Getting Better And Better
by digby
The Democrats must be doing something right:
“I’m very concerned about the direction of the bill … We should probably finish this bill at some point because it’s getting worse every day” Judd Gregg
I spoke with someone on the hill a couple of weeks ago and was told that they planned to improve the bill on the floor. I was extremely skeptical that they’d be able to get past a filibuster and the idea that the leadership even wanted to improve the bill, much less allow it to happen on the floor. But they have done it. The bill is already substantially improved, and as Gregg says, it just gets better and better.
There are still some things to be done, notably the Lincoln derivatives amendment (which won’t be dealt with untilo they see how the primary goes tomorrow) and the Merkely-Levin amendment to reinstate the Volcker rule:
It has to do with the Volcker rule, named after the former Federal Reserve Chairman, which would ban banks from engaging in proprietary trading (trading for their own benefit) with federally insured dollars. Right now, Dodd’s bill gives regulators some discretion in implementing the rule, but Levin-Merkley would tighten the language, allowing proprietary trading “only in limited circumstances and if [the banks] set aside additional capital to cover potential losses.” Dodd has given the Levin-Merkley amendment his support. Removing regulatory discretion when it comes to the Volcker rule is a good move. As Volcker himself said, “it’s very unlikely that the regulators and supervisors would evoke a strict prohibition until a crisis came and then it’s too late.” “Look, I’ve been a regulator for 20 years. So I know how they are,” he added. New data released this week shows just how much of a roaring comeback proprietary trading has made. Three banks — Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America — made money on trading every single day of the first quarter this year. Goldman made at least $25 million each day, and pulled in more than $100 million on 35 separate days. “It’s statistically improbable to have three firms batting 1,000 and also pitching a perfect game. You wonder why the rest of America has some suspicion about proprietary trading,” said Matthew McCormick, a banking analyst. At the same time, the latest report from the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) shows that big bank lending to small businesses fell by more than 9 percent from 2008 to 2009, even though overall bank lending only fell by 4 percent. The panel’s chair, Elizabeth Warren, called the data “infuriating.” Banks that benefit from a federal backstop should be engaged in core banking practices — taking deposits and lending — while those that want to trade for their own benefit should shed their federal protection. But right now we’re stuck with the worst of both worlds, where lending dries up but the government is backing the banks while they trade for no benefit but their own. Levin-Merkley would rightly force the banks to go one way or the other.
This one has the banks very, very upset and they are pulling out all the stops. It’s going to have to overcome a filibuster and there’s no guarantee that’s going to happen. Here’s where we are right now according to sources on the Hill. They expect to vote tomorrow:
Democratic No
Hagan
Warner
With two Democratic defections, we need 3 Republicans to reach
the 60 vote threshold.
One Republican defection has already been secured:
Republican Yes
Lugar
We need two out of the following:
Republican Undecided
Collins
Snowe
Voinovich
Grassley
McCain
Here’s another problem:
Democratic Leaning No
Klobuchar
Ben Nelson
Democratic Undecided
Lieberman
Gillibrand
Schumer
Carper
Byrd
Leaning yes
Brown
Byah
If any of those people are your senators, today might be a good day to give them a call.
Update: ferchristsake
Really? Is Blanche losing the Little Rock investment banking vote or something?
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