The last time Dodd and Schumer unveiled the regulatory reform bill.
Two exciting pieces of regulatory reform news today. One is that Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd is set to release a new version of legislation designed to overhaul financial regulations on Monday. The second is, though it will reflect his negotiations with Sen. Bob Corker, it may not be bipartisan:
Over the last few months, Banking Committee members have worked together to try and produce a consensus package. Together we have made significant progress and resolved a many of the items, but a few outstanding issues remain.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, smelling some leverage, jumped on the event, issuing a tough statement on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency that begins with a reference to "GOP POSSIBLY ABANDONING BIPARTISAN TALKS ON REG REFORM":
"The new consumer protection agency shouldn’t be designed to exempt payday lenders, it should be designed to put them out of business,” Schumer said. “It is unfathomable that we would leave some of the most disreputable actors in today’s marketplace free to continue ripping off innocent Americans. This is too big a sacrifice to make."
And proving that he's a man after my own heart, Schumer also says that letting Republicans weaken the bill in negotiations and then not vote for it isn't very smart:
This would be a bad policy even if it were bipartisan. But there’s even less reason to accept a watered-down watchdog agency if those who insisted on it are prepared to walk away from the negotiations.The quality of the bill remains up in the air -- there's been a lot of different compromises on the table and it's unclear which will make it to the final version. But any progress toward the floor, and hope of improvement, is a better sign than unending negotiations in committee.
-- Tim Fernholz
