Financial reform bill debate begins in U.S. House

[SpartanDem]

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives began preliminary debate on sweeping legislation to give the government new powers over large financial firms and tighten bank and market regulation late on Wednesday.

Debate got under way only after Democrats settled differences among themselves over last-minute amendments that had kept the bill in the House Rules Committee. The terms of the agreement were not immediately clear.

President Barack Obama and most congressional Democrats see the reforms as crucial to preventing a repeat of last year's global financial crisis and the multibillion-dollar taxpayer bailouts that followed.

Some moderate Democrats were pushing to be allowed to introduce amendments on the House floor that would water down the 1,279-page bill, hammered out over months of discussion and compromise at the committee level.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0915633420091210

They're still in session debating it now