Obama's next big thing: Financial reform

At least on a tertiary level, this approach appears to be working, as two important Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Bob Corker of Tennessee, agreed with Democratic predictions that a reform bill will be passed this year. Lawmakers have apparently decided the best approach is to amend a bill after its passage as more than 400 amendments by various senators have been submitted for consideration.

Some 200 of the amendments are from Republican Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and Bob Corker of Tennessee. According to a Wall Street Journal report “Shelby has an amendment that would force the Securities and Exchange Commission to merge with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He has other amendments that would require any new consumer-protection regulations to be more closely balanced with the potential impact on a bank’s safety and soundness.”

Ultimately, the public could play a larger role in the finance battle than with health care. Whereas the public was bitterly divided on health care, anger directed at large financial institutions cuts across party lines. The Reuters article states that “a Pew Research poll in February showed that while Republicans are less supportive than Democrats of tougher financial regulations, 67 percent of Republicans held an unfavorable view of major banks. That was almost as high as the 72 percent of Democrats who felt that way.”