Every U.S. citizen could get a 401 (k) retirement account and up to $1000 in matching funds per year under a proposal floated by Democrat Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

According to the AP, “Clinton said she wants to create "American Retirement Accounts" in which everyone could put up to $5,000 annually in a 401(k) plan. The federal government would provide a tax cut to match 100 percent of the first $1,000 for anyone who makes less than $60,000 a year and 50 percent of the first $1,000 for those who make $60,000-$100,000.”

All this sounds oddly similar to the abandoned Republican plan to privatize Social Security, giving citizens an opportunity to pick and choose investment vehicles.

It had me revisiting all of the opposition hoopla against privatizing the so-called social safety net. You know the litany of attacks and out right lies; there’s no guaranteed return, politicians will choose Wall Street firms to make your investment choices, what if the stock market goes down?

Which raises the question; where are most 401 (k) plans invested? Yep, the stock market! So how is the Hillary plan any different?

In the war of words over privatizing Social Security the left droned on and on about what a great success the program has been. Well if it’s so great, so successful, then why would we need Mrs. Clinton’s retirement account?

The answer is really simple; social security is a HUGE government boondoggle, which faces a numbers battle that pretty much doom it to failure in the not too distant future. Even a third grader can figure out too many people taking out, not enough people paying in, you’ve got to wonder why Democrats, Union hacks, and Senior groups don’t quite grasp the problem?

So how will Mrs. Clinton pay for latest re-distribution of of government largesse? Why taxing the “rich,” of course. “At a cost of $20 billion-$25 billion a year, the plan is Clinton's largest domestic proposal other than her plan for universal health insurance. The New York senator said it would be paid for by taxing estates worth more than $7 million per couple and would help narrow the gap between the rich and those who don't have enough savings for retirement.”

The plan raises more questions than it answers. Rather than raising taxes and crippling the economy, why not just allow people to keep their money (or a portion of it, which currently go into Social Security and allow them to invest it on their own? Wouldn’t that solve the issue without creating yet another big government boondoggle?