Don't Worry, You Poor Slobs, Your Congressman Has Your Back

A letter that a group of progressive Democrats sent to federal regulators opposing new protections for millions of Americans' retirement accounts was drafted by a financial-industry lobbyist, according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.

  Mother Jones

That’s just the way it’s done up there, isn’t it?

The Department of Labor, which oversees the federal law setting minimum standards for many retirement plans, would like to require retirement investment advisers to act in the best interest of their customers, as opposed to their own best interest. But 28 out of the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—a group of African American members of Congress that advocates the interests of low-income people and minorities—signed onto a June 14 letter opposing the rule. So did Democratic lawmakers Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Ed Pastor of Arizona, and Jim Costa of California.

[...]

The signatories represent low- and middle-income districts with large proportions of minority voters. The CBC has long backed progressive policies that help low-income folks, such as nutrition assistance, jobs programs, and unemployment benefits. Fifteen of the CBC members who signed the letter are also part of the 68-member Congressional Progressive Caucus.

[...]

Together, the liberal lawmakers who signed the letter have received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money from the securities and investment industry in recent years.

In the letter, the lawmakers caution the Labor Department against proposing new regulations, warning that a strict new rule on retirement advisers may cause many of them to leave the market and thus "could severely limit access to low-cost investment advice" for "the minority communities we represent

I believe that is the very same “logic” used to keep wages and benefits low and non-existent in this counry. And to keep big environmental polluters in business in this country.

FSI [whose lobbyist drafted the letter] has expressed concern that the regulation would limit the types of fees advisers can collect for servicing retirement accounts. The trade group spent $196,000 on lobbying in the just the first quarter of 2013—that's nearly half the the total it spent on lobbying in all of 2012.

[...]

The proposed investment adviser rule is under attack on other fronts. A Republican-sponsored bill that would weaken the Department of Labor's power to write rules on retirement investments is expected to hit the House floor this fall. And just last week, 10 Senate Democrats wrote a letter to the administration urging the department to hold off on its proposal.