My Congressman Is Clueless - Fiduciary Rule Response

I contacted my Congressman to let him know that he should support the Department of Labor's Fiduciary rule. His response was basically a copy and paste of an industry lobbyist, no original thinking or real explanation as to why citizen's shouldn't be protected when they receive financial advice.

Here is representative Ken Calvert's lame response:

Dear Mr. Dauenhauer, Thank you for contacting me regarding the Department of Labor's proposed rule to impose a fiduciary duty on brokerage firms. I appreciate the opportunity to respond. As you may know, two federal agencies, the Department of Labor (DOL) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are expected to release separate rules in the coming months that would change the definition of a "fiduciary" to include broker-dealers providing advice to retirement investors on a varying fee structure. This highly anticipated proposal comes nearly five years after the Obama Administration proposed a similar rule that was ultimately not adopted due to an outpouring of serious concerns over the negative impacts of the change. The current system allows low-and-moderate income investors to seek the advice of brokers on all levels of investment by providing the flexibility of a commission structure rather than an ongoing fee for service. Though it sounds like we may disagree, I believe the DOL's proposal may prove to be considerably cost-prohibitive and actually price retail-investors out of the process by taking a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Unfortunately, this proposal would do more harm than good and could make it harder for Americans to invest for retirement, college tuition, or other purposes. On February 25, 2015, Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO), introduced legislation, H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act, following the announcement of impending rule making. H.R. 1090 would require the DOL to wait on issuing new rules until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has primary authority and expertise on the issue, dictates recommendations. The legislation also includes some important checks and balances on the SEC's rule-making process to ensure that retail investors are not actually harmed by these new rules. I was pleased to support this legislation when it passed the House on October 27, 2015 by a vote of 245-186. Rest assured, I will keep your comments in mind moving forward in the 114^th Congress.Once again, thank you for your correspondence. I hope you will continue to contact me regarding issues of importance to you and your family. In the meantime, I encourage you to visit my website at www.calvert.house.gov and sign up for my weekly e-newsletters. For urgent updates on critical issues, follow me on Twitter (@KenCalvert) and check out my Facebook page (Congressman Ken Calvert). Sincerely,
KEN CALVERTMember of Congress

Perhaps it should have been signed "Ken Calvert, Industry Shill". I wonder if he has seen this video from Elizabeth Warren:

One more Congressman I won't be voting for - neither should you.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MPAS, AIF