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One of the major elements of the surprisingly centrist proposal comes in the form of a punt on chained CPI, where the President grants the GOP a major concession on entitlements.
Still, there's a major element of the proposal that has largely gone under the radar. This has to do with IRA plans and calls to mind the savings plan of President Obama's 2012 presidential rival, Massachusetts Gov.
Here's the relevant quote from the senior official via Ben White:
Under current rules, some wealthy individuals are able to accumulate many millions of dollars in these accounts, substantially more than is needed to fund reasonable levels of retirement saving. The budget would limit an individual’s total balance across tax-preferred accounts to an amount sufficient to finance an annuity of not more than $205,000 per year in retirement, or about $3 million in 2013. This proposal would raise $9 billion over 10 years.
White then said, "You know one person who accumulated a LOT more than $3 million in an IRA? Mitt Romney."
He's referring to the ultra-IRA amassed by the former private equity CEO. Romney has some $100 million squirreled away in the tax-preferred account, a figure that raised a number of eyebrows during the election about how, exactly, Romney was able to get so much money into the account.
From the looks of it, the President hopes to hit Mitt one last time.