By Tim Shoemaker
Last night, while most of America was still trying to understand the repercussions of the newly passed health care legislation, the Senate Banking Committee passed Dodd’s regulatory reform bill on to the full Senate by a party line vote.
From the Huffington Post:
In a surprise move, the Senate Banking Committee met briefly to approve the bill 13-10, but not before Republicans jettisoned more than 300 amendments they had planned that could have put their imprint on the measure. Senators had been expecting a long week of votes and debate, only to find themselves voting as they were still easing into their seats.
Despite a conciliatory tone struck by the committee’s Democratic and Republican leaders, the development did nothing to mend the partisan divide over the legislation and adds even more uncertainty to Congress’ ability to pass a sweeping rewrite of financial regulations this year.
The Senate would not take up the bill until April at the earliest.
As the article explains,
The legislation would give the government unprecedented powers to split up firms considered a threat to the economy, put together a council of regulators to watch for risks in the financial system and create an independent consumer watchdog.
Contact your Senators and demand they do not give the Federal Reserve new authority until we have complete audit of the Fed!