Congressman Lacy Clay was defeated because he was a sell out.

[grantcart]

One of President Obama's good government moves was to require that financial professionals (from insurance agents to investment agents) be required to sell products to their clients based on what is best for their clients and not the highest commission.

This is as radical as stopping at a red light.

It is the first and last question asked on every state's test for a license. When you do your re education credits 25% of the time will be spent on this one issue.

State's just don't have much enforcement teeth and professionals work in multiple states so it just made good sense to have a federal rule.

Clay opposed it and in so doing let the Republicans describe their effort as "bipartisan". I am sure that this is why the Progressive Caucus actively opposed him.

https://theintercept.com/2020/07/20/lacy-clay-cori-bush-wall-street-reform/

In 2009, as the Obama administration was working with Congress to rewrite the rules of the economy to strip out the predatory behavior that helped fuel the financial crisis, the Department of Labor zeroed in on what became known as the fiduciary rule. Put simply, there was no rule that required financial advisers to have the best interests of their clients at heart when making investment decisions or recommendations. Instead, advisers could offer clients high-fee, low-performing investments that would do more to benefit the adviser than the client: a problem that particularly plagued workers at the lower end of the income scale, given their reduced power in relation to advisers, who are generally chosen for them by employers.

How radical was this rule? Well it follows the "restaurant employees should wash their hands after going to the bathroom rule".

When my "boss" (we are all basically independent but need an upline manager to get contracts with carriers) said that he didn't think he could stay in business because of the rule I immediately terminated my 14 year association and lost 4 months of income to find a new IMO. I don't even want to stay in the same room as someone who is against this rule, whether it is the law or not. If I didn't follow the rule I could double my income immediately, but how do you sleep at night?

Just how bad is this rule for the bad guys?

When Trump became President he ordered the Labor Department to not defend the lawsuit that the Republicans (who got Clay to oppose the rule) brought to challenge the law, and with no defenders it died:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/your-money/fiduciary-rule-dies.html

On Thursday, a federal appeals court dealt a final blow to the rule, legal experts said. The court made effective its decision in March voiding the Obama era rule. That decision said the Department of Labor, which oversees retirement accounts, overstepped its authority. The department did not try to defend the rule after the appeals court’s initial decision, experts said, and it let a deadline pass to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case.

What was undone?

Mutual fund companies, including Capital Group’s American Funds, had created a new class of shares — known as clean or unbundled shares — that removed layers of fees that would have been paid to the broker.

I don't know how Clay got compensated for his sell out. Doesn't seem like he got of campaign contributions but he got something for it. Maybe he got a promise that if wouldn't face a real challenger in the general election. Don't know don't care. Not a big fan of the "squad" but will happily take another squad member over a sell out like Clay.

On Edit:

On another thread it was observed that there was speculation on MSNBC that Clay was going to get a favorable redistricting seat from the Republicans.

[Beakybird]

1. Thanks for the run down.

[jalan48]

2. Not to mention this seat has been held by a member of the Clay family for over 50 straight years.

[JI7]

3. Im just glad it's a solid democratic seat

[Voltaire2]

4. However support for her is rationalized works for me.

[Sneederbunk]

5. And it took only 6 election cycles to remove him.

[JI7]

6. This was recent. He had a good record before this.

[RhodeIslandOne]

7. General complacency

He thought he was going to be sent to Washington for life. Much like Engel, he forgot to get out in the streets and do some actual campaigning and acknowledging his constituents. These guys have a tremendous advantage after multiple years until their hubris does their own self in.

[bigtree]

8. defeated by a Ferguson protester

...Clay was at this for some 20 years.

His tepid response (relatively) to Mike Brown's murder was at the heart of his undoing. Not forceful enough for a community which is still fighting to change it's political landscape, and oust the players who enabled it to fester for decades and eventually explode in anger.

Link to tweet

[ismnotwasm]

10. I didn't realize she was a nurse

The progression and organization of nursing is not only badass, but makes her a genuine change agent by the very way we are educated.

Cool.

[KPN]

9. K&R!

Thanks for restoring a bit of my faith in the financial industry ... or, I should say, hope. Oddly, the past 3 years have been my worst performance years since 2008 for my (and my wife’s retirement accounts). The volatility that Trump has brought to the markets over that period has just been too stressful to bear (we are both retired). While we stayed 20 or so percent invested in equities during the early pandemic, we got out after the first substantial pop in April. We are now sitting on the sidelines having absorbed about a 5% total loss which in itself is not a huge problem, but the prospect of inflation down the road is frightening. Trump has been an absolute disaster for modest income retirees like me who are more interested in preserving their capital that taking on risk in volatile markets. I will always hold him to blame for upending a financial glide path into later life that previously felt comfortably secure. I can no longer say it feels quite that way. Only time will tell.

[greenjar_01]

11. You'd be shocked at the number of even Democratic financial professionals who chafe at this rule

The endless grumbling about it was fucking unbelievable.

[grantcart]

14. I know. Defies rational explanation

[JI7]

12. Maybe he will run again after learning from this loss

I always liked watching him in committee hearings.

[bigtree]

13. also

Link to tweet

[octoberlib]

15. Claire McCaskill tweeted that Clay sided with Missouri Republicans on their gerrymandering plan

which guaranteed him a safe seat while screwing over other Missouri Democrats.

[progressoid]

17. Wow.

What a dick move.

[theaocp]

16. K&R n/t