Today, for the third day in a row, the U.S. Senate failed to reach cloture on Sen. Dodd’s “Wall Street Bailout” bill, S. 3217 the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010. The motion failed 56-42.
“For three days in a row, Democrat leadership in the Senate has tried to push the same failed bill with the same failed policies,” said ATR President Grover Norquist. “It is clearly not acceptable and they need to start over. This bill is flawed for many reasons. Most troubling is Title 12 which continues the same risky government backed loan behavior that contributed to the financial collapse in the first place. This section was slipped in during the final minutes of the Committee debate and has not received the attention it deserves. How long will Democrats monopolize the Senate’s time on a bill that is not acceptable? When you’re wrong you stop and start over. An open and transparent drafting process is the only logical step. It appears Democrat Senator Ben Nelson is perhaps the only sensible Democrat. By opposing this bill, he understands the need to go back to the drawing board. Hopefully his colleagues will soon join him.”
Sources in the Senate Banking Committee tell ATR that Senators Dodd and Reid will continue to push this same bill through next week as their backroom talks continue.