Weekly Address: President Obama – Playing by the Same Rules

April 9, 2016 JanF Featured Posts, From the White House 6

The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President highlighted two specific steps the Administration took this week to make sure everyone plays by the same rules. First, in order to help more Americans retire with the security they have earned, the Department of Labor finalized a rule that will ensure retirement advisers compete based on the quality of advice they give rather than acting in their own financial interests. In addition, the Treasury Department took action this week to crack down on corporations that take advantage of inversions, a loophole that allows some businesses to avoid paying their fair share in taxes here at home. These actions underscore the President’s belief that we should continue to build an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, does their fair share, and plays by the same rules.

Transcript: Weekly Address: Playing by the Same Rules

Remarks of President Barack Obama as Delivered
Weekly Address, The White House, April 9, 2016

Hi everybody. Over the past seven years, we haven’t just been recovering from crisis, we’ve been rebuilding our economy on a new foundation for growth – growth that benefits everybody, not just folks at the top. Our businesses have created jobs for 73 straight months – 14.4 million new jobs in all. We’ve covered another 20 million Americans with health insurance. We’ve helped more Americans afford college, and invested in industries that create good jobs that pay well, like clean energy. And wages are finally rising again.

But there will always be more work to do. And this week, my Administration took two big steps that will help make sure your hard work is rewarded, and that everybody plays by the same rules.

First, we’re helping more Americans retire with security and dignity. Right now, if you go to a retirement advisor for investment advice, some of them don’t have to act in your best interest. Instead of telling you the best way to save your hard-earned money, these advisors can get backdoor payments from big companies for steering you toward investments that cost more and earn you less. As a result, when you retire, you might be missing out on tens of thousands of dollars – because your advisor got paid more to give you bad advice.

If that seems wrong, that’s because it is. That’s why the Department of Labor just finalized a rule to crack down on these kinds of conflicts of interest. And a lot of Wall Street special interests aren’t very happy about it. But across the country, this new rule will boost working folks’ retirement savings by billions of dollars a year. And it will level the playing field for the many good advisors who do work in their clients’ best interest.

Second, the Treasury Department took action to crack down on big corporations that change their address overseas after acquiring smaller companies, in order to reduce their tax bill here at home. It’s a loophole called “corporate inversion.” And it means that American companies can take advantage of America’s technology, America’s infrastructure, America’s workers – but then, when it comes to paying their fair share of taxes, suddenly claim they’re not American companies after all. That’s why, this week, the Treasury Department made it more difficult for companies to exploit this loophole and stick the rest of us with the tab.

Together, these steps build on the work we’ve already done to make our tax code fairer and consumer protections stronger. Because I believe that rather than double down on policies that allow a few at the top to play by their own rules, we should build an economy where everybody has a fair shot, everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules.

That’s what this country is all about. That’s what we’ve been working toward these past seven years. And that’s what I’m going to keep fighting for as long as I’m your President.

Thanks everybody. Have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

~

6 Comments

  1. President Obama:

    I believe that rather than double down on policies that allow a few at the top to play by their own rules, we should build an economy where everybody has a fair shot, everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules.

    That’s what this country is all about. That’s what we’ve been working toward these past seven years. And that’s what I’m going to keep fighting for as long as I’m your President.

  2. The president wrote a letter to the woman whose family situation prompted these reforms :

    Elaine Toffel from Lindhurst, Illinois is one of the millions of Americans whose retirement savings will better be protected because of this rule. Elaine, who’s now in her mid-70s, and her late husband Merlin worked their whole lives so they could rest easy in their golden years. They got bad advice to invest in expensive annuities that made it hard for them to access their money. Suddenly, they were short on cash — which is exactly what they tried to avoid by saving and acting responsibly all those years. They were taken advantage of by a financial adviser of an institution where they had been longtime clients — an institution they trusted.

    President Obama talked about Elaine and Merlin’s story when he called on the Department of Labor to act last year. Today, as the rule was finalized, he wrote Elaine a letter to thank her family for raising their voice as active citizens to help solve this problem .

  3. Speaking of rules, Wells Fargo reaches settlement with Justice Dept:

    Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) admitted to deceiving the U.S. government into insuring thousands of risky mortgages, as it formally reached a record $1.2 billion settlement of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit.

    The settlement with Wells Fargo, the largest U.S. mortgage lender and third-largest U.S. bank by assets, was filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court. It also resolves claims against Kurt Lofrano, a former Wells Fargo vice president.

    According to the settlement, Wells Fargo “admits, acknowledges, and accepts responsibility” for having from 2001 to 2008 falsely certified that many of its home loans qualified for Federal Housing Administration insurance. […]

    Several lenders, including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), previously settled similar federal lawsuits.

    But Wells Fargo held out, and its payment is the largest in FHA history over loan origination violations.

    Friday’s settlement is a reproach for “years of reckless underwriting” at Wells Fargo, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said in a statement.

    “While Wells Fargo enjoyed huge profits from its FHA loan business, the government was left holding the bag when the bad loans went bust,” Bharara added. […]

    No one has been criminally charged in the probes, and the Justice Department reserved the right to pursue criminal charges if it wishes, according to the settlement.

  4. In the News: Losers in the Friedrichs case want their case reheard …

    Lawyers for nine California public school teachers, who object to paying any fees to the labor union that represents them and union-member teachers, asked the Supreme Court on Friday to rehear their constitutional claim but not to go forward with that until a new ninth Justice is on the bench. There does not appear to be much chance that a new Justice will be seated until next Term, because of resistance to President Obama by Senate Republican leaders.

    The Court split four to four on March 29 in the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, thus upholding a federal appeals court ruling in favor of so-called “agency fees” for non-members of public employee unions. That result, however, did not set a precedent for the issue in general, and it remains in dispute in several other pending cases in lower courts. […]

    Persuading the Court to grant rehearing is a difficult proposition as a general matter, but is made more difficult by the specific requirements that the Court’s rules outline for action on such a request. Rehearing can only be granted, following such a request by lawyers in a case, if that request has the support of at least one Justice who had voted for the result for which a rehearing is being sought. And rehearing can be granted only if a majority of the Court votes in favor of doing so.

    With only an eight-Justice Court, however, it is not entirely clear which group of Justices on opposite sides of a four-to-four split would be the ones eligible to call for rehearing in response to a lawyer’s request. Both blocs in such a tied situation may be said to have voted for the result — that is, disposing of the case because it could not assemble a majority.

    Since there will not likely be a 9th justice seated until well into the 2016-2017 term, the earliest a rehearing would be would be Fall 2017.

  5. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell wants us to keep April 16th open to start celebrating 100 years of National Parks …

    America’s national parks, monuments and lands are uniquely different — in their make-up and their locale — but they all seek to tell a part of America’s story.
    On Monday, April 16, we kick off National Park Week: one of our nation’s largest celebrations of nature, history and culture. This year is special because it comes as we celebrate 100 years of the National Park Service — that’s 100 years of protecting America’s best idea!

    Over that century, our national park system has grown to more than 400 sites, and has inspired many other countries around the world to expand their own national parks.
    National Park Week is the perfect time to get out there and #FindYourPark with free admission April 16-24 to all of our 400-plus national park sites.

    President Obama understands the importance of protecting America’s special places for future generations. In the seven years since taking office, he’s set aside more than 265 million acres of land and water — that’s more than any other president. And it’s having a huge impact on local communities. Every $1 invested in the National Park Service returns $10 to the U.S. economy.


    The Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico (Photographed by Janet Wei)

    These places preserve the heritage of cultures that came before ours, like at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in New Mexico, where visitors can see the shelters erected by people of the Mogollon Culture in the 1200s.

    Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan (Photographed by Steve Perry)

    They connect visitors to the incredible, awe-inspiring beauty of nature—from the sandstone cliffs and beaches hugging Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to the breathtakingly beautiful star-scattered night sky at Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California.

    Regardless of whether we are talking about the Grand Canyon or the Washington Monument, these places all have one thing in common: they belong to you, the American people.

    National Park Week is about making connections, exploring amazing places, discovering open spaces, enjoying affordable vacations, and getting closer to nature.
    I encourage all of you to join in the celebration and discover, or rediscover, the incredible destinations that tell America’s story.

    And if you want to see more amazing photos to inspire you to #FindYourPark, be sure to follow @USInterior on Instagram.

    Thanks,
    Sally

    Secretary Sally Jewell
    Department of the Interior
    @SecretaryJewell

  6. More playing by the rules: SEC Nominee Vote Postponed as Schumer, Menendez, Merkley, Warren record ‘No Votes’ Which Echo the Call for Strong Support of Corporate Spending Disclosure Rule”

    Statement of Lisa Gilbert, Director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division

    Note: Today, members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs postponed votes on block of banking nominees based on the two Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nominees.

    During the earlier confirmation hearing, Hester Peirce, a Republican, and Lisa Fairfax, a Democrat, fielded sharp questions on corporate political spending. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), began his questions by saying, “a giant hole was ripped in our democracy by Citizens United. It has had a corrosive effect on our country. The SEC has a role to play.” Also during the hearing, U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) spent the bulk of their time discussing the need for a rule requiring publicly held corporations to disclose political spending. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) raised the issue as well, with Warren highlighting the obvious conflict between the nominees’ stated support of the SEC’s mandate – investor protection – and whether either of them would eventually choose to ignore the 1.2 million investors that have supported and requested this rule.

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