The biggest challenge for President elect Barack Obama is to stop Congress turning this recession into a depression, says Adam Lass. Reckless government spending and “crony capitalism” got us into this mess. And throwing endless credit at non-productive industries will only end up creating inflation and destroying the dollar.

DR readers might have been alarmed to read Dan Amoss‘ warning in yesterday’s edition that, “Some in Congress are floating a proposal to steal your 401(k), sell the proceeds, and invest in ‘government-guaranteed’ retirement accounts.”  Alarming especially to folks reading about it for the first time.  So let’s go into a little more depth.

Corporate pension plans have been pummeled by the broad slump in equity and commodity markets. After ending 2007 will a surplus of $60 billion, S&P500 companies now have a combined deficit of around $300 billion.

This from the Guardian (UK):

Investors should start seeing the effect on year-end balance sheets, and reforms under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 are likely to complicate matters by forcing companies to spend cash to shore up their plans.

“If your pension plan was invested mainly in equities and equities are off 20 percent, all of a sudden you have a 20 percent shortfall,” William Hernandez, chief financial officer of paint maker PPG Industries Inc , told Reuters in an interview earlier this month.

“It is going to…