Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is touting his “regulatory reform” bill, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, as a bi-partisan effort with Republican’s and Committee Ranking Members.
Senator Dodd claimed on March 11: “I have been fortunate to have a strong partner in Senator Corker, and my new proposal will reflect his input and the good work done by many of our colleagues as well.”
However the truth paints a different picture:
“The bill he has introduced has a number of policies I cannot support”
– Sen. Corker, March 15, 2010
“Republicans want to reach a bipartisan agreement with Chairman Dodd on substantive financial reform that protects taxpayers…Forcing the Banking Committee to vote on this proposal in a single week is unrealistic and undercuts the potential for bipartisan agreement. Strong reform should not fear scrutiny.”
– Sen. Shelby, March 15, 2010“I’m disappointed that Sen. Dodd has decided to abandon any sort of bipartisan approach…We don’t need what this bill is proposing: a permanent bailout program run by the FDIC.”
– Sen. Vitter, March 15, 2010“It’s obviously not acceptable to me. There are problems with it…I knew it was going to take a veer to the left; it’s taken a veer to the left.”
– Sen. Corker, March 16, 2010“I never actually saw what they reached agreement on…I had serious reservations on some issues.”
– Sen. Gregg, March 16, 2010“It is pretty unbelievable that after two years of hearings on arguably the biggest issue facing our panel in decades, the committee has passed a 1,300-page bill in a 21-minute, partisan markup. I don’t know how you can call that anything but dysfunctional.”
– Sen. Corker, March 23, 2010