Pension Reform (not)

The House is set to pass a pension reform bill today that will force employers who maintain defined-benefit pension plans to fund their pension liabilities more fully. Unfortunately, while full funding of existing pension plans is certainly a desirable goal, this bill will almost certainly force many employers to join the growing trend to eliminate the pension plan altogether. Many will probably offer a 401K plan in its place. Unfortunately, most people don't participate fully in 401K matching plans, and among those that do, many mis-manage their funds. Since this country has no other adequate provision for worker retirement, people will be left on their own to sink or swim. What happens when vast numbers of people start to sink? Do we just let them drown, while smugly saying they should have known better? The Republican law of nature: survival of the smuggest.