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submitted 7 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Greased by lobbying and campaign cash, tax breaks for retirement savings are one thing Congress agrees on. But they also blow out the deficit and add to income inequality.

Five months before Congress faced a near-catastrophic standoff over the debt ceiling, with Republicans demanding restrictions to food and Medicaid programs to rein in spending, a bill that raised the cost of private retirement savings accounts to $282 billion per year was quietly signed into law.

In this era of deeply divided politics, the 2022 bill known as Secure 2.0 was hailed as a bipartisan success — a victory for average Americans. It had sailed through the House by a whopping 414-5 vote. It followed four other major bills passed between 1996 and 2019 that dramatically expanded taxpayer savings – all equally lauded as bipartisan victories.

But that rare issue that brought a divided Washington together also increased wealth disparities and the federal deficit. And the victory was most strongly applauded by the burgeoning financial services industry, for whom tax-advantaged retirement savings has transformed a $7 trillion retirement market in 1995 to a $38.4 trillion behemoth in 2023.

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

Well excuse me for not being the success you are. Fucking poor people not pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, am I right?

[-] Xbeam@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago

No. It's the exact opposite. It's your company not putting in the minimum to support it's employees.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 0 points 7 months ago

Welcome to a life in the entertainment industry. In behind-the-scenes roles that didn't even have unions until recently in some cases and were usually contract positions anyway. And then a series of low-end jobs after that because I moved back to Indiana where I was from because there are no entertainment industry jobs here.

What can I say? I haven't been a success.

[-] GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 7 months ago

Hey, I see you a lot on here, and from one of your other comments in this thread I can see why I might see you more often.

You were probably being sarcastic with that success comment, but just in case you weren't... Success isn't a single definition, and I hope you don't dwell on the cookie cutter model of "success" too much. Be the absolute best you can be for yourself and those you love, that's success too.

I hope there's a positive outlook for you healthwise. And despite there being some short sighted shit birds, there's also some good folk on Lemmy/fedi, and I think you're one of em. Hang in there comrade.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Thank you. To be fair, I meant financial success. I think I'm a success in other ways, such as being a parent. But I appreciate it.

[-] GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 7 months ago

Financial success is such a huge thing for everyone, I'm glad you see it isn't everything. I also meant the other things, you seem like a good dude.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago
[-] ripcord@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I disagree with you sometimes but I also agree with GrundlButter.

this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2024
302 points (96.9% liked)

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