Washington Independent: A Guide to the Tangled Financial Reform Bill

[flpoljunkie]

A Guide to the Tangled Financial Reform Bill
From Auditing the Fed to Fixing Rating Agencies, Proposals That Remain Controversial

By ANNIE LOWREY 4/27/10 6:00 AM

Yesterday evening, Senate Democrats began the procedural endgame to their push to reform the regulation of the financial sector. In a 57-41 final vote, with Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) joining Republicans in opposition (and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) switching his final vote for procedural reasons), the Senate failed to agree to start formal debate of the American Financial Stability Act, crafted by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Democrats need party unity and a Republican crossover to move the bill forward, and the G.O.P. has signaled it wants to sign on to the popular legislation — particularly in light of the public outrage at Wall Street giants such as Goldman Sachs. But working long hours over the weekend and on Monday, the Republican and Democratic sides failed to reach a compromise.

Unusual for legislation under such long consideration, substantive portions of the bill remain the subject of intense debate. Republicans object to central provisions in Dodd’s financial reform bill — and in some cases are advocating for far more stringent measures. Even many Democrats are advocating for adopting stricter rules to prevent banks from becoming too big to fail, too interconnected, or too risky in the future.

When Democrats manage to get a crossover to begin formal debate, a number of central tenets of the bill might change via amendment. In the meantime, significant rewriting might take place before the bill moves forward. Here is a guide to the most important issues at hand, and the key players advocating for changes.

Guide: http://washingtonindependent.com/83193/a-guide-to-the-tangled-financial-reform-bill

[Raine1967]

1. This is really good stuff.

thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Bookmarking and saving for later use.