Lots of proposals get "testified" before congressional committees, or even mentioned by individual congressmen, and 99% of them are vapor.
Do the numbers on this idea. Total 401K plan assets in the US were appx $4.5TR (as of 2007), before reportedly losing about $1TR this year.
Is the govt going to simply "give" those Americans with 401K plans a cool $1 trillion, and then commit to giving them another $140 billion each year (that's 3% of $4.5TR)? If the stock market declines further, does the govt fork over another $1 trillion? Aside from where the money comes from, what might those Americans without 401K plans think about this? Do the IRA holders start queueing up next (that's another $4.7TR that has lost another $1TR reportedly)? Where do the homeowners queue up for their $5.0TR or so?
The idea is a total non-starter. The govt is not this stupid, they won't touch this idea w/ a 10 foot pole.
http://www.anbid.com.br/documentos_download/Fundos/Apresentações/ICI50/Reflections_US_Retirement_Market.pdf
http://www.pionline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081027/PRINTSUB/310279971/1005