financial reform – News Stories About financial reform - Page 4

Apr 21, 2010 1:40 PM CDT

Democrats Shackled By Wall Street Ties

Buddying up to financial firms makes it harder to vilify them

(Newser) - Democrats are enjoying having Wall Street as a villain as they push for financial reform, but there's one nagging problem: they've gotten pretty close to Wall Street in recent years. Thanks to some maneuvering from Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel, many Democrats raised a lot of money from Wall Street...

McConnell Shifts, Says Deal on Financial Bill Near

Apr 20, 2010 6:42 PM CDT

McConnell Shifts, Says Deal on Financial Bill Near

He takes credit, and Chris Dodd laughs

(Newser) - The prospects of financial reform passing the Senate appear to be much better today, with Mitch McConnell making decidedly less confrontational noises, reports the Washington Post and Talking Points Memo . "We believe the process to achieve (a bipartisan bill) has now been reconstituted," said McConnell, who claimed that...

Goldman Case
Splits SEC Along
Party Lines

Apr 20, 2010 9:23 AM CDT

Goldman Case Splits SEC Along Party Lines

Decision came after months of secret negotiations failed

(Newser) - The decision to go after Goldman split the SEC along party lines and came only after months of secret talks broke down. Though the commission generally aims for unanimity, they voted, 3-2, to proceed with the civil suit despite opposition from two Republican members. The tiebreaker was an Independent commissioner...

Senators Swarmed
by Lobbyists Fighting
Finance Overhaul

Apr 20, 2010 8:54 AM CDT

Senators Swarmed by Lobbyists Fighting Finance Overhaul

Regulating derivatives could cost the banks billions

(Newser) - Proponents of greater financial regulation are facing fierce opposition from a swarm of lobbyists, lawyers, and bankers who have descended on the Senate committee whose chair, Blanche Lincoln, introduced the bill to overhaul the derivatives market. It's not the finance but the agriculture committee, the New York Times reports, and...

It's Time to Stop the Looters on Wall Street

Paul Krugman

Apr 19, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

It's Time to Stop the Looters on Wall Street

And financial reform is the only way to do that

(Newser) - The SEC's charges against Goldman Sachs reveal a whole new kind of fraud at work in the financial crisis, writes Paul Krugman of the New York Times . If Goldman had simply sold securities while betting they would fail, it would be “reprehensible” but not illegal. But selling securities deliberately...

Republicans Want to Abolish Financial Firemen

Paul Krugman

Apr 16, 2010 9:08 AM CDT

Republicans Want to Abolish Financial Firemen

McConnell is doing Wall Street's bidding

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell wants to abolish fire departments—they just bail out burning buildings. We won’t get out of this mess until the biggest buildings are allowed to burn! That’s essentially what McConnell’s latest assault on financial reform amounts to, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times ...

McConnell Lacks
Votes for Filibuster

financial reform

Apr 15, 2010 6:42 PM CDT

McConnell Lacks Votes for Filibuster

Susan Collins balks at signing his letter

(Newser) - Republican hopes of derailing the Democratic bill on financial reform appear to be in trouble. Mitch McConnell doesn't have the necessary votes for a filibuster, reports the Hill . At least one GOP senator, Susan Collins of Maine, has balked at signing a letter promising to bring proceedings to a halt....

Obama to GOP:
Go Ahead,
Make My Day

Apr 15, 2010 10:08 AM CDT

Obama to GOP: Go Ahead, Make My Day

He won't compromise on financial reform; dares them to vote nay

(Newser) - After a tense meeting on financial reform with GOP leaders yesterday, Barack Obama put on his Michael Corleone face and told them his final offer was this: nothing. The president made it clear that he wouldn’t accept any compromise that would weaken the legislation, and essentially dared Republicans to...

Sen. Warner: McConnell 'Doesn't Understand' Bill

Apr 14, 2010 4:10 PM CDT

Sen. Warner: McConnell 'Doesn't Understand' Bill

Or, 'he chooses not to understand' financial reform legislation

(Newser) - The arcane debate of financial reform is getting a little personal. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said Mitch McConnell "doesn't understand or chooses not to understand" the complexities of the reform legislation. He fired back after McConnell said the bill meant "endless taxpayer-funded bailouts for big Wall Street banks,...

Democrats Defy Wall Street, GOP on Bank Reform

Apr 14, 2010 11:25 AM CDT

Democrats Defy Wall Street, GOP on Bank Reform

Banks trying mightily to kill restrictions on derivatives

(Newser) - Democrats defied Wall Street lobbyists’ push to kill new reforms on derivative trading yesterday, and got an earful from Republicans for their troubles. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley have been leaning heavily on Blanche Lincoln’s Agriculture Committee to scrap a plan to force derivatives—which, incidentally, played a...

Forget About 'Too Big to Fail'

Paul Krugman

Apr 2, 2010 8:15 AM CDT

Forget About 'Too Big to Fail'

Size doesn't matter; the real problem is unregulated 'shadow banking'

(Newser) - Paul Krugman doesn't buy the "too big to fail" argument for a simple reason: "It’s perfectly possible to have a financial crisis that mainly takes the form of a run on smaller institutions." Big banks aren't the problem, he writes in the New York Times . We...

Dems Get Mojo Back: Here Comes Financial Reform

analysis

Mar 26, 2010 12:25 PM CDT

Dems Get Mojo Back: Here Comes Financial Reform

Suddenly, it looks like smooth sailing for Dodd's bill

(Newser) - Health care has given the White House and Democrats a serious dose of momentum, and it looks as though that will result in easy passage of a stronger-than-expected financial reform bill. Republicans are backing off, and Democrats are sticking together to fend off Wall Street lobbyists who assumed they could...

Republicans Say Financial Reform Will Pass

Mar 25, 2010 8:13 AM CDT

Republicans Say Financial Reform Will Pass

'This is so unlike the health care debate,' says Bob Corker

(Newser) - Two top Republican Senators say Barack Obama’s bid to overhaul the financial regulatory system is sure to get through the upper chamber. “This is so unlike the health care debate,” Bob Corker told Politico , saying Republicans had made a “major strategic error” by refusing to negotiate...

Boehner to Bankers: Beware Pro-Reform 'Punk Staffers'

Mar 18, 2010 10:55 AM CDT

Boehner to Bankers: Beware Pro-Reform 'Punk Staffers'

Still, House minority leader says bill will take a year to pass

(Newser) - John Boehner gave comfort to an “enthusiastic” gathering of bankers yesterday, telling them that even if the Senate passes financial reform legislation it will languish in the House for many moons. “It’s just as likely that we’ll be talking about the same issue a year from...

SNL Presidents
Return to Push
Financial Reform

VIRAL VIDEO

Mar 3, 2010 10:59 AM CST

SNL Presidents Return to Push Financial Reform

Will Farrell, Dana Carvey and more return

(Newser) - The SNL presidents—from Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush to Chevy Chase’s Gerald Ford—have teamed up to produce a sketch advocating financial regulatory reform. OK, Phil Hartman wasn’t brought back from the dead to do Reagan, but Jim Carrey provides a worthy fill-in. The video was...

Krugman on Finance Reform: Go Big, or
Go Home

OPINION

Mar 1, 2010 8:15 AM CST

Krugman on Finance Reform: Go Big, or Go Home

No reform better than current Senate bill

(Newser) - Paul Krugman comes out against passing a watered down financial regulatory reform bill today, saying the current Senate bill would provide only a “false sense of security and a fig leaf for politicians opposed to any serious action.” Republicans, driven by bank lobbyists and their strategy of opposing...

Obama Ready to Compromise on Finance Reform

Feb 25, 2010 8:25 AM CST

Obama Ready to Compromise on Finance Reform

Would sacrifice standalone consumer agency to pass bill

(Newser) - The Obama administration says it’s willing to scrap elements of its financial regulatory reform effort—particularly a standalone consumer protection agency—if it’ll help the bill sprint through Congress. Republicans have complained that a standalone agency would be a new bureaucracy, so team Obama says it’s open...

Banks' Lobbying Blitz a Betrayal of Public Trust

ELIZABETH WARREN

Feb 9, 2010 8:50 AM CST

Banks' Lobbying Blitz a Betrayal of Public Trust

After toppling economy, Wall St. now opposes consumer protections?

(Newser) - “Banking is based on trust,” Elizabeth Warren argues in the Wall Street Journal , yet lately banks have “thrown away customer trust like so much worthless trash.” After ripping off the public for years with deceptive mortgages and credit card tricks, they’re now lobbying furiously against...

Dodd, Shelby at 'Impasse' Over Financial Reform

Feb 5, 2010 12:28 PM CST

Dodd, Shelby at 'Impasse' Over Financial Reform

Prospect of bipartisan deal fades

(Newser) - Attempts to craft a bipartisan financial regulatory overhaul have broken down, Chris Dodd announced today, raising the possibility of another partisan brawl like the health care debate. “Last night, Senator Shelby assured me that he is still committed to finding a consensus,” the Senate Banking Committee chairman said...

Time to Pull Plug
on 'Too Big to Fail'

PAUL VOLCKER

Jan 31, 2010 12:53 PM CST

Time to Pull Plug on 'Too Big to Fail'

Former Fed chair wants mechanisms to let 'em fail

(Newser) - It's more than a year after Americans learned the definition of "too big to fail," and it's time to push through the reform that will save having to re-learn that painful lesson, writes Paul Volcker in the New York Times . "As things stand," writes the chair...