Dems Drop $19B Bank Fee from Finance Reform Bill

[sabra]

Source: CBS News/AP

GOP Threat Forces House, Senate Negotiators to Abandon Measure Meant to Pay for Legislation

(CBS/AP) Top Democratic negotiators from the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate who worked out a deal on a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations regrouped Tuesday to eliminate a $19 billion fee on banks that had threatened to derail the legislation.

Eager to salvage one of President Obama's legislative priorities, lawmakers replaced the bank fee with budget adjustments involving the $700 billion bank bailout and increased premiums on bank deposit insurance.

The bill's fate was thrown into doubt this week after the death of Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd and after Republican Sen. Scott Brown vowed to abandon his support for the bill if it should retain the assessment on large banks and hedge funds. The money would be used to pay for the costs of the legislation.

"Taxpayers will never again be on the hook for paying for the costs of any future bank failures," a Democratic aide vowed to CBS News.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/30/politics/main...

[WI_DEM]

1. And it was weakened because Sen. Feingold decided he would support a GOP filibuster

because the bill wasn't 100% to his liking, well, now it's even weaker.

[global1]

3. Thank You Senator Feingold - And I Used To Respect You.....nt

[totodeinhere]

7. Senator Feingold is against the bill because it doesn't go far enough, not the other way around.

He is a man of integrity who cannot be bought off. I still respect him.

[David__77]

6. When do you decide evil is just evil?

Sometimes it's better to let a house of cards fall than to jury rig it. I don't know enough to say definitely, and have no opinion - I'm just postulating.

[pocoloco]

11. WTF?

It's OK for the repugs to stand for their principles,

and you want Dems to wimp out on theirs??

Well, you are in luck because most of them do!

[inna]

14. +1 and thank you!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. How dare the government expect the banks to pay the fees for the disaster they implemented!

This is America, dammit! Not some commie country.

[mbperrin]

8. Especially when the fees are 2% of what they already got!

Dammit! How do they expect companies to maintain their current overall 37% profit margins (the largest in the history of the country!) if we want 2 cents back on every dollar we gave them??!!

Think, man, think!

[xchrom]

4. Recommend

[Pab Sungenis]

5. Amend the bill to add reconciliation language

then put the fee back through a reconciliation vote afterward.

[Zorra]

9. Massachussetts really f'd up when they elected Corporate Brown. nt

[sulphurdunn]

10. The real beauty

of the undemocratic 60 vote senate filibuster threat is that it leaves real power in the hands of the Republicans and gives DINOs cover to negotiate away progressive legislation they would otherwise be compelled to vote against.

[OswegoAtheist]

12. Way to cave!

I'm sure Brown was laughing in his sleeve at the thought that Dems really believed he'd vote for this bill with just a bit of tweaking. We've paid 19B to the banks for absolutely no more votes.

Oswego "Kill the filibuster" Atheist

[Bragi]

13. I know, remove the moratorium on deepwater drilling

Then the oil companies can resume drilling right away, and the repubs will support financial reform, at least until it comes to a vote.

That's the ticket!

[inna]

15. what an obscenity. shameful. beyond disgusting.