Does he get points for hyperbole? House Speaker Paul Ryan reacted to news last week of President Obama’s meeting with fiduciary advocates at the Department of Labor by calling the proposed rule “Obamacare for financial planning.”
Referring to the DOL as “soon-to-be regulators of the new, disastrous fiduciary rule,” the delightfully named Julia Slingsby, a Ryan staffer, wrote on the speaker’s blog that “like Obamacare, the fiduciary rule requires an enormous amount of paperwork and makes recordkeeping more expensive. Like Obamacare, it will result in higher costs and fewer options for small businesses trying to get up and running. Families with modest bank accounts seeking expert advice will no longer be able to justify the expense. Like Obamacare, the fiduciary rule may have a noble intent, but it’s another one-size-fits-all regulation that’s bad for Americans.”
In an interview with the Racine Journal Times, Ryan talked about the rule’s effect on people in his district and around the country:
“A rule being created by the U.S. Department of Labor is ‘an example of massive overkill by the federal government,’ House Speaker Paul Ryan told The Journal Times on Friday. . . . Ryan, R-Wis., said ‘the intent of making sure people get sound advice and conflicts of interest (disclosures) is a good idea. This rule, however, is such overkill it is destined to put people out of business and making it harder for middle-class investors to get sound financial advice. . . . I get more mail on this than anything. . . .It will dramatically increase the cost for middle-class savers and place it out of their reach.”
Slingsby added that it doesn’t end with mail. There are 3,314 comments on the proposed rule.
“Both Democrats and Republicans want the president to reconsider the fiduciary rule plan, yet none of these stakeholders were invited to the White House.”
She concluded by noting the Republicans have passed a bill in the House to delay it until “the problems are addressed.” Two more bills have been passed in committees laying out “responsible alternatives.”