Despite what happened last night, the president is now pushing Dodd the right way. David Axelrod said earlier today that the president wants action in the ways of reform and creating jobs despite what happened last night. I think the president will re-ignite his efforts to reform the system when his State of the Union address happens in a week from today.
I will keep this diary short as I am busy.
From Talking Points Memo:
President Obama met with retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) yesterday and, according to the New York Times, pushed Dodd on the creation of a consumer protection agency.
Dodd, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, has reportedly been discussing dropping the agency in order to get Republican support on other financial regulatory reforms. Dodd recently announced that he will retire after this term.
But aides told the Times that for Obama, the agency is "non-negotiable."
This fits in with a more aggressive strategy that many Democrats want to see from the White House. Senior adviser David Axelrod suggested this morning that the administration plans to move in that direction.
"We need to move forward aggressively, continuing on job creation, and on financial regulatory reform," he said. He also urged Congress to pass a health care bill despite last night's election results in Massachusetts.
My father called earlier today and said that most people don't care about what happened in Massachusetts last night and we should just focus on living our lives. As for me, I'm taking a break from politics until the State of the Union. It think it would be healthy and would help me regroup and focus on the new semester better.