President Obama recently released his $4 trillion budget. Not surprisingly it’s long on promises, short on sensible, structural reforms, and laden with more than $1 trillion in taxes. In education, for example, Obama hopes to spend nearly $216 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding for all sorts of programs from government-run preschool to “free” college.

Market Watch columnist and IWF Lean Together contributor Diana Furchtgott-Roth explains:

By now, everyone has heard of the increase in capital-gains tax rates (yielding $208 billion over 10 years), the 19% tax rate on foreign earnings ($206 billion), and limits on individual itemized deductions together with a 30% tax rate for millionaires ($638 billion).

Among the five tax proposals flying under the radar so far, this one stands out, as Furchtgott-Roth continues:

Stop saving, stupid. Many say that Social Security is going broke, people are living longer, and that we are not saving enough for retirement. But the president thinks Americans are saving too much. His budget wants to limit retirement savings to an amount sufficient to generate an annuity of $210,000 beginning at age 62. No matter that this is hard to estimate, even for actuaries. Too bad for you if you live in New York City or San Francisco, where $210,000 might not be enough to pay the rent, go out to dinner and make occasional trips to see the grandchildren. This provision would generate $26 billion over 10 years.

 The last thing government should be doing is punishing personal responsibility and accountability by saving for ourselves. It’s tough enough to save with our increasingly punitive tax code. Mandating how much—rather how little—we can save for retirement is the last thing government should be doing.