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The White House's Fact Sheet on the Final Fiduciary Rule

"[The final fiduciary rule] has: [1] Further clarified what constitutes fiduciary advice.... [2] Made best interest contract (BIC) exemption available for more advice.... Advisers recommending any asset -- not just those on an asset list included in the proposal -- can take advantage of the BIC exemption ... BIC exemption will be available for advice to small businesses that sponsor 401(k) plans, as well as for advice to IRA customers and plan participants.... BIC exemption includes special provisions clarifying how it can be used for recommendation of proprietary products ... [3] Streamlined and simplified requirements of BIC exemption.... Eliminates the contract requirement for ERISA plans and their participants and beneficiaries.... For advice to IRA holders, provides firms flexibility on when to enter into the contract.... Minimizes number of contractual parties.... Significantly streamlines and simplifies the required disclosures.... Eliminates data retention requirements.... BIC exemption contains a streamlined 'level fee' provision, ... [4] Grandfathered existing investments.... [5] Extended implementation time period."

Senate Democrats, Every Single Democrat in the U.S. House and the White House Just Agreed: Obamacare Hurts Hiring

"In a bipartisan showing of unity, every single member of the U.S. House of Representatives, all 26 members of a U.S. Senate Committee and the White House agree that Obamacare hurts hiring. Not one single member or Administration official was willing to come out and state that no such dis-incentive exists.... In a rare show of bipartisanship over President Barack Obama's health care law, a Senate committee voted unanimously Wednesday to exclude veterans from the 50-worker threshold that triggers required coverage for employees under that statute."

Fact Checking the White House's Retirement Policy

"The administration's proposed fiduciary rule will hurt American savers and retirees. Here's a more accurate version of the White House's so-called fact sheet."

The Good News for Obamacare: The White House Knows the Bad News

"It would be one thing if problems with the government's new health-care Web site had been unknowable. But they weren't. Staff at HHS and CMS saw this coming for months. Insurance companies began predicting a mess long ago. But the bad news was shaded and spun as it made its way up the chain of command. The alarming failures seen in the (inadequate) load tests were written off as bugs that would soon be fixed.... The new health-care law has a chance because those management failures are over."

The White House Says Obamacare Begins on October 1... Not Really.

"Oct. 1 is a completely arbitrary date, one that never shows up in the text of the [ACA] and that has little bearing on the health law's success or failure.... [It has become] increasingly clear that [the state marketplaces'] big day isn't necessarily Oct. 1. Instead, it's Jan. 1, the day that the individual mandate takes effect and any plans purchased on the marketplace actually kick in. The space between October and December is viewed, by many standing up the health care law, as as soft launch: the time to make their new Web sites live, sort out the kinks and get the site in prime condition for the beginning of 2014."

The White House's Common-Sense Idea to Protect Retirement Savings

"The fiduciary rule would inevitably abolish some number of business relationships certain people might accept; instead of possibly conflicted, but still 'suitable,' advice, they would get none, or perhaps 'robo-advice' online. On the plus side, however, other people would be protected from exploitation.... We revert to common sense: If you're in business to advise small investors, it should be as clear as possible that you work for them and not a third party behind the scenes. Yes, the fiduciary rule might shrink the business, but what remains could well enjoy greater legitimacy, in both reality and perception. In this time of raging populism, the financial industry needs all the trustworthiness it can get."

The White House's Obamacare Fix Is About to Create a Big Mess

"Under the change that the administration is announcing this morning, the hypothetical Americans with a policy that ends in June 2014 would have the option to renew that exact same plan for one more year -- if their insurance company decides to provide that option. Keep in mind, this change is not ordering insurers to offer their products for another year; health plans regularly take their offerings on and off the market. Instead, its a very nice ask on the part of the administration, to insurance carriers and regulators, to play ball on this one."

How The White House Hopes to Control Health Care Costs

"Senate sources confirm that the president argued in favor of a genuinely major Medicare reform -- a reform that could make Medicare the nation's most important laboratory for health care reforms."

The White House's Review of Regulations, Including ERISA and PBGC, May Ease Regulatory Load

The regulations under scrutiny affecting pension executives and money managers include: simplified procedures for handling abandoned 401(k) plans; a more flexible approach to PBGC penalties; ways to stimulate lifetime income streams; and implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The White House Is About to Hold a Fire Sale on Obamacare

"This is a sign the administration is desperate to avert the very real likelihood that millions more people will be uninsured next year than before. It also blows out of the water the administration's claim that people must to have Bronze-Silver-Gold-Platinum coverage in order to have quality coverage.... Insurers also have no idea how to price for these products. They priced for the metal plans based on one risk pool; now with the wave of their hand they are changing the pool and expecting these [products] to be available the next day?"