Subject: Talking Points -- House GOP: Time to #DoYourJob and Fight for Hard-Working American Families
From: Dem Leader Press Office <[email-masked]>
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2016 18:45:52 +0000

<democraticleader.gov>

April 25, 2016

Talking Points – House GOP: Time to #DoYourJob and
Fight for Hard-Working American Families

House Republicans: Time to #DoYourJob
With House Republicans failing to take action to pass a budget or address urgent public health crises, House Democrats are sending a clear message to Speaker Ryan and the GOP Congress: it’s time to do your job.

Earlier this month, House Republicans blew past the statutory deadline for Congress to enact a budget – reflecting apparently the belief of the Leadership that their already severe budget proposal was not radical enough to pass through a Republican Majority.  Instead of coming together with Democrats to pass a budget resolution that will create jobs and grow the paychecks of hard-working American families, Republicans have now decided not to pass a budget at all.

The Republican-led Budget Committee, at the direction of the House GOP Leadership, put forward the most devastating ‘Road to Ruin’ budget in history, but the Republican majority has rejected the plan as insufficiently severe.  Here’s what was too weak to satisfy the radical forces that have seized control of the Republican Party; a budget that would:

·         End the Medicare guarantee for seniors;

·         Make $6.5 trillion in cuts – the sharpest cuts ever proposed by the House Budget Committee;

·         Devastate investments in good-paying jobs, education, and American infrastructure;

·         Repeal the Affordable Care Act and dismantle the affordable health care of 20 million Americans.

Republicans have failed to keep their promise to pass a budget.  But their goal is still clear: to take us back to the radical trickle-down agenda that shattered our economy and hollowed out the wages of middle-class Americans.

At the same time, House Republicans have done nothing to help the thousands of Americans struggling to protect their families from the three public health emergencies of the Zika virus, opioid addiction and the Flint Water Crisis:

·         As the House Democratic Leadership wrote<http://www.democraticleader.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/LetterToSpeakerRyan.pdf> to Speaker Ryan last month, these public health crises require swift and decisive Congressional action.

·         Democrats on the Appropriations Committee wrote<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congress-zika-funding_us_57110ed1e4b0018f9cb9d74f> to Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY), requesting an immediate hearing on the Administration’s $1.9 billion emergency supplemental request for Zika, pointing out that “The Zika virus is a true public health emergency that has the potential to affect millions of Americans this summer, including more than two million pregnant women.”

·         But House Republicans have responded with nothing but inaction and indifference.  As reported by Roll Call<http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/even-crisis-cant-get-house-pass-bills>: “…an average of 78 people are dying every day from opioid overdoses, and mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus have been found in 30 states.  But Congress has shown no urgency about addressing those issues.  Maybe that’s not surprising from a Republican majority that can’t even adopt a nonbinding budget resolution after months of ‘family’ discussions.”

Hard-working families deserve a Congress that invests in their future, protects their safety, and creates a level-playing field for them and their children to succeed.  Democrats will continue to press for a budget that creates jobs and raises the paychecks of the American people, while reducing the deficit in a balanced and responsible way.

Conflict of Interest Retirement Investment Rule
Earlier this month, after a massive public input process, the Department of Labor unveiled their conflict of interest rule (also known as the “fiduciary” rule): a vital measure to protect and strengthen the retirement security and confidence of millions of Americans.  This week, however, Republicans will try to reverse this progress – with a special interest resolution that would allow financial advisors who are unscrupulous to take billions of dollars from hard-working Americans’ retirement savings each year.

When retirement advisors aren’t required to put the financial future of their clients first, conflicts of interest can take a big bite out of retirement savings.  According to the White House Council of Economic Advisors, conflicted advice guided by backdoor payments from Wall Street and loaded with hidden fees causes:

·         An average loss of almost one-fifth of a worker’s retirement savings;

·         A total of $17 billion of losses every year for America’s families.

The final conflict of interest rule has been greatly improved from the Department of Labor’s original proposal.  This rule has undergone a comprehensive, inclusive, meaningful and extensive public input process – including thousands of public comments, days of public hearings, hundreds of stakeholder meetings, and more than 100 Congressional meetings with Secretary Perez and his team.

Now that the final conflict of interest rule has been unveiled, positive reviews are pouring in<http://www.democraticleader.gov/newsroom/updated-roundup-new-conflict-of-interest-rule-strengthens-retirement-security/> from industry experts, consumer advocates, and editorial board across the country:

·         Consumer Advocates: AARP – “We think it’s a very good day for consumers.  We know how important retirement security is to our members. They have tremendous economic anxiety and the step that is being taken today is going to relieve them of that anxiety. They can know they are getting advice that is the best for them and not for the person selling them their products.”

·         Industry Experts: TIAA – “Putting the customer first is a core TIAA value, and we believe adhering to a best interest standard under the Department’s new regulation is an important way to help more people build financial well-being…it appears the Department has gone a long way toward making the best interest standard the industry standard. TIAA supports this direction…”

·         In the News: New York Times Editorial – “The road to retirement will be less rocky under new rules issued this week by the Labor Department. The rules require financial advisers to act solely in a client’s best interests when giving advice and selling investments for retirement accounts. The best-interest requirement, also known as a fiduciary duty, will be a big improvement on current practice…”

Americans should be able to trust their financial advisor to protect their retirement future. But Republicans are trying to perpetuate a broken system that allows many hard-working savers to retire without the strong retirement savings they deserve.  Republicans should stop working to empower special interests to prey on hard-working families and retirees.
________________________________
DemocraticLeader.gov<http://www.democraticleader.gov/> – Twitter<http://twitter.com/nancypelosi> – YouTube<http://www.youtube.com/nancypelosi> – Flickr<http://www.flickr.com/photos/speakerpelosi> – Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/NancyPelosi> – The Gavel<http://www.democraticleader.gov/blog/>