Democrats May Cut $19 Billion Bank Fee From Bill

[ProSense]

Democrats May Cut $19 Billion Bank Fee From Bill

Lawmakers said they plan to reconvene the House-Senate financial-overhaul conference at 5 p.m. today to eliminate a $19 billion bank fee in the bill that drew objections from Republicans.

U.S. Representative Barney Frank inserted the fee into the bill near the end of last week’s marathon 20-hour negotiating session, which ended when the conference committee approved the legislation and sent it to the House and Senate for final votes. The fee would assess large banks and hedge funds to cover the cost of the bill, which rewrites the regulation of Wall Street.

The plan under consideration would instead cover the shortfall in the bill by closing the Troubled Asset Relief Program and increasing the size of the fund that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. maintains to repay customers their deposits when a bank fails, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said.

<...>

Without Brown’s support, Senate Democrats would need to secure votes from either Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat who has opposed the bill, or Byrd’s replacement. They also would have to retain support from Republican Senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Charles Grassley, who backed a previous version of the bill.

link

Looks like Feingold's decision to vote no worked.

[marmar]

1. I'm so f**king sick of this spinelessness......

The Repugs say "Boo!" and the Dems run and hide under their desks. :argh:

[ProSense]

2. They need 60 votes. Feingold is helping the filibuster. n/t

[Pirate Smile]

5. I don't get the problem with understanding the damn 60 vote requirement we have to pass on

every bill right now. I guess it is simply preferring glorious defeat to actually getting what we can passed.

[JamesA1102]

18. Agreed. He's making the perfect the enemy of the good.

I always liked Feingold but his is a case of him putting his own principles ahead of actually getting something done.

[Orsino]

21. Disagree. This is a bargaining position.

I admire Feingold's principled stances, but this isn't the last word on this bill.

I'll judge him on whether or not what he does ultimately makes it better.

[BlueIdaho]

22. Timelines.

By dragging this process out - any passage will happen after The July 4 recess. That means any attempt to pass meaningful environmental legislation also gets pushed back, making it less likely to happen.

What's the rush you ask? Shouldn't we hold out for more?

All Democrats will do better in 2010 election cycle if they can show a record of significant legislation on all fronts. Is this bill perfect? Nope. Is it better than the status quo? Yup. Will we have a snowball's chance in hell of pushing a more progressive agenda forward if republicans make significant advances in the 2010 elections? Oh hell no.

It's about timelines.

[JamesA1102]

23. Well he helped make it worse.

They pulled out the $19 Billion tax on the banks to get Scott Brown back. So thanks for nothing Senator Feingold.

[Orsino]

24. Is that really Feingold's fault?

I'd feel funny blaming him for something he clearly did not support. It's not really his fault that, given the chance to improve the bill (a chance he helped give them, admittedly), some of his colleagues made it worse.

[JamesA1102]

26. Yes it is.

He didn't have to vote for the final bill but he should have voted to end the filibuster. In the end all he accomplished was to make the bill weaker, not stronger.

[arcadian]

4. you mean they are willingly complicit.

[Autumn]

3. Yeah, not a big surprise

there.

[WI_DEM]

6. It wasn't a perfect bill, but it was much better than it will be now due to some dems not voting for

closure.

[pscot]

7. Pull the bill

Let the ones who killed it go home and run for reelection on killing finance reform. "Vote for me. I'm the guy who let the bankers off the hook."

[Mass]

8. Sad to see they decided to oblige Brown. Note that Feingold's decision has nothing to do with that.

Even with his vote and Cantwell's, they would not have had the votes, particularly given Byrd's passing.

But, if you still wonder why Brown's ratings are so high, thanks our friends that make him seem more important than he is.

Better solution: ran an ad in MA and ME targetting Brown, Snowe, and Collins for what they are: big banks friends.

[ProSense]

10. With his vote and Cantwell's

they would only need Collins and Grassley, who voted for the bill.

[Mass]

12. And have already said they did not support the bill anymore than Brown did.

and for exactly the same reason Brown is.

[Inuca]

9. Conference to reconvene

Dodd and Frank officially announce that the #finreg conference will reconvene at 5pm today http://twitter.com/JNSMALL

[ProSense]

11. Maybe

Feingold and Cantwell will decide to vote yes and push Brown out of the picture.

I can dream.

[Pirate Smile]

13. They are going to drop the bank tax and get the $19 mil from TARP instead per CNBC.

TARP = $ the banks paid back so $$ will still be coming from the banks anyway.

[Mass]

14. And Brown will be able to say he saved us from new taxes. Idiots!

[ProSense]

15. The tax was on banks.

Easy enough to smack down Brown's spin: he actually cost taxpayers money.

Still, it didn't have to come to this.

[Mass]

16. And that will make a difference if the Dems dont go after him? If, like for the first bill,

they spend hours telling us what a great guy he is.

I know it is more important to bash Feingold in your little world, but sorry, with or without him, they did not have the 50 votes. Grassley voted for the filibuster and Collins announced she was not supporting the bill.

[ProSense]

17. "they did not have the 50 votes" They needed 60

and Collin and Grassley might have been easier to appeal to because she has an amendment in the bill that progressives love and Grassley supports Lincolns derivative bill, which he voted for in its strong form out of committee.

[Mass]

19. I meant 60 obviously. For the rest, I leave you in your own little world.

[ProSense]

20. You know, I'm not sure what you're debating

They needed either two or four votes. With Feingold and Cantwell, it would have been two. They were going to have to compromise anyway, but it may not have had to be with Brown.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.