [defined-benefit] plans," says Wolff.




Meet Your New Pay Cut, the 401(k)
Given their unimpressive track record, how did 401(k)s get to be so popular in the first place? It helped that the plans became widespread in the '90s, amid a period of double-digit stock market gains. Back then, 401(k)s were touted as a means to access potential stock market riches -- unlike defined-benefit plans, with their stodgy guaranteed payouts.

401(k)s also offered portable benefits, letting workers take their retirement funds with them if they changed jobs.

But at least as important as their appeal to workers was that 401(k)s saved employers money. "401(k) plans in general are seen to be cheap because the company doesn't have to make as large contributions," says Annika Sunden, associate director for research at Boston College's Center for Retirement Research.

Under a defined-benefit plan, a typical company might pay an average of around 8% of its payroll into a pension account, with individual payouts based on a retiree's salary and tenure at the firm. But with a 401(k), a company could pay benefits of anywhere between 3% of payroll, if it provides a match to employee contributions, to nothing at all.

By switching from defined-benefit plans to 401(k)s, companies have effectively cut worker benefits. But there's little evidence that they have simultaneously raised wages to offset that effect.

Moreover, in line with the faltering economy, companies have cut the amount of money they contribute to worker plans. "401(k)'s are profit-sharing plans. People have forgotten that. When profits decline, company contributions decline as well," says David Wray, president of the Profitsharing/401(k) Council of America, an employer trade association. In a survey of 909 member companies, the council found that their average contributions to 401(k) plans dropped from 3.3% of payroll in 1999 to 2.5% in 2000. Contributions declined further in 2001, though no specific number has been released yet.

The bottom line: Many employees with 401(k)'s aren't saving enough money to retire. A survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that among workers aged 40 to 59, 39% reported savings of less than $50,000. Less than one-fourth have saved $100,000 or more.

Such low totals are not a reflection, however, of declining contributions. Despite the down market, contributions to 401(k)s increased 10% from 1999 to 2000, according to Cerulli. The firm projects that contributions grew another 10.1% in 2001, though the information hasn't been made official.

But partly because of the down market, the average 401(k) account balance declined 0.1% in 2001, according to the ICI.


Social Security Won't Pick Up the Slack
Some folks may be betting that Social Security will come to their aid in retirement. Indeed, almost half of current retirees 60 and older say Social Security is the biggest share of their income.

But the federal program is not likely to be able to pick up the slack in the future. Already, payouts are on the decline. In the 15-year period ending in 1998, the value of Social Security benefits to households with people aged 47 and over declined 11%. Among the reasons: average hourly wages have declined in that period, as have the average hours worked. Also, fewer people are married, and married people reap bigger Social Security benefits.

Moreover, with the very structure of Social Security up for debate, it seems risky for younger workers to expect generous benefits when they reach old age.




As it stands, of course, the tenuous footing of Social Security in the future has grabbed all the attention. But it's becoming clear that many Americans also haven't put enough money aside in their private retirement accounts, the other key component of retirement security.

And unlike the '90s, today there's no soaring stock market to give anyone reason to think insufficient retirement funds could go the distance. "I think the stock market hype really clouded this [retirement savings] issue," says Wolff. "The boom largely benefited the rich, but it hasn't really filtered down that much."

You also might want to check out these books for further perspective, or at least check out the reviews:

The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local
by Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871568659/ref=pd_rhf_f_1/103-0044256-2449479?v=glance&s=books&no=*&st=*

In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations
by Jerry Mander
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871565099/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/103-0044256-2449479?v=glance&s=books&st=*

 

"New Agenda for America" - Brand New Addition to our website!

"New Agenda for America" will become a slogan for referring to the set of policy positions that NAC will be promoting in the coming years.  It refers to a disturbing trend whereby our elected representatives appear to be increasingly at odds with the values of the founding fathers of this country (e.g., Washington, Franklin, Jefferson) and the American people.

To get this off the ground I am creating a frames based page which will allow my visitors to both understand the rational behind New Age Citizen as well as the preliminary agenda for "New Agenda for America."  I will place a link to this at the top right hand corner of the homepage for now.  You can take a quick look by clicking below:


New Agenda for America

I'm interested to here your initial feedback on this new addition to the website.

Also, please read this article if you have not already done so.  Very illuminating stuff.

http://www.newagecitizen.com/PDF/braindrain.pdf

 Please support our efforts to allow a form of Marijuana Re-Legalization where personal cultivation is neither taxed or regulated by any government agencies.  For more information please read the following articles regarding the Marijuana Re-Legalization Policy (MRP) Project:

Editorial  Overview 

To navigate through the rest of the website please proceed to the "Site Navigation Center":


NAVIGATION CENTER

We encourage those, that agree with our goals, to support our efforts by purchasing the NAC Multi-media CD which comes with a annual membership to New Age Citizen.  Click below to get more information:


Introduction to the New Age Citizen Disk Web

To simplify the ordering process please print yourself off an order form by clicking on the hover button below.. 

 

[Please Note: (1) You need to have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader installed before you can print the order form; (2) This form also has occasional problems when viewed through the AOL browser.  If it takes more that 2 minutes to bring up the form we suggest using the Internet Explorer (IE) browser].

Thanks for your Activism and Support,

Professor Hemp,
Editor of New Age Patriot Magazine(1989 - 1997)
Webmaster for New Age Citizen (2000 - End of the Drug War)


 

 

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