Rep.Kolbe- 2nd Request- Question on Thrift Savings Plan.

["Carolyn S. Cox" <CarolynSCox@csi.com>]

Rep. Kolbe, I am happy that you have shown the courage to speak honestly on the Social Security issues.  I do have some questions about investing/saving under your plan. You have stated that the federal Thrift Savings Plan is the model for investing under the Kolbe-Stenholm plan.  The TSP is made up of an index fund of equities, one of corporate bonds and one of treasury bills.  There are about 125 million American workers.  Are you saying that workers will have only choices of some combination of those 3 funds?  Wouldn't that open the equities fund to political manipulation with so much money concentrated in 3 funds where companies would do whatever to get their company included in the equity or bond index?  What am I not understanding?

Why not say that any professional money manager, such as mutual fund companies that have been in business for a specified time, and have at least a specified amount of money now under management and who offer a product(either equities or corporate bonds) diversified over many types of companies, could manage retirement money? 

Carolyn Cox, Economic Security 2000.