So you trust both parties to spend wisely and they would never come after your pension...if so, read this

If there's anything that can unite Democrats and Republicans in the partisan swamp of Capitol Hill, it's free money. The latest example of free money in Washington is a retread proposal called "pension smoothing" that raises money but doesn't increase anyone's taxes. To some people's way of thinking, that's a win-win situation. But others say lose-lose is more like it, arguing that it's budget fakery at its worst and that it could undermine pension security for millions of workers. Lawmakers reprised the pension provision Tuesday to help find money for a government fund that finances highway construction projects, with both Democrats and Republicans getting into the act. The highway bill passed by a sweeping 367-55 vote. Here's how it works: The pension measure would allow companies to reduce the amount that they contribute to their pension funds now and make up for it later. Since pension contributions are tax deductible, companies would owe more tax revenue in the next few years as more of their earnings are taxed. But in the later years, they would be able to claim higher deductions from larger contributions to their pension funds. Over time, the pension measure doesn't raise revenue. But over the next 10 years — the time frame used to estimate the cost of legislation — it does...more

Pretty crafty, huh.  Messin' with people's pensions, though, and even some of the lefties don't like it:

"It pretends to raise revenue. It doesn't. It'll lose as much money, plus interest, in the future as it gains in the short term," says Len Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the left-of-center Brookings Institution and Urban Institute. "And it undermines the pension security of American workers. Aside from that, it's a great idea. It's outrageous."

Let's see what the conservatives, uh...I mean Republicans in the House have passed:

A plan by Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, would raise almost $19 billion over the next six years by extending for another five years a pension smoothing plan enacted to help pay for the 2012 highway bill. But over the final four years of the budget window, roughly two-thirds of that revenue gain is taken back as companies take higher tax deductions from larger pension contributions in the longer term.

That pretty well describes the Republicans when they get a majority - they don't want to raise taxes but they JUST CAN'T STOP SPENDING.

OK, maybe the Dems have a different approach in the Senate.

The Senate's version raises less short-term cash, with a three-year extension of the tactic. Critics shouldn't take heart: The Senate is saving the other two years to "pay for" other must-do legislation such as Forest Service payments to rural schools, underfunded coal miner pensions, and a trust fund for reclamation of abandoned mines.

Coal miner pensions and abandoned mines...The Dem's are apparently really concerned about losing in West Virginia this year, so they will mess with your pension too.

Is this budget fakery really a threat?

And in an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office released last week, the nonpartisan scorekeeper said the pension provision "would increase the amount of underfunding" in single-employer, defined benefit pension plans and "would probably cause some plans to be terminated more quickly."

Surely our courageous leader in the House has something to say about this!  Oops, he's defending this fakery:

"Then why would the president be supporting our bill to fix the highway funding over the next year? Why would Democrats be supporting it in both the House and the Senate?" Boehner said. "Listen, these are difficult decisions in difficult times in an election year."

Boehner's only defense is that Obama and the Dem's support it?  Somebody remind me why the "establishment" Repubs are being challenged in primaries.

Oh well, who needs pensions anyway?  Just keep working so they can keep spending.