Want a taste of what makes Washington, D.C., such a dismal embarrassment today? Then read Ron Johnson's letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez.

Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin who just took over as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is known for being relentless, something we can maybe use when it comes to dealing with militant Islamic groups.

But he has now expanded his portfolio. Johnson, it appears, has been recruited by Wall Street interests to help them forestall the issuance of the DOL's recrafted conflict of interest rule, the one that would impose fiduciary standards on commissioned brokers.

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Someone will have to go back to check political contributions made to Johnson by the securities hawkers and others who stand to lose so much once the DOL makes things right and turns their lives inside out. I can't imagine he's doing this for his health.

Johnson certainly is working hard for his money, trying to make life as difficult as he can for Perez and his team.

In his letter, first reported by The Hill, Johnson asks Perez to explain how the new regulations won't "adversely affect middle and low-income Americans."

Johnson's question, just in case you haven't followed this drama, goes right to the heart of assertions by the securities industry that those least able to afford the services of brokers would be most hurt by the regulations.

All of those new requirements in an expanded fiduciary standard, the argument goes, would make it too expensive to serve those low-wattage accounts.   

That line of reasoning, of course, once again underscores that, just like Michael Douglas told us, greed motivates Wall Street.

Anyway, Johnson is doing a bang-up job of banging up Perez et al.

Demanding a response by Feb. 19, he wants the secretary to:

  • Detail how DOL plans to educate taxpayers about its proposed rule.

  • Itemize any costs that will be or have been incurred by the department to do the above.

  • Explain the department's role in drafting or advising a White House Council of Economic Advisors memo – the one authored by Jason Furman – in which he lambasted the industry for, among other things, costing workers billions in retirement savings.

  • Produce all communications between the department and SEC referring to or relating to changing the fiduciary standard under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

There's more, but you get the picture. Johnson is merely harassing Perez, employing delaying tactics in hopes of dragging things out until the lobbyists from Wall Street beat down an administration simply trying to put investor interests where they belong: ahead of profits.

The DOL has been working on this expansion of ERISA since 2010. Its first effort failed. We've been waiting for the agency to send a revised rule to the Office of Management and Budget for analysis since late January. How much longer we'll have to wait thanks to Johnson's interference is anyone's guess.

Johnson notes near the end of his letter that his committee is authorized to investigate the "efficiency and economy of operations of all branches of the government."

Oh, the irony.

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