{"id":1905293,"date":"2023-03-27T07:41:27","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T11:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-his-first-veto-biden-puts-woke-capitalism-before-american-workers-and-retirees\/"},"modified":"2023-03-27T07:45:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T11:45:32","slug":"with-his-first-veto-biden-puts-woke-capitalism-before-american-workers-and-retirees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-his-first-veto-biden-puts-woke-capitalism-before-american-workers-and-retirees\/","title":{"rendered":"With His First Veto, Biden Puts Woke Capitalism Before American Workers And Retirees"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwith-his-first-veto-biden-puts-woke-capitalism-before-american-workers-and-retirees%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1905293&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>President Joe Biden\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2023\/03\/20\/biden-first-veto-esg-woke-climate-investing-retirement\/11385255002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued his first veto<\/a>\u00a0against a bipartisan bill that sought to protect millions of Americans\u2019 retirement plans from woke investments. His action shows he prioritizes politics over Americans\u2019 financial security.<\/p>\n<p>Early this month, the U.S. House and Senate\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/us-senate-poised-consider-blocking-biden-esg-investment-rule-2023-03-01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed<\/a>\u00a0a bipartisan resolution to prevent fiduciaries of retirement plans from subordinating financial returns to woke causes.\u00a0Biden chose to ignore all the concerns and warnings, including those from his own party. Instead, he used his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/sustainable-business\/biden-vetoes-resolution-block-labor-dept-rule-esg-investing-2023-03-20\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first veto<\/a>\u00a0to preserve a so-called environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, rule that his administration adopted last year. His action confirms that despite his rhetoric of bipartisanship, he is an inflexible politician.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1148422106\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-44516ae05dba0e5f7ea610bd52ce3a73 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-44516ae05dba0e5f7ea610bd52ce3a73\"><\/div>\n<p>The Labor Department issued a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/newsroom\/releases\/ebsa\/ebsa20221122\">ESG rule<\/a> last November, which \u201callows plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance factors when they select retirement investments and exercise shareholder rights, such as proxy voting.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The ESG rule also reversed the Trump administration\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/labor-reverses-trump-rule-limited-retirement-investments-esg-companies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">restriction<\/a>\u00a0on retirement plan investments in ESG companies or funds due to fear of subordinating \u201cthe interests of plans and their participants and beneficiaries to unrelated objectives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Supporters of ESG have claimed that ESG-focused investment funds have generated better returns than traditional funds. Yet growing evidence shows that ESG investments have not lived up to their hype.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, a University of Chicago\u00a0study\u00a0found no evidence that high-sustainability (another name for ESG) funds outperform low-sustainability funds. Additionally, when the stock market was in turmoil last year, ESG funds did not fare better than traditional funds, thus offering investors no haven. In fact, according to\u00a0Bloomberg, the 10 largest ESG funds posted double-digit losses in 2022, and eight of them lost more than the S&#038;P 500, a stock-market index.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-71ed5b70a5d6059e06e4e2e571ed4203 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-71ed5b70a5d6059e06e4e2e571ed4203\"><\/div>\n<p>ESG funds charge higher fees than non-ESG funds, despite failing to generate better returns. In 2020, the average annual fee of ESG U.S. stock exchange-traded funds (ETF) was\u00a00.2 percent, about 0.06 percentage points more than conventional funds, which averaged about 0.14 percent. It might seem insignificant, but every percentage point makes a big difference for asset managers who oversee billions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA firm managing $1 billion in a typical ESG fund, for example, would garner $2 million in annual fees versus managing the standard ETF\u2019s $1.4 million,\u201d according to\u00a0The Wall Street Journal. Asset managers find ESG funds more lucrative than non-ESG funds due to higher fee income. No wonder BlackRock, the world\u2019s largest asset manager, and its CEO, Larry Fink, have advocated so loudly for ESG investments.<\/p>\n<p>But a good deal for BlackRock is not a good deal for investors. By investing in ESGs, investors have been paying more for mediocre returns.<\/p>\n<p>If investors thought they could live with higher fees and lower returns because ESG investments are improving the world, here is the bad news. According to University of Colorado professor\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2022\/03\/an-inconvenient-truth-about-esg-investing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sanjai Bhagat<\/a>, multiple studies have shown that many companies in the ESG portfolios \u201chad worse compliance records for both labor and environmental rules\u201d than non-ESG companies and that \u201ccompanies added to ESG portfolios did\u00a0<em>not<\/em>\u00a0subsequently improve compliance with labor or environmental regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-22b3c4d278fe4ce43059e196ff008bdf fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-22b3c4d278fe4ce43059e196ff008bdf\"><\/div>\n<p>Professor Bhagat also found evidence that some companies used public endorsement of ESG as fig leaves to cover up their poor performances. He\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2022\/03\/an-inconvenient-truth-about-esg-investing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concluded<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cfunds investing in companies that publicly embrace ESG sacrifice financial returns without gaining much, if anything, in terms of actually furthering ESG interests.\u201d The assertion that investing in ESG funds allows investors to do well by doing good is simply false.<\/p>\n<p>The 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which today covers retirement plans worth $12 trillion on behalf of 150 million Americans, requires asset managers to act as fiduciaries, meaning they must put retirees\u2019 interests ahead of their own, focus on maximizing long-term returns, and only consider factors that have a \u201cmaterial effect\u201d on investment risk or return in retirement plans. Given what we know about ESG funds, they are not good investment vehicles for Americans\u2019 retirement plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yet the Biden administration issued its new ESG rule last November, which gives fiduciaries the green light to consider ESG factors in retirement plans and protects fiduciaries from lawsuits \u201cif their investment choices cause lower returns or losses because the funds indulge in climate-change or social-justice causes,\u201d according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/biden-veto-esg-bipartisan-resolution-joe-manchin-jon-tester-518ed9af\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration forced a new ESG rule down Americans\u2019 throats as a backlash against ESG investments grows.<\/p>\n<p>Last December, Vanguard, one of the world\u2019s largest asset managers,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/corporate.vanguard.com\/content\/corporatesite\/us\/en\/corp\/articles\/update-on-nzam-engagement.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a>\u00a0its withdrawal from the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, which promotes ESG. Eight states passed legislation restricting ESG factors in state investment funds in recent legislative sessions, and 23 states are now working on similar bills.<\/p>\n<p>There are also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.morganlewis.com\/blogs\/mlbenebits\/2023\/03\/esg-rule-challenged-in-congress-and-courts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two lawsuits<\/a>\u00a0filed by participants in ERISA-regulated retirement plans, alleging that the Biden administration\u2019s ESG rule violates ERISA and that the secretary of labor has exceeded statutory authority in adopting the rule.<\/p>\n<p>The recent collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) should serve as a warning that bad things can happen when woke causes distract management. The head of SVB\u2019s risk management\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/03\/11\/silicon-valley-bank-pushed-woke-programs-ahead-of-collapse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a>\u00a0\u201cspearheaded multiple \u2018woke\u2019 LGBTQ+ programs, including a \u2018safe space\u2019 for coming-out stories, as the firm raced toward collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden likes to talk about caring for American workers, but the veto reveals he will \u201cprioritize politics over getting the best returns for millions of Americans\u2019 retirement investments,\u201d according to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. <\/p>\n<p>American voters should remember Biden\u2019s indifference to their retirement plans when he asks for their votes in his 2024 re-election campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d57e73ed9251b26242d13fed11c2b195 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d57e73ed9251b26242d13fed11c2b195\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">   Helen Raleigh, CFA, is an American entrepreneur, writer, and speaker. She&#8217;s a senior contributor at The Federalist. Her writings appear in other national media, including The Wall Street Journal and Fox News.  Helen is the author of several books, including &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Confucius-Never-Said-Helen-Raleigh\/dp\/1499185278\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&#038;keywords=Helen+Raleigh+Confucius+Never+Said&#038;qid=1606079469&#038;sr=8-1\">Confucius Never Said<\/a>&#8221; and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Backlash-How-Chinas-Aggression-Backfired\/dp\/1736008501\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&#038;qid=1606006113&#038;sr=8-1\">Backlash: How Communist China&#8217;s Aggression Has Backfired<\/a>.&#8221; Follow her on Parler and Twitter: @HRaleighspeaks.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/blackrock\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">BlackRock<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/environmental\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Environmental<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/erisa\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ERISA<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/esg\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ESG<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/finance\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Finance<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/governance\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">governance<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/investments\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">investments<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Joe Biden<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/larry-fink\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Larry Fink<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/sanjai-bhagat\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Sanjai Bhagat<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/silicon-valley-bank\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Silicon Valley Bank<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/social\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Social<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/university-of-chicago\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">University of Chicago<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/vanguard\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Vanguard<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/woke\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">woke<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden\u00a0issued his first veto\u00a0against a bipartisan bill that sought to protect millions of Americans\u2019 retirement plans from woke investments. His action shows he prioritizes politics over Americans\u2019 financial security. Early this month, the U.S. House and Senate\u00a0passed\u00a0a bipartisan resolution to prevent fiduciaries of retirement plans from subordinating financial returns to woke causes.\u00a0Biden chose<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":536,"featured_media":1905294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[4123,3620,10013,11970,14351,5558,5015],"class_list":["post-1905293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-american","tag-biden","tag-capitalism","tag-retirees","tag-veto","tag-woke","tag-workers"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1905293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1905294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1905293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1905293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1905293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}