What part of that is bad? Don't we want a system where everything is clear to the taxpayer how much they owe and they can be certain how much they receive each pay check?
For those who care about finance and want to know - it is easy to figure out where your money is. With a 401k you do have basic choices and can monitor things pretty well. Other alternatives seem to be pensions (where the employee really can see nothing) or leaving it to each person to decide completely (which the government doesn't like because a certain amount will blow it all and then they will have to pay for them when they are old anyways)
For those who care about finance and want to know - it is easy to figure out where your money is. With a 401k you do have basic choices and can monitor things pretty well. Other alternatives seem to be pensions (where the employee really can see nothing) or leaving it to each person to decide completely (which the government doesn't like because a certain amount will blow it all and then they will have to pay for them when they are old anyways)