Reid Shows Canny Side on Finance Bill

Harry Reid showed that he'd learned a thing or two from health care reform yesterday when he called the Republicans' bluff on financial reform, writes Chris Weigant. The Senate majority leader "is showing real strength, and real leadership" by refusing to water the bill down to please Republicans and by refusing to cave into Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson's demands, Weigant writes at the Huffington Post.

The Democrats are going to keep voting to begin debating the bill—possibly as soon as today—until they can flip one or two Republicans, Carrie Budoff Brown notes at Politico. Maine's Olympia Snowe, one of the likeliest targets, says she doesn't like Reid's tactics, but the Democrats believe they have an "ace in the hole:" Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein will face a grilling in a Senate hearing today that is certain to highlight the practices the bill aims to reform.
(More financial reform stories.)