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A bill introduced last week that would limit how often Americans could borrow from their 401(k) plans is unabashedly patronizing, as it would prohibit law-abiding citizens from accessing their own savings.

Sponsored by Sen. Herb Kohl (D.,Wis.) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.), the law seeks to reduce so-called leakage which happens when 401(k) participants can't repay money they borrowed from their accounts. The Savings Enhancement by Alleviating Leakage in 401(k) Savings Act of 2011 would limit individuals from taking more than three loans on their 401(k) savings accounts. Currently, retirement plans determine their own limits on loans.

Citing a study from Aon Hewitt which found that 28% of active 401(k) participants had an outstanding loan, Kohl's office issued a reprimanding statement: "While having access to a loan in an emergency is an important feature for many participants, a 401(k) savings account should not be used as a piggy bank."

It's a scolding similar to ones I used to get from my parents for wasting money on a toy, candy or some other childish frivolity. Kohl seems to wholeheartedly believe that we are smart enough to earn a wage but too foolish to know what to do with it, hence the need for more government control. Laws like this don't defend Americans -- they infantilize them.

Both parties now seem to believe that government should act not as our protector, but as our parent -- making sure we have nourishment, clothing, shelter, health care, a secure retirement and more. That's why we have food stamps, welfare, homeowner bailouts, Medicare, Obamacare and Social Security.

A "carrot" in the proposal would give individuals slightly more time -- until their tax deadline -- to repay loans from their 401(k) before being hit with penalties for early withdrawal.

The very notion of having to pay a penalty to "borrow" from yourself is ludicrous. After all, the money in your 401(k) is yours. It shouldn't matter if it's in a brokerage account, a 401(k), gold bars in the basement or invested in your own business. You've earned this money and have every right to invest, spend or save it however you choose.

The legislation also prohibits accessing your 401(k) savings using a debit card, which, according to Senator Kohl's office, "makes it much too easy to raid retirement funds." Forgetting for a moment that Congress has been engaged in an even more brazen raid of Social Security for decades, Kohl's attitude smugly assumes we're all negligent adolescents. I suppose he'd prefer to dole out your money in nickels or some other inconvenient format so that you don't spend it all at once. My mother, who would only allow me one sweet after meals, employed exactly the same approach back when I was a kid.

Enzi fashions himself a free-market capitalist, but his participation in what amounts to a government power grab illustrates exactly why so many Americans have turned to various Tea Party groups or have simply declared themselves as independents.

It's ironic that these Senators are lecturing on money management at a time when the government's own finances are in shambles. Having already breached the debt limit of $14 trillion, the government now risks defaulting on its debt come Aug. 2. Parental entitlements like Social Security, Medicare and the Prescription Drug benefit amount to an unfunded liability of more than $100 trillion. Standard & Poor's has already put the U.S's AAA rating on notice and sees a one-in-three chance it will be downgraded within the next two years.

Meanwhile, the everyday savers which Senators Kohl and Enzi want to control have already tightened their belts considerably. Just last week the nation's six biggest credit card companies reported that late payments and defaults on consumer credit hit multi-year lows. The personal savings rate has doubled in the past two years.

Most Americans are fiscally responsible. It's the parent, our government, which has spent the petty cash, maxed out the credit cards and mortgaged the ranch to the hilt. For lawmakers to lecture on prudent money management is a joke. But for them to attempt to pass laws that further limit citizens' access to their own money isn't funny -- it's frightening.

Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at Capitalistpig Hedge Fund LLC.