Washington, D.C.'s Fiduciary Rule Meets Gary, Indiana's Music Man (and Godzilla, too)

From ‎the July 30, 2017 edition of The Wall Street Journal, bridging the gap from Gary, Indiana to Washington, D.C.:

 

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The main legal objection is the flimsy authority Labor used to up-end an industry and establish control.  In a flim-flam worthy of Robert Preston’s con man in “The Music Man,” Labor made an end run around the Securities and Exchange Commission by claiming authority to regulate these retirement accounts. 

 

In the musical, Preston’s character bases his authority to lead a band on a degree from a nonexistent Conservatory of Music in Gary, Ind.  Labor did much the same by invoking the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (Erisa), which gave it the authority to reduce the regulatory burdens on IRAs. Labor turned that on its head and used Erisa to impose a new, industry-altering regulation.

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All of this follows Eugene Scalia's May 31, 2017 WSJ Op-Ed titled (with a flair that woulda made his dad proud), "Godzilla (the Fiduciary Rule) Ate the Rule of Law".  Oh, no, there goes Tok-ee-yo (go go, Godzilla).

Cute.