Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanprogressaction/452420108/">CAP Action Fund</a> (<a href="http://www.creativecommons.org">Creative Commons</a>).
Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who has apparently been possessed by the spirit of his colleague Max Baucus (of “gang of six” fame), is desperate to get bipartisan financial regulatory reform. Unfortunately, that probably means not actually reforming the financial sector. Here’s the Times:
Mr. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, added that the administration was “getting precariously close” to excessive ambition for the legislation. “I don’t want to be in a position where we end up doing nothing because we tried to do too much,” he said.
It’s hard to see how anything that the administration has proposed to rein in the financial sector amounts to “excessive ambition,” if by “excessive ambition” you mean something like “overregulation.” But if “excessive ambition” means “too hard on the banks to actually pass,” well, that’s just sad. Digby says “One hates to be cynical about this, but Dodd is leaving. And he’s going to need a job.” That could be right. But the other prospect, just as frightening, is that Dodd has accurately assessed the situation and realized that real financial reform can’t get through Congress because the banks own the place. (That is basically what Kevin thinks, after all.) Either way, the Volcker rule is looking increasingly like a good proposal that will remain just that—a proposal.
Kevin is traveling today and tomorrow.
