Thursday, April 07, 2016

Once again it appears that President Obama has no understanding of the term "lame duck."

Here you go America. You're welcome.
Courtesy of HuffPo: 

After six years of debate and lobbying, the Labor Department rolled out a major new regulation on Wednesday that will require virtually all financial advisers to legally act in their clients’ best interests. 

 Known as the fiduciary rule, the new standards are aimed at cutting down on the unnecessary fees that Americans pay to brokers who advise them on their retirement investments. The White House says the rule will address a fundamental conflict of interest within individual retirement accounts, or IRAs — that many brokers, who aren’t legally bound to act in their clients’ best interests, have a financial incentive to shepherd clients toward investments that come with high commissions, regardless of whether it’s right for the customer. 

Administration officials say the change will put the law regarding retirement funds on par with that of pensions. Pension trustees and administrators are considered “fiduciaries,” who therefore have a legal obligation to act in the client’s best interests. But when it comes to retirement advice, until now only financial advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission have been considered fiduciaries, so brokers were held to a lesser standard.

This man is already an incredibly tough act to follow, but if he keeps this up somebody better start making some space on Mt. Rushmore. 

52 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:06 AM

    Gryphen, you'll love this:

    https://obamadiary.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/20716685568_d51ca07b49_o.jpg?w=983&h=1475

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:14 AM

      I'm not Gryphen, but I love it too. Great picture! Thanks for posting it.

      Delete
    2. Children love him instinctively. What do you think he is saying? -- No, I think he's listening, his ego aside. Nobody will be able to fill his shoes. Nobody.

      Delete
    3. Anita Winecooler4:35 PM

      Yeah, kids flock to Trump the same way, except they're running for the exits.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous5:28 PM

      Love, love, LOVE seeing him interacting with kids! It's when he seems his happiest and most relaxed.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous9:13 AM

    POTUS has said he is in his period that rhymes with "Bucket"...and that is why he will do some extraordinary things before he leaves office. Things that will make "heads explode"! Popcorn! We will be celebrating along with Madam potus HRC!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:20 AM

    Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The Six Grandfathers.
    So-called Rushmore should have been under the care of Lakota Sioux for eternity under this treaty. Until gold was discovered. Then that racist KKK dude, gutzon borglum, carved his obscenities into it.
    No, President Obama deserves waaay more honor than to be another unwanted face on a blighted-by-man natural wonder. Sorry to disagree with you, Gryphen but I must. Mr. Obama should have his own monument, I think. I'm proud to say I voted for him.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9:25 AM

    Thanks To Obamacare, The Uninsured Rate Plunged To The Lowest Gallup Has Ever Recorded It

    http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/04/07/3767433/obamacare-gallup-chart/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Republicans will hate him even more: he is doing his job despite the wall-to-wall opposition.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous9:31 AM

    The Obama Administration’s Day

    http://theobamadiary.com/2016/04/05/the-obama-administrations-day/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:33 AM

    I absolutely ADORE my President.
    GeorgiaPeach

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:11 AM

      Do you dream about him....? I do.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:06 AM

      Only that I could vote for him a third time. :)
      GeorgiaPeach

      Delete
  7. Anonymous9:35 AM

    O/T but Jesse, did you see this? Ellen is awesome!

    The new, ridiculous anti-LGBT law that Mississippi just passed and signed into law is not only discriminatory, but the opposite of freedom despite being labeled a “religious freedom” law. The only “freedom” it grants is for religious zealots to legally discriminate and fire people for being gay, as well as turn them away from their businesses, very reminiscent of Jim Crow era laws.

    Knowing how horrific these sort of laws are, and being on the receiving end of being fired for being gay, Ellen DeGeneres took a moment on her show to talk about the new Mississippi law. She said she’s “not a political person,” but stated “when I see something wrong, I have to talk about it,” so she did.

    Ellen said of the law:

    http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/04/07/ellen-absolutely-destroys-mississippi-their-governor-and-ridiculous-new-anti-gay-law-video/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:09 AM

      Mississippi Christian cake baker Mitchell Moore blasted lawmakers in his state this week for the ‘stupidity’ of passing a law that ‘decriminalizes discrimination’ against LGBT people.

      http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/whoa-christian-cake-baker-rips-miss-lawmakers-over-mind-boggling-stupidity-of-anti-gay-law/

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:53 AM

      While the Mississippi situation is deadly serious, one way of registering resistance is with a little satire—and true to form, Funny or Die has come through with a new tourism ad for the state that fits the bill nicely.

      http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/04/07/mississippi_anti_lgbt_law_worse_that_north_carolina_in_funny_or_die_video.html

      Delete
    3. Anita Winecooler4:45 PM

      I'm a huge Ellen fan, she does so much philanthropic work and shows the beauty of love and acceptance because she's experienced hate and discrimination.
      Why is it that the only "rights" the bigots care about is their own right to be willfully ignorant?

      Delete
    4. The Supremes will slap North Carolina and Mississippi upside the head. I'm sure the lawsuits are lining up, fighting to see who will be first.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous9:41 AM

    Latest TransCanada spill is why President Obama rejected Keystone XL

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/07/latest-transcanada-spill-president-obama-rejected-keystonexl.html

    Paul Ryan Tries to Steal Credit from President Obama for Zika Virus Funding

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/06/paul-ryan-steal-credit-president-obama-zika-virus-funding.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Republicans have always stolen credit for Democratic successes and blamed Democrats for Republican failures. It's part of their fundamental hypocrisy and making stuff up,

      Delete
  9. Anonymous9:54 AM

    No Mt Rushmore, this man needs his own mountain.

    Moldred

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08 AM

      I always enjoy your comments, "Moldred'! ;)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:09 PM

      Oh geez, I'm molding!

      Mildred (I think)

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:10 AM

    Hillary will prove to be a fine President in due time but I do not envy her trying to fill Obama's shoes. He will be a very hard act to follow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27 AM

      I have no fear that she'll do an outstanding job and continue finishing things President Obama has started.

      But, I agree, he is going to be difficult to follow. Can hardly wait to see what he and Michelle do with the rest of their lives.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:36 AM

      True dat! The next president will have very big shoes to fill, Indeed. I'll miss President Obama and his family being in the WH.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:39 AM

      The man is graciousness personified. he raised the bar too high. To think of the racism he had to cope with, plus the outright threats to his safety and his wife and daughters safety...graciousness personified. The next pres. can't be better, sorry I'm biased!

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:14 AM

    Republican Senator Tries to Save His Job By Sucking Up to President Obama

    First-term Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois broke with his party in order to meet with President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Justice Merrick Garland. For his effort at appearing to do his job, Kirk was rewarded by President Obama with a very gracious note.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/07/republican-senator-mark-kirk-protect-seat-meeting-garland.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:17 AM

    Off topic but staggering to see the numbers!

    http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/04/07/the-fox-primary-for-march-trump-widens-his-airt/209785

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:18 AM

    OT- Lame ducks (fucks) in Alaska. You go Jim>
    https://www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/posts/994086250626778

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:22 AM

    White House allies' new Garland line: GOP insulting Obama

    With White House officials and their outside allies privately conceding that it might take until the lame-duck session this winter to get Merrick Garland confirmed, they’ve begun strategizing about how to keep their base energized for the long, grinding fight ahead.

    The thinking, to the surprise of many of the people involved, revolves around President Barack Obama himself.

    Administration officials and Obama supporters hope they can capitalize on the president’s climbing poll numbers and their success among Democrats and independents in portraying the Republican blockade of Garland as an insult to the president.

    Traditionally, liberals don’t vote on court issues. Conservatives do. But the West Wing and its supporters are working hard to change that, in hopes of racking up wins in November that they can say are a mandate for putting Garland on the bench before Obama leaves office — not to mention mobilizing Democratic voters to help take back the Senate.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/merrick-garland-liberals-supreme-court-221658

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:36 AM

      Obama To Turn Fox News Into A Weapon Of Mass Republican Obstruction Destruction

      http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/06/obama-turn-fox-news-weapon-mass-republican-obstruction-destruction.html

      Delete
    2. I wouldn't worry.

      Once the November election confirms either Hillary or Bernie are headed to the Oval Office, the Republicans will do a quick about face and confirm Garland so fast it will make your head spin. They'll do it because whoever Bernie or Hillary nominate will be much worse than Garland and they'll have no excuse not to confirm them. If they even maintain a majority by then.

      Obama has played them for fools for six years. He's got his end game set and is following through. It's sorta pathetic watching the amateurs take on a chess master.

      And I say karma for all the shit he put up with the first few years. Karma for "you lie!". Karma for all of the snide innuendos about a black man in the white house. Karma for all of the obstructionism for no other reason than racism. Let's finally call it what it is.

      And it won't change if Hillary wins. They'll just turn from racism to misogyny. Two sides of the same Republican coin.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:31 AM

    I think that being a "lame duck" comes in November, after the new president is elected. Then, the focus is on the transition and the new person. And the duck isn't all that lame. That's time time when the president commutes the sentences of some political pals, makes a lot of foreign trips and pretty much makes the farewell tour.

    I think that President Obama is always aware of the fact that as the first African American president, he has to leave a proud legacy. It was at the end of Bill Clinton's term of office when he began "shuttle diplomacy" trying to broker a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. (It didn't work, in spite of his hard work).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:34 AM

      That's exactly what the "lame duck" period is- the date of the election in November through January 20th. While I agree that Obama is straight-up killin' it by making far bolder moves than presidents typically make in their last year, the suggestion that the lame duck session lasts for nearly the entire last year of the president's last term is just silly.

      I blame it on the ignorance of the American public (for accepting the expansion of such a specific term) and the desire of the media to label everything/heighten the drama on every story.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:02 PM

      Precisely. Until that time he is our duly elected and fully functioning President.

      Sheesh

      Delete
    3. Yes, it is.

      But the Republicans would have you believe Obama became a lame duck the day after he was re-elected since he couldn't be elected to a third term.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:32 AM

    After seeing just a few of the names associated with the hidden bank accounts in Panama, I think that the idea is to find the least corrupt.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:41 AM

    OT?>
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-general-election_us_5705b019e4b0a506064e3089

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11:07 AM

    How Obama's reforms of federal coal leasing could cut carbon pollution

    http://www.vox.com/2016/4/6/11367254/coal-leasing-reforms-carbon-emissions

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous11:35 AM

    http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2016/4/5/11370102/republicans-lose-2016

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous11:37 AM

    More Bad News For Republicans As Millennials Power Obama Approval To 3 Year High

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/06/bad-news-republicans-millennials-power-obama-approval-3-year-high.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous12:01 PM

    WATCH LIVE: Obama Participates In Town Hall Discussion On Judicial System

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-discusses-judiciary-system

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous12:43 PM

    We know that from the moment Obama became President that Mitch McConnell’s sole mission in life was to ensure that Obama failed, to make him a one-term president. His strategy — oppose every policy and idea Obama puts forth. And indeed, McConnell in the Senate and his friends in the House held the United States hostage to try to accomplish this feat.

    Nonetheless, it didn’t work. Louis Kriesberg, Professor Emeritus of Social Conflict Studies at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, penned an article entitled, “The GOP’s Unreasonable Resistance To Obama Only Enhances His Legacy,” detailing many of Obama’s proposals and the results that GOP obstructionism and resistance led to. In the article he states,

    “Despite some claims that Barack Obama will be seen as a failed president in the future, the current primary election campaigns make it clear that he is likely to be viewed historically as a highly successful president. It is becoming evident that those Republicans and others who worked hard to oppose and defeat Obama’s policies have gravely damaged themselves. Their efforts to destroy his presidency have harmed the country and their own standing.”

    In fact, what the GOP sought to do was,

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/7/1512121/-Obama-s-Legacy-Shines-Amidst-GOP-Obstructionism

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:59 PM

      This too>
      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/louis-kriesberg/the-gops-unreasonable-resistance-obama-legacy_b_9627124.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

      Delete
  23. O/T Why the fuck is up when not one network carried the entire broadcast of Obama at the univ of Chicago Law School. MSNBC carried the opening, then bailed. What the fuck is up with that?"?"??

    ReplyDelete
  24. Randall3:43 PM

    Making it illegal to screw old people out of their money?
    Ooohhhh... the Republicans are gonna HATE this!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anita Winecooler4:49 PM

    We need a new term for "lame duck", because it's apparently missing from President Obama's vocabulary. I feel so lucky that, my chance, I was alive to vote for this fine statesman twice. So proud of him and his wonderful family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's because Obama knows what a lame duck is and he won't be one officially until after the November elections. And I doubt that will stop him doing his job for his last 2.5 months of office.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous5:08 PM

    Love the POTUS, but when is DoL going to act on raising the minimum salary for exempt (salaried, no overtime)employees. It's been $23K since the 1970's. That's bs.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous6:46 PM

    Who woulda thought there wasn't already a law on the books to cover that? Didn't Madoff go to prison for violating that principle?

    ReplyDelete
  28. In discussing Bernie Sanders with someone, the subject of a seldom mentioned "job" of POTUS is to be able to calm the public down, during moments of national crisis.

    JFK was great at it...even Reagan pulled it off admirably.

    Surprisingly, even Dubbya Bush only screwed up by mispronouncing important words like "new cue lurr."

    Obama, of course, is a GENIUS at it.

    But just imagine either angry old man Sanders, or even worse, fly off the handle over absolutely everything Trump...

    ...looking into the cameras and screaming "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

    ReplyDelete

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