We've always known that Sen Chris Dodd is a big friend to banks. They loved it that he was leading the charge for reform, because that meant no real teeth to the reform. It seems now it was all posturing anyway, because he's setting aside his own reform package to come up with a strange 'bi-partisan' effort that looks distinctly weaker than his own weak offering.
Between 2005 and 2008, Dodd was among the top five recipients of money in the Senate from 19 industries, many of which are finance-related. He's currently the top recipient in the Senate of money from mortgage bankers and brokers, and the Senate's second highest beneficiary of money from insurance companies and finance and credit companies.
Still he had a reform bill in the works. Sort of.
I guess he didn't like the fact that the President's bill was going to eclipse his, and contain more stringent regulation of the very people who contribute the most to Sen Chris Dodd's campaign coffers...I guess I don't know what the h*ll he's thinking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://dodd.senate.gov/...
But now Sen Dodd is proposing to kill Obama's bill.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Richard Shelby (R-AL) said he opposes the so-called Volcker rule and the Obama administration’s call to levy a USD 90bn tax on banks. His comments come as House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) predicted the proposals outlined by President Obama could be law within six months.
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However, Shelby said he expects to hold a meeting with Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) regarding the way forward on regulatory reform in two weeks time. A Democratic banking committee staffer confirmed that the meeting between Dodd and Shelby will be critical as Dodd needs to determine the level of bipartisan agreement and the timing of bringing the bill through committee and on the Senate floor.
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"Chris is retiring so he wants to end his career with an important regulatory reform bill and he wants to make the bill bipartisan," the staffer said. "He is not going to risk bipartisan support to make the White House happy."
There's more, but you can read the article for yourself.
Republican input, eh?
Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, who one month ago proposed an overhaul of financial regulations that was hailed by many consumer activists, has all but jettisoned that proposal following Republican objections and has initiated talks for a new approach designed to satisfy some of his fiercest GOP critics.
Dodd’s strategy has raised concerns among consumer activists who were counting on him to come up with a tougher bill than the one recently passed by the House, and now worry that the entire measure will be weakened.
Please, not another round of legislation weakened before it ever gets started!