Froomkin On Bank Reform Bill, Dodd & Breaking Up The Banks

[Me.]

“As Robert Kuttner writes today, Senate Democratic leaders Harry Reid and Dick Durbin are pushing for some dramatic up or down votes next week that would force Republicans (and some Democrats) to either vote aye -- or publicly cast their lot with Wall Street.

Barring a last-minute weak-enough-for-the-GOP compromise between Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd and Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, senators will be presented with dramatic yes-or-no choices on financial reform. Proceed or don't proceed? Regulate derivatives or not? And so on.

Finally, it won't matter what they say. After all, these guys say anything they want.

What'll matter is how they vote.

But what remains unclear is whether there will be an up-or-down vote on one of the most important -- and certainly one of the most politically compelling -- issues of them all: Ending "Too Big to Fail" once and for all, by breaking up the megabanks.

The current version of the Democratic Senate bill proposes to end TBTF not by setting size limits, but by giving the government greater powers to seize and reorganize even the largest companies, rather than having to choose between bailing them out or letting them crash spectacularly.”…cont…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/23/wall-street-reform-senate_n_549576.html

[grasswire]

1. thanks

froomkin is on the money