(FamilyConservationPAC.com) – In his first veto as president, US President Joseph Biden on Monday rejected a Republican proposal to bar pension fund managers from basing investing choices on things like climate change.
In a video shared on Twitter, Biden stated, “I just signed this veto because the measure enacted by the Congress would put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country.”
JUST IN – Biden issues his first veto, striking down bipartisan legislation that would have overturned a Labor Dept rule allowing retirement plans to consider "ESG principles" in investing. pic.twitter.com/1yIdJcDLn2
— T (@Rifleman4WVU) March 21, 2023
The Labor Department rule, which made it more straightforward for fund managers to take environmental, social, and corporate governance, or ESG, issues into account for investments and shareholder rights decisions, such as through proxy voting, was overturned on March 1 by a 50-46 majority in the Senate.
The result showed that Republicans were prepared to take on their longtime partners in Wall Street and corporate America who practice what party members refer to as “woke” liberal policies.
Joe Biden's veto tells 152 million Americans that funding climate change and ESG are more important to him than their retirement savings. pic.twitter.com/VyXn7LWd7T
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 21, 2023
Republicans were supported by two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana. In 2024, both are up for reelection in states with a pro-Republican lean.
The legislation was approved in February by the House of Representatives under Republican rule.
Republicans contend that the rule, which applies to plans that collectively invest $12 trillion on behalf of 150 million Americans, will politicize investment by enabling plan managers to support liberal causes, allegedly hurting financial performance.
Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, said, “It is obvious that President Biden wants Wall Street to use your hard-earned money to finance a far-left political agenda rather than helping you increase your savings. This will harm workers and elders.”
Do you have a retirement plan through work? If so, you won’t like Biden’s new woke, ESG regulation, which could use your retirement savings to fund political activism.
The good news is Congress blocked it—but now the President is threatening to veto… pic.twitter.com/ARv4qBZxkt
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) March 15, 2023
Charles Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democrats, claimed on the Senate floor that Republicans were “pushing their own beliefs down the throats of every company and every investor,” interfering with private investment decisions.
In response, Manchin said the Biden administration was advancing its “extreme policy agenda” on this matter.
“President Biden is prioritizing his administration’s progressive agenda over the needs of the American people, Manchin said in a statement, “despite a clear and bipartisan rejection of the rule from Congress.”
The best explanation arguing against ESG:
It’s telling that Biden’s first-ever veto relates to a defense of ESG. The ESG question isn’t even a Republican vs Democrat question. It’s an age-old 1776 question. They make it complicated on purpose. Let me explain it. pic.twitter.com/fiVKXG982K
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) March 2, 2023
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