I never thought I'd post a diary on this, but here it is, for any who still DON'T think that "
the banks run the place." (I guess I was just in denial when it came to Chris Dodd.)
Connecticut has produced some "great" American political leaders: Benedict Arnold, Joe Lieberman...and Chris Dodd...to name just a few. They have so much in common. Summing it up in a word: betrayal.
Chris Dodd to GOP: I surrender
The Senate Banking Committee chairman misplaces spine, declares he wants "bipartisan support" for regulatory reform
By Andrew Leonard
Salon.com
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 12:48 EST
Paul Volcker is scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday afternoon to explain his proposal to limit risk-taking by commercial banks -- the so-called Volcker Rule that would ban banks from engaging in proprietary trading with federally insured depositor money.
But if the Financial Times is to be trusted, the Volcker Rule is already dead on arrival, because Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican senator on the Banking Committee, doesn't like it, the Democrats no longer have 60 votes, and Chris Dodd, the chairman of the committee, wants to play nice.
--SNIP--
From the FT:
A Dodd staffer said the senator is likely to quietly drop or modify many of the recommendations in the Volcker rule to ensure Republican support for regulatory reform.
"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."
Leonard continues on to totally eviscerate Dodd, citing Alex Koppelman's observation that Dodd's doing a total "cave-in." More than likely this means regulatory reform will almost certainly be little more than a whitewash. This means: no putting a saddle on the derivatives industry (which was dead on arrival before it even left the House); throwing the Consumer Financial Protection Agency under the bus; no increased taxes on big banks, etc., etc.
The article then points to a statement from Kirstin Brost, the Communications Director for the Senate Banking Committee, where she tells us that Dodd "...strongly supports the Volcker Rule." Apparently, Ms. Brost didn't read the Financial Times story, blockquoted above; and she wasn't present at the end of today's Banking Committee hearings...because for all intents and purposes, Mr. Volcker's proposals certainly do appear to be DOA.
From Barry Ritholtz, over at his Big Picture blog: "Dodd Interviews for Future Banking Job."
Dodd Interviews for Future Banking Job
By Barry Ritholtz - February 2nd, 2010, 9:44PM
President Obama's milquetoast, watered-down, belated plan to regulate the banking industry was inexplicably labeled "too grande" by Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd.
--SNIP--
"It's not a movable feast," the chairman, Christopher J. Dodd, told Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, who has become an influential outside adviser to President Obama. "It's adding to the problems of trying to get a bill done," he said at the end of a hearing on the proposals, after all the other committee members had already left.
Mr. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, added that the administration was "getting precariously close" to excessive ambition for the legislation. "I don't want to be in a position where we end up doing nothing because we tried to do too much," he said.
Benedict Arnold would be proud.
Say it ain't so, Chris!