John Edwards takes the cake for political hypocrisy in the modern era, a man who charged an estimated $90,000 per speech on the topic of income inequality that vilified hedge funds for their contribution to the problem. This while he accepted a half-million dollars in consulting fees from hedge fund behemoth Fortress Investment Group.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is a close second. It all began with her dubious claim to Native American ancestry—now debunked— as a ticket to teaching at elite universities.
Today, her Elmer Gantry-like fervor for supposed financial sins masks her own role in such things as student loan debt, in which she was paid $700,000 over a two-year period to teach one class. The windfall came as she collected six-figure sums from two government agencies, one being the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Good work if you can get it …
And then there’s the political vindictiveness. Robert Litan, a former Democrat ally, had the gall last July to question the cost-effectiveness of the DOL’s fiduciary rule. Support it or not, a credible argument against can at least be made. His heresy had him fired from his long-time position with the Brookings Institution, reportedly at the urging of Warren.
And it’s not just with individuals, as her latest request of the SEC shows. Reuters reports the Massachusetts Democrat asked securities regulators on Thursday to investigate comments made by insurance companies about the fiduciary proposal.
Lincoln National, Jackson National Life, Prudential Financial and Transamerica are all in her crosshairs “for publicly stating that the rule …would hurt business while privately telling investors it would not create a major hurdle.”
She wants the SEC to “formally look into whether the statements were contradictory and ran afoul of securities laws.”
If only the companies’ actions were as nefarious as they sound. It appears Warren wants to suppress free speech and criminalize corporate inquiry. Voicing concerns about the impact of new regulation while assuring clients they’ll be able to adapt is hardly the Pentagon Papers. To presuppose legislation might contain unintended consequences is vindicated by recent history (Obamacare, Dodd Frank, you name it). Such confusion is the reason the SEC, FINRA and like agencies feel the need to issue guidance. But raise a red flag at your own risk.
Warren and Labor Secretary Perez will introduce the final rule Wednesday, and a version will in all likelihood be implemented. The momentum has been heading in that direction since the president’s endorsement last year, so one can only speculate on the reason for the recent antics, but a bully’s gotta bully.
It’s more proof of the tyranny of the self-righteous, no matter party, cause or clique.