Government Lays Groundwork To Confiscate Your 401k and IRA: This Is HappeningMac Slavo Because last years bank bail-in forcing the confiscation of funds from average depositors in Cyprus worked so well, EU regulators and bankers have determined that theyll use a similar method to fund their future endeavors. In a nutshell, and inReuters own words, the savings of the European Unions 500 million citizens could be used to fund long-term investments to boost the economy and help plug the gap left by banks since the financial crisis,an EU document says. [] The solution? The Commission will ask the blocs insurance watchdog in the second half of this year for advice on a possible draft law to mobilize more personal pension savings for long-term financing,the document said. Mobilize, once again, is a more palatable word than, say,confiscate. But if you think this is limited to just Europe, then consider the words of President Barack Obama in his recent State of the Union address. For all intents and purposes, a similar groundwork is being laid right here in America. (Reprinted with permission from Sovereign Man. You can read the full analysis here.) This is basically the offer that the President of the United States floated last night. This is his new MyRA program. And the aim is simpledupe unwitting Americans to plow their retirement savings into the US governments shrinking coffers. Weve been talking about this for years. I have personally written since 2009 that the US government would one day push US citizens into the safety and security of US Treasuries. Back in 2009, almost everyone else thought I was nuts for even suggesting something so sacrilegious about the US government and financial system. But the day has arrived. And POTUS stated almost VERBATIM what I have been writing for years. The government is flat broke. Even by their own assessment, the US governments net worth is NEGATIVE 16 trillion. Thats as of the end of 2012 (the 2013 numbers arent out yet). But the trend is actually worsening. In 2009, the governments net worth was negative $11.45 trillion. By 2010, it had dropped to minus $13.47 trillion. By 2011, minus $14.78 trillion. And by 2012, minus $16.1 trillion. Heres the thing: according to the IRS, there is well over $5 trillion in US individual retirement accounts. For a government as bankrupt as Uncle Sam is, $5 trillion is irresistible. They need that money. They need YOUR money.And this MyRA program is the critical first step to corralling your hard earned retirement funds. At our event here in Chile last year, Jim Rogers nailed this right on the head when he and Ron Paul told our audience that the government would try to take your retirement funds: I dont know how much more clear I can be:thisishappening. This is exactly what bankrupt governments do. And its time to give serious, serious consideration to shipping your retirement funds overseas before they take yours. As former Congressman Ron Paul notes, the government will stop at nothing. Theyll use force and theyll use intimidation and theyll use guns, because you cant challenge the State and you cant challenge the States so-called right to control the money, warns Paul. Its already indicated that they will confiscate funds and they will [confiscate] pension funds. This didnt just happen over night. The move to make this reality has been going on for quite some time. The first time it was mentioned publicly in any official capacity was at a 2010 Congressional hearing: Democrats in the Senate on Thursday held a recess hearing covering a taxpayer bailout of union pensions and a plan to seize private 401(k) plans to more fairly distribute taxpayer-funded pensions to everyone. In a nutshell, under the GRA system government wouldseize private 401(k) accounts, setting up an additional 5% mandatory payroll tax to dole out a fair pension to everyone using that confiscated money coupled with the mandated contributions. This would, of course, be a sister government ponzi scheme working in tandem with Social Security, the primary purpose being to give big government politicians additional taxpayer funds to raid to pay for their out-of-control spending. Youd think that such an idea would be immediately dismissed by the American public, but it has only gained steam since, as evidenced by a 2012 hearing held at the U.S. Labor Department: The hearing, held in the Labor Departments main auditorium, was monitored by NSC staff and featured a line up of left-wing activists including one representative of the AFL-CIO who advocated formore government regulation over private retirement accounts and even the establishment of government-sponsored annuities that would take the place of 401k plans. This hearing was set up to explore why Americans are not saving as much for their retirement as they could, explains National Seniors Council National Director Robert Crone, However,it is clear that this is the first step towards a government takeover. It feels just like the beginning of the debate over health care and we all know how that ended up. Such reforms would effectively end private retirement accounts in America, Crone warns. A few years ago the government of the United States of America nationalized nearly 1/6th of our economy when they took over the health care system with forced mandates.In the process they essentially took control of $1.6 trillion in yearly industry revenues. But thats nothing compared to private savings. The total amount of retirement assets in America, including 401k, IRA and savings accounts is around $21 trillion.With our national debt coincidentally approaching the same, the government sees big money and potentially a way out of our countrys fiscal disaster. This will start voluntarily with the MyRA and other state-sponsored programs. But when not enough Americans are making it their patriotic duty to turn over their funds to their government, theyll mandate compliance with the stroke of a pen just as they did with the Patient Affordable Care Act. And just like Obamacare it will be enforced by the barrel of a gun. Failure to comply will mean confiscation without recourse and prison time. All they need now is a trigger. And that trigger will likely come in the form of another stock market collapse. Wipe out Americans in a stock market crash and scare the heck out of them with more economic bad news, and millions of our countrymen will be all too willing to hand it over to Uncle Sam. Panic is a powerful motivator and what better way to get people on board than by threatening them with squalor and destitution in their old age if they dont go along with it? Government officials have been actively working to make this a reality for years. The Europeans are doing the same. You can put your head in the sand or cover your ears and pretend this is not happening, but that wont change the outcome. They will take everything they can get their hands on. You can read more from Mac Slavo at his site SHTFplan.com, where this first appeared. 