Chris Dodd

More Bad News on Financial Reform

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Even more bad news on Financial Reform. The main players in the negotiations between the House and Senate versions are Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Timothy Geithner.

The Wall Street Journal:

As a result, people who know them say, they are likely to show willingness to negotiate on parts of the bill they don't view as core, while being intractable on pieces they view as elemental.

That could mean easing provisions with strict limits on derivatives trading, proposed restrictions on fees banks charge retailers and even agreeing to allow auto dealers to be exempt from new lending rules.

Nice huh? Negotiations are supposed to be between the two houses of Congress only. The entire list of conferees is front loaded with corporate representatives. Not a single Congressional representative who was pushing for real reforms, such as the Volcker rule, Glass-Steagall, stronger derivatives reform was chosen as a conferee.

Senate to Debate Financial Reform Bill

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The GOP has removed their block against moving forward with Financial Reform.

The bill was reported to the floor Wednesday night and debate is set to begin on Thursday.

The real question is what compromised, watered down, ineffectual, lobbyist driven compromise was made? (as if the Dodd Bill itself wasn't swiss cheese).

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) released a statement Wednesday afternoon touting “a key agreement” to resolve disagreements over a $50 billion fund to liquidate troubled banks.

As a result, there will not be any more votes on the Senate floor Wednesday and Democrats will not keep the chamber in session overnight.

Simon Johnson points to amendment to break up the "Too Big to Fail" Financial Institutions

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Simon Johnson is pointing to the Kanjorski amendment as a way to break up the 6 large banks who pose systemic risks, right now.

This is to patch up the Dodd bill and gives an in to go ahead and break up the 6 big banks now.

The approach in the Dodd bill simply will not work.

There is still a feasible alternative, based on a different approach – that proposed by Representative Paul Kanjorski (chairman of the Capital Market Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee) and adopted as an amendment in the House bill.

Dodd Planning Vote on Financial Reform TODAY, Massive "Managers Amendment"

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Reform Ramrod! If you can believe this, they are planning on voting on Dodd's bill at 5pm EST. Attached is Dodd's manager's amendment. So, this is being introduced, no time to read it and they are going to vote this bill out of committee, now.

This is bad, we know the bill already has gapping holes on derivatives, which are labeled the swiss cheese derivative reform. Yet there is no time to read this latest amendment, and clearly the bill is just being ramrodded out of committee with no debate.

While of course Republicans are out to make it much worse, even Tim Geithner (of all people), thinks this bill is ineffective and is demanding real financial reform instead of a watered down bill:

Dodd to release Senate Financial Reform Bill Monday, a few details now

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Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have been finding out details before the Senate Financial Reform bill is released.

Some key points these reporters mention:

  • CFPA - the much fought for Consumer Financial Protection Agency, has been put under the Federal Reserve. Bear in mind advocates have been fighting for an independent agency as well as the Federal Reserve has always had consumer protection power. Banksters - score 1, Americans - 0.
  • Federal Reserve to oversee banks with $50 billion or more, and a vaguely defined "systemically risky institutions", in other words the same players who brought you the bail out are still running the show.

What a surprise, Chris Dodd, Judd Gregg block "Audit the Fed" in the Senate

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Can anyone else hardly wait until Chris Dodd is out of the Senate? Here we go again. The effort to Audit the Federal Reserve, which received a House Majority and survived the House Financial reform bill, of course is being blocked in the Senate.

A House-passed provision to open up the Federal Reserve to an audit by the Government Accountability Office is unlikely to be included in the Senate reform package, Barney Frank told a meeting of House Financial Services Committee members Wednesday, according to people in the room.

Senator Chris Dodd Calls for GM CEO's Firing

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Off with His Head! That's what Senator Chris Dodd is now saying.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Richard Wagoner should be replaced as a condition of federal aid and Chrysler LLC may have to merge to survive.

“You’ve got to consider new leadership,” Dodd said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Wagoner, he said, “has to move on.”

Asked if a change in leadership should be a condition of a bailout, Dodd who is helping to write the legislation, said, “I think it is going to have to be part of it.”

“Chrysler, is, I think, basically gone, probably ought to be merged,” Dodd said. Ford Motor Co. is the healthiest domestic automaker, he said.

Below is the Face the Nation video clip with Dodd.