President Barack Obama works at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, ahead of Tuesday night's State of the Union speech.  (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Barack Obama works at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, ahead of Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech. An office sometimes can create a certain sense of stress which may lead you to finding ways of distraction, one of these could be massage chair recommendations where you can find ways of getting away from stress.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Ever since Obama took office rumors have been running rampant about the possible seizure of people’s IRA funds…or plainly stated, the government generously helping to manage your retirement savings.  Wait no longer.  Buried towards the end of the following AP report is the following:

… Obama will also announce executive actions on job training, boosting employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed and expanding retirement savings for low- and middle-income Americans.

The retirement savings proposal is geared toward workers whose employers don’t currently offer such plans. The program would allow first-time savers to start building up savings in Treasury bonds that eventually could be converted into traditional IRAs, according to two people who have discussed the proposal with the administration.

Although this isn’t yet the mandatory IRA, it’s certainly a step in that direction.  Remember what they did in Poland?  Don’t worry…I’m sure the government is just trying to protect your retirement account from terrorists.

Obama-I-want-your-money1WASHINGTON (AP) — Frustrated by years of partisan gridlock, President Barack Obama is moving to flex his presidential powers during his sixth year in office. He’s starting by using Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to announce executive actions to raise the minimum wage for new federal contracts, help the long-term unemployed find work and expand job-training programs.

Obama’s go-it-alone strategy, with modest steps for now, is aimed both at jumpstarting his stagnant second term and prodding a divided Congress to take additional action to boost economic opportunity for millions of Americans. But there’s little indication lawmakers are ready to follow along, particularly as the nation barrels toward the midterm elections.

Keenly aware of Congress’ slim record of recent accomplishments, White House officials see a robust rollout of executive actions as the most effective way to show the public that Obama still wields power as the clock ticks on his presidency.

“Congress is slow to action, and we’re not going to wait for that,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said in an interview on “CBS This Morning.”

Yet much of what the president can do on his own is limited, as evidenced by the minimum wage proposal officials previewed ahead of Tuesday’s prime-time address, which will be viewed by millions at home. The executive order will increase the minimum hourly payment for new federal contract workers from $7.25 to $10.10. But because the measure affects only future contracts, its immediate impact will be minimal.

“The question is how many people, Mr. President, will this executive action actually help?” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “I suspect the answer is somewhere close to zero.”

The White House says the wage hike would most benefit janitors and construction laborers working under new federal contracts, as well as military base workers who wash dishes, serve food and do laundry. But officials did not say how many people would fall into those categories.

Obama will seek to build on the executive order by renewing his call for Congress to pass a minimum wage increase for all American workers, a proposal that gained little traction after he first announced it in last year’s State of the Union address. But White House officials feel somewhat optimistic that they could get backing this year given that some Republican lawmakers have also indicated an interest in working on income inequality and economic mobility issues.

Washington’s current focus on inequality comes as many parts of the economy are gaining strength. But the soaring financial markets and corporate balance sheets stand in contrast to the millions of people still out of work or struggling with stagnant incomes that don’t stretch as far as they used to.  (Read more…)

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