If there is one thing scarier than the recent economic meltdown, it is a Congress and White House controlled by one party, with veto-proof power to enact laws that can do, well, just about anything they want them to do.

Consider this: House Democrats are actually floating the idea of dismantling the current private pension fund known as the 401(k)  and replacing it with a new, federal retirement plan. And with possible control of both branches of government, it could happen.

House Democrats recently heard testimony from Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research in New York. Ms. Ghilarducci is proposing that the U.S. do away with the private 401(k) plan, and instead force Americans to invest in a government bond program with guaranteed returns. Can anyone say, “The Social Security system is a huge success with a bright future, and we should replicate it or expand it and force it upon Americans?”

Lest anyone call me a partisan, read this explanation of the plan from ABC News, certainly not “in the tank” for Republicans.

Jim McDermott, the Democrat from Washington who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, thinks the idea of taking away Americans’ private pension funds is a nifty idea. He says that THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT should start to think about whether or not Americans should continue to invest in 401(k)s. In other words, don’t worry, Congress will take care of your retirement for you, because, after all, you are too stupid to do it for yourself.

James Pethokoukis, a money and investment editor at U.S. News & World Report, thinks the plan is a bad idea, with good reason.

Perhaps the fed should look at how the states are dealing with their own pension systems before they implement one that will affect every American. In Maryland, for example, the state has discovered that it is underfunding the pension system for state workers, placing it in dire straits. And we want the federal government to do the same for the rest of us?

I think it is a terrible idea that has the potential to gain ground. And with Sen. Barack Obama resolutely telling Americans that our best course of action is to “spread the wealth,” I have no doubt that he will also find it fiscally responsible to tell us how he will permit us to save for our retirement. And with a Democrat Congress backing him up, well, he will pretty much have the power to tell us to put up and shut up.