Scott brown already had made a backroom deal in exchange for his vote. He got a weakening of the Volker Rule. At the eleventh hour he wanted more. He got it. Now he’s “thinking it over”.
The Senate will not be able to complete legislation to overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory system this week, the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said on Wednesday, after Senator Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts, announced that he would use the Fourth of July recess to study the bill.
The House is expected to approve the final version of the bill later on Wednesday [and they did], but Mr. Reid conceded that he would not be able to schedule a vote in the Senate this week without the unanimous consent of Republicans, many of whom oppose the bill.
Mr. Brown, who had supported the Senate version of the legislation, threatened on Tuesday to block the final measure because it contained a tax on big banks and hedge funds to pay for the heightened regulation of the financial industry.
Democrats need the votes of at least two Republicans to advance the legislation, and they quickly agreed to remove the bank tax and adopted a new plan to come up with the roughly $20 billion over five years that the tax would have generated.
But with Senate Republican leaders eager to deny Democrats and President Obama another accomplishment heading into the weeklong recess, Mr. Brown’s reticence essentially provided a minor victory to the G.O.P.
Senate Republicans have been working to slow the legislative schedule as much as possible, and Mr. Reid will now likely have to use up the better part of a week to complete the financial regulatory bill – a measure that was widely predicted to pass. Congress returns on July 12. In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. Brown thanked House and Senate negotiators for removing the tax, but he would not commit to supporting the bill… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
The new plan to come up with the $20 billion gets the funding from two sources. About $12 billion will come from unspent stimulus funds. The rest will come from an increase of the fee for FDIC coverage. Now those unspent stimulus funds did not appear out of thin air. Those are taxpayer dollars, and worse yet, that money is now unavailable to spend on the creation of desperately needed jobs. The FDIC fee increase will effect mainly smaller banks, who will pass the fees on to consumers in increases service fees. What Scott Brown (color of shit) has done is shift the cost of financial reform from the Banksters, whose reckless greed almost destroyed our economy, to taxpayers and consumers who have already been hit with lost jobs, foreclosures, stagnant wages, etc. This deal lets the guilty off the hook and fines the victims of their crimes. I’m so angry I could scream.
Chris Hayes and Sherrod Brown (color of goodness) provide some perspective.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I think we need to approach it this way.
I think the Democrats should take the latest deal off the table. Obama should impress the WV governor with the need to fill the Byrd vacancy quickly and impress Russ Feingold that his help is needed to make the banks pay for it.
Congressional Democrats need to refer to the the GOP Seal shown above, whenever they expect a Republican to keep his word.
8 Responses to “Have GOP Sabotaged Finance Reform?”
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So, instead of screaming from the top of the Dome about how the Rethuglicans are screwing the American People… AGAIN, the Jellyfish Jackasses are rolling over. Shocked. No, stunned. You could knock me over with a feather. I am going to fall over and die from sheer astonishment. I love my election choices: Death by electric chair, but the contact is a little iffy, so it might take a while, or death by lethal injection, which is humane and painless, but, as a concession, it has to be done in an electric chair with an iffy contact. Can I elect to be annexed by Canada?
I hear your frustration, Otis.
Scott Brown isn’t going to vote for the bill. Period. I don’t care what you give him. And what’s with sticking the taxpayers (AGAIN) with the fucking bill? These people don’t pay near enough taxes – I bet if their rate was 70% they wouldn’t be sticking us in the ass so often.
Otis, I want to be annexed by Canada too. Maybe we’ll both go. 🙂
I agree with you TC – take the bill off the table and no more give aways. They are not going to vote for it.
Lisa I agree, but keep your voice down. We don’t want Canada building a fence and enacting a “papers please” law to keep the damn illegal yanks out.
Actually my wife and I are talking of moving to Canada…
I’m trying to pick my words carefully here…. Obama is a good Man, I know what he inherited. Democrats in General are spineless Jelly fish who would back down in almost any situation. That was displayed so explicitly with the Health care Debacle. I keep hoping for a Miracle, Dems have to grow a set.
Tim, that House has gotten the job done. The Senate has been the problem. The tactics the GOP are employing are unprecedented, but the Dems are still tryinbg to play by the old rules.
With Boehner saying such stupid crap, I’m all in favor of calling the GOP openly what it is, a horn for BB and going it alone. No more compromise with these turds who have no interest in the public welfare and simply don’t wanna play if they can’t be in control.
Sherry, thank you for a perfect comment.