For the second time this week, the GOP stood together on Tuesday to block cloture on the Senate Financial Reform bill. Their party unity may, however, be working according to plan for the Democrats, who are feeling strong public support for the measure, according to CNN. In fact, the Republicans are in the awkward position of standing pat with the banking industry, fighting reforms that include additional oversight for the bank's investment arms and the ability of the FDIC to step in and protect consumer interests in failing banks. (Here's a nice little wrap up of what reform is meant to do.)
The problem, for the GOP, is in the numbers -- according to a recent CNN poll, 65 percent of consumers want increased regulation of the financial industry, while 53 percent want banks to pay into a $50 billion fund that could be used to unravel banks. (That provision might not make it through this process, although it could be added back later by amendment.) The cloture vote would begin debate on the bill in the Senate, although in a practical sense it may be the final hurdle to passage that the GOP can toss up, since a bill could then pass the Senate with a majority vote. The GOP would be free, of course, to offer amendments and debate.
In what many are calling "hardball," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised to continue calling cloture votes and other procedural votes during the week in order to force Republicans to hang together as a caucus and to, potentially, catch them out of the chamber or otherwise in a procedural bind. Using tactics that he avoided during the health insurance reform debate, Reid seems very comfortable putting the GOP on the defense with vote after vote, forcing them to actively work against what may prove to be a popular bill.
Goldman-Sachs representatives may be making it a little easier for financial reformers as well, given their performance on Capitol Hill today, as reported by Marketplace on NPR. In one key exchange, "Fabulous" Fabrice Tourre kinda throws his company's clients under a bus:
FABRICE TOURRE: I believe we have a duty to serve our clients, and with respect to our role as market maker, to show prices to our clients and to offer them liquidity. I do not believe we were acting as investment advisers for our clients
Reminds me of something in the WayBack machine:
Gordon Gekko: It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another.
(Wall Street 2, in theaters soon!)
Meanwhile, over at the Libertarian Party, the locals are upset that the GOP is taking over their tea parties. Wes Benedict, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party:
"Many Libertarians around America are planning to go to Tea Party rallies tomorrow. I also expect lots of Republican activists and politicians to be there. But frankly, I don't think those Republicans belong there. The people participating in these rallies are saying 'There's too much government spending,' but Republicans, decade after decade, have supported massive increases in government spending. During the George W. Bush administration, Republicans in Congress supported spending trillions of dollars on foreign wars, a massive Medicare expansion, and banker bailouts. Republicans doubled the budget and doubled the federal debt. Why can't the Republican Party just admit that it loves big government?
Touche? Also, I like this:
"Libertarians are often frustrated when the press characterizes us as 'right-wing' or 'conservative.' Although we certainly support reducing government spending, which most conservatives also claim to support, we differ from right-wingers on many issues: for example, we oppose foreign interventionism, support immigrant-friendly policies, oppose overreaction to terrorism, and oppose the War on Drugs.
Fair enough -- and while I can't go whole-hog on the Libertarian bandwagon (wouldn't it be nice if third parties were viable in the U.S.) some of those points are the reason I've been known to call myself "Libertarian... Until It Gets Silly." ;-)
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