Op-Ed: Hands Off Our Retirement Savings, Biden

By Timothy Head April 6, 2023 at 1:27pm

President Joe Biden and his administration want to influence your retirement investment portfolio and allow fiduciaries to populate it with woke companies. That became crystal clear recently with Biden’s veto of House Joint Resolution 30.

While the House and Senate voted to terminate a new Department of Labor rule that allows retirement plan managers to factor ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues into investment decisions, the Biden veto now risks the retirement funds of 152 million American citizens.

This veto should be a wake-up call for every American that this administration has lost its soul to woke ideology.

With the resolution struck down, fiduciaries can continue using ESG standards to guide their decision-making. In short, now the retirement savings of millions of Americans could land in the laps of companies who care more about their image as social justice warriors than making a profit. The rule unfairly penalizes the oil and gas industry, among other sectors.

It’s a failure for the American investor. It’s a failure for the American people. And it’s a failure for freedom at large.

America’s future is being formed by more than just our elected officials. The Blackrocks and Vanguards of the world have more influence over our nation’s biggest industries than we may realize. Now more than ever, we can’t overlook this. We must keep these investment firms in their place and hold them accountable.

I applaud the efforts of former Vice President Mike Pence and the more than 100 conservative groups that urged Congress to push back against Biden’s politically and financially irresponsible rule.

The organization I work with, the Faith & Freedom Coalition, was among those groups because we recognized the broader attack against freedom. Congress responded by delivering an important win — which Biden subsequently shot down through the power of his veto pen.

But this disheartening news shouldn’t really come as a surprise. Our entertainment sources, public schools and even free speech have all been hijacked by the radical left’s agenda. The left tunes out and shuts down anything it doesn’t deem “politically correct.”

And now, Biden and his cronies want to stand by and watch as investment firms derail the retirement plans of millions of Americans for their extremist agendas.

We’ve been encouraged to see some red states push back against this in their own legislatures. Texas, West Virginia and Florida, to name a few, have taken steps to ensure investment firms remain committed to maximizing gain for shareholders. They understand that ESG compliance often comes at the expense of both the state and its residents — and they’re not going to tolerate this kind of sabotage.

But these efforts from conservative states don’t help concerned investors residing in blue states, like New York and California, of course.

The Department of Labor’s rule is a recipe for disaster. This decision could tank millions of Americans’ retirement accounts — investments people have worked 20, 30 and 40 years to beef up. Retirement savings should never be caught in the political crossfire.

We’ve pushed back on other iterations of this tone-deaf dogma before, and we must not back down now. We must hold Washington accountable by electing leaders who promote autonomy ahead of a progressive and extremist ideology.

Where we spend our money also speaks volumes. Let’s put our dollars where our mouths are and judge companies by what we spend. Each purchase we make is an investment in that company’s beliefs, values and political priorities. We can’t forget that.

We must remain educated and invest well. Our financial freedoms depend on it.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.

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