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President Barack Obama signs the the financial reform bill into law July 21, 2010.

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To sum up the past decade, you could call it a tale of two presidents.

For evidence of that, look no further than the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The financial overhaul legislation was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010.

On the heels of the financial crisis, it was intended to help rein in banks. The law also paved the way for tougher consumer protections.

It ordered the SEC to evaluate how the industry provides investment advice to retail customers. In 2011, the agency released a study advocating for the creation of a uniform fiduciary standard for investment advisors and broker-dealers.

The measure also called for the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government body specifically devoted to serving as a consumer watchdog.

Fast forward: On May 24, 2018, President Donald Trump signed a rollback of a number of banking regulations that were included in that law.

After signing, U.S. President Donald Trump holds up an executive order rolling back regulations from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law on Wall Street reform at the White House in Washington February 3, 2017.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

And while that didn't affect the two big consumer protections, it is up for debate whether consumers are in a better position almost a decade later.

Aaron Klein, a fellow in economic studies at Brookings Institution who helped craft the Dodd-Frank Act, said the answer is a definitive no.

"The Trump administration took over," Klein said. "They told the police to take a break, and they stopped recording crime."

"Ultimately, consumers will lose billions of dollars as a result of purposeful neglect," he said.

One of the big misses this decade, investor advocates argue, is the failure to establish a fiduciary rule.

The regulation was aimed at getting brokers and investment advisors to adhere to a higher standard when providing advice for clients.

Many advocates consider the fiduciary standard to be better protection, because it requires financial professionals to put their clients' best interests ahead of their own.

Investment advisors, for example, have traditionally been held to that. Brokers, meanwhile, have answered to something known as the suitability rule, which means brokers were free to sell clients any investment as long as it was "suitable" for the client at the time, even if cheaper alternatives were available.

Efforts to put together a joint fiduciary rule created an ongoing saga over the past decade.

Despite the SEC's authority to issue a fiduciary rule, the panel mostly didn't take action following its 2011 report. It wasn't until this year that the agency began rolling out a rule called Regulation Best Interest.

While the SEC stalled, the Department of Labor and even some states moved to establish their own fiduciary rules. The Department of Labor's efforts were squashed when the Trump administration took over. But the DOL has said it plans to work on a new rule governing retirement accounts.

While Regulation Best Interest is legally in force, financial firms have until June to comply.

Comedian John Oliver takes a shot at non-fiduciary financial advisors and their spiraling 401(k) fees on a recent segment of "Last Week Tonight."

Source: Last Week Tonight | HBO | YouTube

The rule, called Reg BI for short, requires brokers to keep retail customers' best interests in mind when recommending securities. It also requires broker-dealers and investment advisors to provide clients with a new form that summarizes the relationship.

Critics say the rule falls short of providing investors with full fiduciary coverage.

"It, to some degree, made the area more complex and harmful for consumers," said Jamie Hopkins, director of retirement research at Carson Group and professor at Creighton University Heider College of Business.

"They've expanded the use of the language 'best interest,' when in my belief that's really 'suitability' plus additional disclosures," Hopkins said.

Yet many in the financial industry have embraced the rule.

Earlier this month, Kenneth Bentsen Jr., president and CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, an industry trade group that represents securities firms, called Reg BI a "robust and strict standard."

"It is not a disclosure-only based rule," Bentsen said. "It is much stricter than that."

Hopkins argues that the change puts the burden on the consumer to ask financial advisors if they are fiduciaries and to clarify how they get paid and what services they provide.

"If that's something you want, have the advisor put that in writing that they are a fiduciary," Hopkins said.

As with the fiduciary rule, efforts to develop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into a robust watchdog have also taken different turns amid the change in administrations.

For evidence, look no further than to the CFPB's own shifting leadership.

When Richard Cordray, the first director of the CFPB, announced in November 2017 that he was stepping down, both he and President Trump named a replacement.

Cordray promoted chief of staff Leandra English to the role of deputy director and said she would serve as acting director until the Senate confirmed a successor.

Instead, Trump named his own acting director, Mick Mulvaney.

Consumer advocates complained that the CFPB's authority was watered down under Mulvaney's leadership, citing an April New York Times Magazine article, "Mick Mulvaney's Master Class in Destroying a Bureaucracy from Within."

Last December, Kathy Kraninger was confirmed by the Senate as the new director. To cap off her one-year anniversary, the CFPB recently put out a release boasting of its accomplishments.

On that list is an item payday loans that has sparked criticism. These short-term loans often saddle consumers with high interest rates as they try to cover their cash needs between paychecks.

In 2017, the CFPB issued a rule that would establish stricter regulations for payday lenders. But this year, the agency has proposed delaying compliance and rescinding tougher underwriting requirements that lenders would face.

"The biggest concerns that we see with the CFPB today is they are holding the hands of the payday lenders," said Linda Jun, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform.

"That means that the debt trap will continue and people will continue to lose their cars and their bank accounts as a result of the continued destruction of payday loans," she said.

Klein also criticized the agency for "rewarding the naughty list."

"They have stuffed the stockings of payday lenders and the people who were convicted or pleaded guilty to financial malfeasance by reducing fines," he said.

The good news is that Congress has left the CFPB intact, which means a new administration could re-energize it, Klein said.

A woman enters an All American Check Cashing location in Brandon, Miss., May 12, 2017.

Rogelio V. Solis | AP

"A new director would have substantial authority to revive the agency, and elections have consequences," Klein said. "The CFPB day to day, month to month, needs to be independent."

However, not everyone agrees that having a separate agency dedicated to consumer protection is necessary.

The Federal Trade Commission already protects consumers against fraud, said Norbert Michel, director for the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

"All you did was give this new agency this vague new power and said we're going to figure it out later on, which isn't doing anything to protect anyone against fraud," Michel said.

The CFPB's evolution has helped to do one thing: raise public awareness of consumer protection issues, Jun said.

But as with the fiduciary rule, the onus is on the consumer to ask the right questions and speak up if they are wronged.

Individuals should still turn to the CFPB's public complaint database to make their voices heard, Jun said. They should also consider talking to a lawyer or reporting egregious practices to their state attorneys general, she said.

"If something doesn't seem right to you, look into it," Jun said.

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This was supposed to be the decade of tougher consumer protections. That didn't happen - CNBC

Former President Barack Obama recently made comments that have been interpreted as a warning that Democrats must not veer too far to the left for instance, by supporting presidential candidates like Senators Bernie Sander or Elizabeth Warren in 2020.

Specifically, Obama said that his party must recognize that the average American doesnt think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.

Considering that he headlined a recent Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraiseron Nov. 21 in Silicon Valley, where ticket prices ranged from $10,000 to $355,000, one has to wonder just how many average Americans the former President crosses paths with.

In trying to tip the party towards moderation, Obama said Democrats ultimate goal is to defeat a president and a party that hastaken a sharp turn away from a lot of the core traditions and values and institutional commitments that built this country.

The problem with that analysis is that it fails to appreciate how that established order the one that former President Obama is so nostalgic for made Donald Trump possible. Under Obamas leadership and both Bushes, and Clintons, and Reagans the elites became disconnected from the circumstances of the vast majority of a country that was, and still is, in decline.

Obama also fails to account for the convergence of several troubling socio-economic and ecological trend lines that have grown even more problematic since he left the White House.

President Obamas decision to bail out Wall Street at the expense of the poor- and working-class had generational consequences. The destruction of trillions of dollars in family wealth accumulated over decades coincided with an ever-accelerating concentration of wealththat has only worsened under Trump.

Hence, some of the Rust Belt states that voted for President Obama twice flipped for Donald Trump. Likewise, Recession-era foreclosures resulted in a catastrophic loss of African American household wealth, meaning hundreds of thousands of Obama voters sat out 2016.

In a bitter irony, the historic victory of the first African American president to win the White House coincided with hundreds of thousands of African Americans losing theirs.

To this day, foreclosure continues to wreak havoc on families, particularly in communities of color like Newark, New Jersey, where activist Fredrica Bey has been working for years to get a foreclosure moratorium and hold banks like Wells Fargo accountable.

President Obama, whom I voted for twice, did more damage bailing out the banks and leaving us in the lurch, damage that will most likely hold for decades unless we elect someone like Elizabeth [Warren] or Bernie [Sanders], she told Salon over email.Thank God they are both in the top five, if not the top four.

She continued: Elizabeth Warren, [recently deceased Rep.] Elijah Cummings (God bless him), and [Rep.] Maxine Waters [D.-Calif.] are the only ones in the last two administrations that have done everything in their power to give much needed assistance and hold banks accountable.

Since the 1970s, American wage earners have been losing ground regardless of which party was in control. In place of gains in earnings, we were given access to ever-increasing levels of household debt.

Our citizens are shackled by $1.5 trillion in student debt, most of it held by the youngest two generations. The life experience of these young people is bookended by 9/11 and the Great Recession.

The level of wealth inequality has so stratified American society that no less an establishment figure than Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, warns that it is the nations most pressing economic challenge.

Hardly a Marxist, Powell has said that the United States is no longer the worlds leader in upward mobility providing the opportunity for those in poverty to raise themselves up into a better circumstance for themselves and their families. Thats certainly true statistically: studies have found that a number of nations, including Britain, France, Sweden, and even Italy,score far higher on indices of social mobility.

From our declining life expectancy to the spike in youth and teen suicides, weve been a nation on gradual decline badly in need of some kind of unifying social cohesion that might help us face big challenges.

Despite spending more on health care than any other country,the United States has seen increasing mortality and falling life expectancy for people age 25 to 64, who should be in the prime of their lives, reported the Washington Post. In contrast, other wealthy nations have generally experienced continued progress in extending longevity.

The planet is in full blown ecological crisis; prophetically, there is intense competition for firefighting planes that can dump water on wildfires.

Sorry to report, Mr. Obama, but 2020 just cant be another down-the-middle fence straddle. Politics as usual is how we got here.

Read this article:
Obama pines for the political era that created Trump in the first place - Salon

Former President Obama has emerged as a key player in the Democratic presidential primary race.

He hasnt put his thumb on the scale for any one candidate in particular. But in two different speeches this month, he has made clear that presidential hopefuls would be wise to avoid moving too far to the left if they hope to win back the White House in 2020.

Some party strategists and operatives say that by throwing the weight of his legacy and influence into the simmering ideological debate between the Democratic Partys progressive and moderate wings, the former president has the potential to reshape the dynamics of the primary race.

His latest remarks came last week as Obama met with party donors in California, where he urged Democrats to chill out about the primary contest and prepare to rally behind the eventual nominee. But he also appeared to warn against calling for too drastic of change.

When you listen to the average voter even ones who arent stalwart Democrats, but who are more independent or are low-information voters they dont feel that things are working well, but theyre also nervous about changes that might take away what little they have, Obama said.

For some Democrats, Obamas remarks reinforced their concerns that the primary field has lurched too far to the left and that the party may be barreling toward a loss in 2020 unless it can unite behind a moderate nominee capable of appealing to a broader swath of voters in the general election.

I think that to some extent Obama is the canary in the coal mine, said Dick Harpootlian, a former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party who is supporting former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenButtigieg: 'I was slow to realize' South Bend schools were not integrated Yang raises almost 0K in a single day Judiciary Democrat: House impeaching Trump not a 'foregone conclusion' MOREs presidential bid.

Hes warning Democrats that if you buy an agenda that is not relevant or salable in November, youre guaranteeing Donald Trump a second term.

Obamas remarks came as the Democratic primary fields top tier finds itself divided along ideological lines.

Biden, who served as Obamas vice president for eight years and is seen as the standard-bearer for the partys moderate wing, leads in most national polls.

Likewise, another moderate, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegButtigieg: 'I was slow to realize' South Bend schools were not integrated Yang raises almost 0K in a single day Booker launches first 2020 digital campaign ad MORE, has seen a recent burst of momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote in the 2020 nominating contest.

Theyre competing, however, with two high-profile progressives, Sens. Bernie SandersBernie SandersButtigieg: 'I was slow to realize' South Bend schools were not integrated Yang raises almost 0K in a single day Booker launches first 2020 digital campaign ad MORE (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenButtigieg: 'I was slow to realize' South Bend schools were not integrated Yang raises almost 0K in a single day Booker launches first 2020 digital campaign ad MORE (D-Mass.), who have campaigned on platforms of sweeping, systemic change.

Politico reported that Obama has said privately that he would speak up to stop Sanders if the democratic socialist looked likelyto clinch the nomination, though a spokesperson reiterated that the former president would support and campaign for whoever is nominated.

Obama hasnt criticized any particular candidate and has offered praise for those proposing bolder ideas in the primary. Allies of the former president said that he is not looking to weigh in on the partys ideological battles, but rather that he wants to keep the field focused on defeating President TrumpDonald John TrumpPerry ends final day as Energy secretary Mexican officials detain suspects in massacre of members of Mormon sect READ: White House's letter to Nadler saying it won't participate in impeachment hearing MORE in 2020.

Rufus Gifford, who served as finance director for Obamas 2012 reelection campaign, said that the former president is aware that any remarks he makes about the Democratic primary fight will be heavily scrutinized.

But Gifford said that he took Obamas remarks more as a warning to voters not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

For him to weigh in, he knows that anything he says will be analyzed by the political media and the powers that be, Gifford said. But he can set a tone. The tone of this primary so far hasnt necessarily been negative but it hasnt been that positive either.

Hes weighing in to unify the party as much as he can; to help out without being some sort of master manipulator.

Regardless of his intentions, Obamas warnings in recent speeches to donors that most voters dont want to tear down the system and remake it sparked a backlash among some in the Democratic Partys progressive wing, who saw the comments as an implicit swipe at Sanders and Warren.

The remarks prompted the hashtag #TooFarLeft to trend on Twitter earlier this month, as progressives voiced outrage at the notion that their core principles health care as a human right, for instance were outside of political norms.

Peter Daou, a former adviser to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonBennet shares video of him in Iowa: 'I'm just chillin' in Cedar Rapids' Trump's culpability is greater than Nixon's Chuck Todd challenges John Kennedy on Ukraine: Putin is only other person 'selling this argument' MORE who created the #TooFarLeft hashtag, acknowledged that the effort came about in part as a response to Obamas recent remarks. But he said that it was also intended to push back on a broader critique leveled by political elites to discredit those in the partys left flank.

Yes, I started the #TooFarLeft hashtag partly in response to #Obama's comments. But that wasn't the main reason, Daou tweeted. Too Far Left is the default attack line by the entire political/media establishment to dismiss progressives and leftists who want a better world.

Whether Obamas remarks have any tangible or lasting impact on the Democratic nominating contest remains to be seen. Some Democrats argued that the comments would help bolster the argument for voters to back a more moderate nominee, like Biden, Buttigieg or Sen. Amy KlobucharAmy Jean KlobucharYang raises almost 0K in a single day Klobuchar: 'I don't see' voting to acquit Trump in Senate trial Booker launches first 2020 digital campaign ad MORE (D-Minn.), who have all sought to occupy a sort of middle ground in the primary race.

I think it benefits the moderates people, like Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Harpootlian, the Biden ally, said. Who does it discourage? It would be Elizabeth Warren and Bernie.

But Gifford, Obamas former finance director, said that even the opinions of someone as significant as Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaTrillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see, and hardly a voice of caution to be heard Booker: 'If you want me in this race, then I need help' Bloomberg can't win, but he could help reelect Trump MORE will not reshape the race in its entirety.

Its not as if he will move the needle tremendously, Gifford said. What he can do is help to establish a more healthy political narrative.

Read more from the original source:
Obama looms over divided Democratic primary | TheHill - The Hill

The future First Lady at the time was interviewed with her husband while Barack was campaigning to become US President. In the interview Michelle and Barack sat down with their children Malia and Sasha, who were 10 and seven years old at the time. They spoke about family life and what it was like to be the daughters of a presidential candidate.

The former First Lady recalled the interview in her best selling memoir Becoming.

She said: Malia had her hair braided and Sasha wore a red tank dress.

As always, they were disarmingly cute.

The future First Lady joked how Malia was the familys junior professor and earnestly pondered every question.

She added: She said that her dad embarrassed her sometimes when he tried to shake hands with her friends and also that he bothered all of us when he left his campaign luggage blocking the door at home.

Michelle added how Sasha did her best to sit still and stay focused.

The youngest Obama only interrupted the interview once, asking her mother when they were getting ice cream.

The former First Lady wrote: Otherwise, she listened to her sister, interjecting periodically with whatever semi-relevant detail popped into her head.

JUST IN:Michelle Obama shock: Ex-FLOTUS 'could still run for President'

The former First Lady said: We felt like wed made a wrong choice, putting their voices into the public sphere long before they could really understand what any of it meant.

Nothing in the video would hurt Sasha or Malia.

But it was out in the world now.

Barack, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee at the time, told TODAY how they got carried away in the moment.

He said: We were having a birthday party, and everybody was laughing. And suddenly this thing cropped up.

I didnt catch it quickly enough. I was surprised by the attention it received.

The interview was conducted by Maria Menounos, who told MSNC how the Obama's daughters were not planned to be in the interview.

She said: The interview originally was just supposed to be the senator and his wife.

We get there and it was the Fourth of July, it was Malias birthday, the circumstances surrounding that day I think kind of lent themselves to a more comfortable atmosphere for the girls."

Ms Menounos claimed she was convinced it was spontaneous and that it was just kind of organic.

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Michelle Obama heartache: Ex-FLOTUS admits she made the wrong choice for her children - Express.co.uk

Michelle and Barack Obama at the Obama Foundation Summit 2019 in Chicago, IL.

Chicagos South Side Bronzeville neighborhood, a center of African-American life and culture, hosted the 2019 Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology on October 29, 2019. The Advancing Women in Product (AWIP) team was invited to cover the Summit as press, and from the perspective of a female empowerment and advocacy NGO.

Kira Alvarez, who is the Press Lead for Advancing Women in Product (AWIP), took time from her busy schedule as a researcher at Freie Universitt Berlin to cover the Summit for AWIP. Kira has taught and published throughout the U.S. and Germany, on topics such as diplomacy, history, and the intersection between science, technology, and society.

The South Side of Chicago was a deliberate choice. This region boasts a visionary past that has witnessed Ida B. Wells, President Obama, and Michelle Obama among others working toward social change. The Summit aptly chose the phrase Places Reveal Our Purpose as the conference theme, and touched on a number of pressing societal issues such as racism, poverty, and gender inequality. It showed that the South Side of Chicago is full of hope, love and energy that can inspire other places throughout the world. The critical role that communities and networks can play in supporting and promoting social advancement and opportunity was a powerful message from the 2019 Obama Foundation Summit.

Women leaders including Michelle Obama and Academy award nominee filmmaker Ava Duvernay spoke about their personal and professional journeys. These women showed that ambition and drive alone are not enough in pursuing a successful and fulfilling career. Support networks are key to achieving broader social change, especially for female advancement. This is in line with what researchers like Herminia Ibarra have remarked on the topic, that sponsors (both within and outside an organization) can help to accelerate careers and create opportunities. For Michelle Obama, support came from her family and a strong belief in self, which helped her overcome the prejudice she experienced growing up. For those who are looking to create their own support networks, search within your current social and professional networks optimizing for those that will generate new opportunities.

An example of community engagement from the Obama Foundation is the Girls Opportunity Alliance (GOA), a program that seeks to empower girls and their respective communities through education. AWIP was invited to the intimate GOA roundtable with Michelle Obama, which featured international educators from countries including Cambodia, Guatemala, and Malawi who tirelessly work on the front lines to improve girls lives. According to Michelle, the lack of investment in female education is an international emergency: What a waste. What a waste for society, what a waste for a family. What a waste for that girls soul to be trapped by her fate and not by her ability.

Michelle Obama with leaders from the Girls Opportunity Alliance (GOA)

The Girls Opportunity Alliance (GOA) empowers young girls in three dimensions: By growing an online network of grassroots leaders, by providing financial support for individual projects through GoFundMe, and by encouraging young people throughout the developed world to join the cause of promoting greater educational opportunities for women. GOA sees its work as not limited to a local or national context and therefore requires a transnational approach. Creating an alliance of young womens opportunities is ultimately about human rights. Investment in a network of girls education programs is key not just for the advancement of individual women, but also for the long-term advancement of societies. Being aware of opportunities outside ones immediate surroundings, especially if those surroundings are limited by lack of resources, can be extremely freeing. According to the Gates Foundation 2019 Goalkeepers report, the lack of access to education and jobs is destructive for everyone. It keeps women disempowered, limits their childrens life chances, and slows down economic growth.

The Summit also featured other Chicago leaders who stressed the creation of strong networks and equality in education. Among them, Obama Foundation Scholars, Aime Eubanks Davis and Dominique Jordan Turner, are founders of organizations that promote education and network creation. Ms. Davis, a 2018 Obama Fellow, is the CEO of Braven, an organization that works with universities and businesses to assist low-income, first-generation university students find employment post-graduation. Ms. Turner, a 2019 Obama Fellow, is the CEO of Chicago Scholars, a seven-year mentorship program that assists underprivileged Chicago youth in the college application process and subsequent employment search. Both Braven and Chicago Scholars are exemplary models of how organizations can provide disadvantaged students greater opportunities in the American educational system.

Many of the students that participate in the Chicago Scholars or Braven program have the talent and ambition to succeed, but lack networks to help them create and sustain a career and might otherwise fall through the cracks. The programs therefore closely mentor underprivileged students by leveraging a large network of support including college counselors, potential employers, and alumni. Ms. Davis stressed, referral networks are important in order to achieve career success. Simply having a college degree and talent is no longer fully sufficient for gainful employment in the American workforce that is the important lesson that these students are learning. Having the right skills through education is the first step but is much more effective when combined with a powerful support network.

We find a similar root cause with the lack of women representation in tech leadership and executive ranks: many women already have their foot in the door and are often highly educated but are often encountered with a glass ceiling. Organizations like Advancing Women in Product, Pink Innov, and the Operator Collective serve to stack the cards in the other direction: by creating opportunities where senior women can take a high-potential, rising leader under their wing. In a similar vein, these organizations are also creating communities and networks that encourage women to stay in the workforce and also introduce them to open leadership roles within the company as well as board seats for other companies.

The 2019 Obama Foundation Summit ultimately demonstrated that social change requires not just hard work, but also the creation and sustainment of networks. Girls Opportunity Alliance, Braven, and Chicago Scholars are important models that utilize networks to help women and minorities achieve their goals. Lets bridge the gap by building strong networks for ourselves and take our destiny into our own hands.

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Lessons From Michelle Obama And The 2019 Obama Foundation Summit: Empowering Communities Through Education - Forbes