Financial Reform Watch

The Senate Democratic leadership asked for the same vote – and they got the same result. Once again, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) joined a unified GOP this afternoon in opposing a motion to begin debating the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (S.3217).

 Despite the repeat vote of 57-41, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) strategy of continually putting the GOP on record -- ostensibly as opponents of financial reform legislation -- conveniently coincides with the investigation of a major Wall Street player. This morning, executives at Goldman Sachs received an earful from lawmakers on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations who are currently probing Goldman’s trading practices related to toxic mortgage securities.

 Directly following the vote, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) met at 5 p.m. to continue their negotiations on the divisive areas of the overhaul legislation that continue to stall progress, including new language regulating the derivatives market that has been agreed to by Chairman Dodd and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), along with a $50 billion “Orderly Liquidation Fund” that Democrats say is intended to eliminate the concept of “too big to fail.”

If today feels like Déjà Vu, maybe tomorrow will feel like Groundhog Day, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has already filed a cloture motion that could set up a third vote on Wednesday. Unless a deal is struck by Dodd and Shelby in the next 24 hours, we expect more of the same.