title:  President Obama Smacks Down GOP Attempt To Let Wall Street Defraud Seniors
text: President Obama just smacked down an attempt by the Republican Congress to let Wall Street defraud senior citizens.As Addicting Info reported here on April 30, republicans in Congress have been trying to overturn President Obama s rule requiring financial advisors to act in the best interest of their clients.This rule was put in place by the Obama administration following a scathing report from Senator Elizabeth Warren s office. Warren s report showed that financial advisors were personally profiting from giving bad advice to people seeking retirement investment information.As Addicting Info reported here, financial advisers were being rewarded with all-expenses-paid, luxury vacations to places like South Africa, the Bahamas and Aruba, as well as golf outings, theater tickets, gift cards and cash prizes, all for steering retirees toward risky, company-owned investment options.A loophole in federal law made it legal for financial advisors to knowingly give people who turned to them for advice on retirement investments bad information.President Obama directed the Department of Labor to close the loophole, a move which outraged Wall Street firms and their Republican representatives in Congress.On April 19, republicans introduced legislation that would have overturned the newly revised rule.The legislation, H.J.Res.88, passed the House by a party-line vote of 234-183. It passed the Senate 56-41, with three democrats voting in support, Joe Donnelly of Illinois, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Jon Tester of Montana.The legislation made its way to the president, who promptly vetoed it on Wednesday.In his veto message to Congress, the president wrote: The Department of Labor s final rule will ensure that American workers and retirees receive retirement advice that is in their best interest, better enabling them to protect and grow their savings. It is essential that these critical protections go into effect. Republicans do not have the necessary votes to overturn the President s veto.Image credit: Wikimedia Commons