While DOL hearings stay civil, Twitter gets rowdy

The second day of the Labor Department's four-day marathon of hearings is underway, and debate continues over its proposal to reduce conflicts of interest for brokers working with retirement accounts. As 75 opponents and proponents of the fiduciary proposal testify before DOL this week, often the crux of the arguments — or, at the very least, the passions behind them — can best be experienced in tweets from around the advice industry. Here's a collection from the first two days of hearings.

Final takeaway @DOL hearing: I felt like I was standing near the south end of a north-facing bull at times. Wall St. smelly.

— Ron Rhoades,JD,CFP® (@140ltd) August 11, 2015

DOL #fiduciary rule will "reduce choice and increase cost, and individual savers will have a more complex and confusing landscape" – Bentsen

— SIFMA (@SIFMA) August 10, 2015

#GotFiduciary #saveourretirement Prof REUTER: BROKER-SOLD FUNDS UNDERPERFORM BY 2% PER YR! THAT IS HUGE OVER 30-40 YRS RETRMNT INVESTING!

— Kate McBride (@KMcBride_Wealth) August 11, 2015

Tim Hauser has obviously replaced Phyllis Borzi as the lead DOL staffer on the #fiduciary rule. No explanation from DOL why @FAmagazine

— Ted Knutson (@TedKnutsonDC) August 11, 2015

I am right now hearing some insurance industry type rationalize commissions on annuities. #fiduciary

— Helaine Olen (@helaineolen) August 11, 2015

New #fiduciary rules give bureaucrats more control over your #retirement savings. Take action: http://t.co/5zKKUrvFz6 pic.twitter.com/6npUWWRIQB

— U.S. Chamber Action (@USChamberAction) August 11, 2015

DOL hearing: biased industry economists find no problem with biased advice

— Barbara Roper (@BarbaraRoper1) August 11, 2015

.@IRIonline chairman and @AXA exec Nick Lane: In aftermath of @USDOL #fiduciary, 'average American is left with a website' for advice.

— Mark Schoeff Jr. (@MarkSchoeff) August 10, 2015

"[fiduciary] rule [makes] advice much more expensive" - only a problem if you believe current "advice" has any value http://t.co/SjwajqiHig

— Joseph Nathan Cohen (@jncohen) August 11, 2015

DOL's fiduciary rule will make financial services less accessible & less affordable to those who need them most. https://t.co/cDT0B4DcaO

— David Jolly (@USRepDavidJolly) July 9, 2015