You know you have a completely broken system when politicians supposedly elected to serve the people send letters urging the Department of Labor to stop insisting that financial advisers put the best interests of retirees ahead of their own profits. See: House panel calls on DOL to withdraw proposed fiduciary rule. At the same time, the Senate Appropriations Committee has included more Wall Street deregulation provisions as part of the FY 2016 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill.
Meanwhile a new report estimates that the 2008 financial crash cost American families alone more than $20 trillion (and counting) in lost jobs, homes, savings, and retirement options, never mind peace and health.
This is what a finance-purchased congress looks like. It should sicken the guts and reinvigorate fair-minded people to demand critical reforms and break ups of the financial cartel now dominating democratic governments everywhere. Those who think this is overstating the issue, are missing the staggering cost we are paying for allowing the finance parasite to continue sapping the strength of households and our economy.
As Better Markets CEO, Dennis Kelleher explained in his testimony before the House Education and the Workforce Committee on June 17, 2015:
“The industry’s complaints boil down to a false choice: either brokers’ get to put their interests above their clients’ best interests, or they won’t serve those clients at all. But the real choice is this: Let the DOL act to protect 100 million workers and retirees across this country, or side with the brokers and other advisers who want to continue putting their interests ahead of their clients’. That’s the real choice. “
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