“substantially more than is needed to fund reasonable levels of retirement saving,”

President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget blueprint contains a proposal that would raise $9 billion over ten years by limiting the amount Americans can contribute into tax-advantaged retirement plans.

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What's the difference between means-testing SS and Medicare, capping various income tax deductions, capping eligibility for small business preferences, capping eligibility for various transfer payments, etc. - all of which are typically favored by conservatives and budget hawks - and capping the amount of these particular tax deferral programs? Seems to me the point of all of the above is to say, "Sure, it's ok for the government to give people a hand up when they're struggling or in the early stages of starting a business or saving for retirement, but at some point, the special treatment / extra benefit has to get phased out."

And then there's the whole distorting government influence issue that underlies all social engineering through tax policy - i.e. why should the government be rewarding me for saving a dollar instead of spending a dollar? The who, what, where, when and why of my saving/spending decisions are my own business, but by giving preferential tax treatment to the former, the nanny-state is trying to push me into saving more than I otherwise would. It's funny how so many people are able to see the obvious role that tax preferences like the mortgage interest deduction, FHA loans, etc. helped fuel the housing bubble, but so few people seem to realize that things like IRAs and 401-Ks are helping to fuel the financial services bubble and all the creative/risky investment vehicles out there.

What's the difference between means-testing SS and Medicare, capping various income tax deductions, capping eligibility for small business preferences, capping eligibility for various transfer payments, etc. - all of which are typically favored by conservatives and budget hawks - and capping the amount of these particular tax deferral programs? Seems to me the point of all of the above is to say, "Sure, it's ok for the government to give people a hand up when they're struggling or in the early stages of starting a business or saving for retirement, but at some point, the special treatment / extra benefit has to get phased out."

And then there's the whole distorting government influence issue that underlies all social engineering through tax policy - i.e. why should the government be rewarding me for saving a dollar instead of spending a dollar? The who, what, where, when and why of my saving/spending decisions are my own business, but by giving preferential tax treatment to the former, the nanny-state is trying to push me into saving more than I otherwise would. It's funny how so many people are able to see the obvious role that tax preferences like the mortgage interest deduction, FHA loans, etc. helped fuel the housing bubble, but so few people seem to realize that things like IRAs and 401-Ks are helping to fuel the financial services bubble and all the creative/risky investment vehicles out there.

Really? Just.... really?

You mean besides the fact that those are all things about money that is actually handled by the government, as opposed to people's private savings?

As for your last part, the idea that it's "nanny-state" to encourage you to save for yourself is a lame gotcha-attempt at its worst.

Not sure what you mean here.

How is this a gotcha attempt? It's nanny-state because the government is trying to nudge people into doing something they might not otherwise do because the government thinks its for their own good. I mean seriously, replace "save for yourself" with "drink less soda" and tell me again that it's not a nanny-state thing.

And then there's the whole distorting government influence issue that underlies all social engineering through tax policy - i.e. why should the government be rewarding me for saving a dollar instead of spending a dollar?

Are you jumping on the Fair Tax bandwagon?