After a busy first quarter of the year, the Congress is out for the next two weeks on an Easter Break. What's next for lawmakers is a legislative focus that may likely shift - especially in the Senate - to a major financial reform plan for Wall Street.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) said last Friday that he is ready to get a Wall Street Reform bill on the Senate floor in April. The goal is simple - to prevent another Wall Street Collapse, like the one in 2008, which plunged the nation into an economic decline that we are still digging out of.
"We can hardly allow this Congress to leave the door wide open again to the kind of abuses that brought our Nation to the brink of financial collapse," said Dodd, quoting Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
"I do not mind if some firm wants to go to the casino and gamble with their money. I understand that. But the idea that they would do that with the taxpayers' money or with the well-being of our economy has to stop. Our legislation is designed to do that," Dodd added.
The bill is highly technical and complicated, at over 1300 pages, with new regulations on derivatives, credit default swaps and more. There would be new oversight for banks and a shift in regulation away from the Federal Reserve in that industry.
There is also great controversy over a new office that would better help average Americans deal with financial instruments, a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and whether that should be a stand alone new agency or not.
The plans would also set up an orderly process to deal with the collapse of large financial institutions, just as the feds have what's known as "resolution authority" with banks and savings and loans, so that seemingly endless taxpayer bailouts aren't the answer instead.
The White House made clear yesterday that it would like to see final action in the Senate on Wall Street Reform soon, like by Memorial Day.
"I don't think that's an unrealistic timetable at all," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at his Tuesday briefing.
"I think without a doubt, the President would like to see, with his signature, strong rules in place, certainly prior to the two-year anniversary of the collapse in our economy," Gibbs added.
The two year mark would be after Labor Day, as it was back in September of 2008 when the wheels started to come off for some large Wall Street financial firms.
A financial reform bill is already through the House, and could be up in April before the Senate.
But like health care reform, this is not a bill that will sail through easily, as Wall Street firms have an array of lobbying assets that can be deployed, which could certainly water down any legislative crackdown.
But talking just as tough was Gibbs.
"The President is clear that we are not going to compromise on what we believe represents a very strong piece of legislation."
Congress returns to work the week of April 12th. The next break for lawmakers is the week of Memorial Day. We'll see if the Senate gets a financial reform bill done by then or not.
And in the meantime, we will spend more time digging into this bill to try to understand its reach a little better.
After a busy first quarter of the year, the Congress is out for the next two weeks on an Easter Break. What's next for lawmakers is a legislative focus that may likely shift - especially in the Senate - to a major financial reform plan for Wall Street. Sen. Chris ...
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