Working Life

   Chris Dodd is heading into retirement. On the way out, he tried to weaken a key part of the financial reform package but ruffled a few feathers: His amendment would have delayed for two years any ban on derivatives trading and given the Treasury Secretary the ability to quash the proposal outright. Liberal Democrats […]

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   Well, let’s see where this goes: A top Senate Democrat said Monday he was optimistic lawmakers would move forward with legislation overhauling financial markets this week, as the Obama administration and congressional Democrats sought to build support for the measure ahead of a Senate vote. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), who chairs the Senate […]

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   Some random notes on the debate over reforming the financial system. The Brits continue to lead the charge on the bank tax–perhaps driven by the fast-approaching elections in which, if you believe the polls, the ruling Labor Party is going to lose its governing majority…perhaps a harbinger of things to come here. So, Gordon […]

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The lines are clear: it’s the people versus the banks and Wall Street. While both the House and Senate bills do not go far enough and have already been, in my view, watered down, there is one issue that we can still fight hard on–and have the back of the president: an independent Consumer Financial […]

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   There are roughly 400 amendments being proposed to the financial reform legislation proposed by Sen. Chris Dodd. I’ve written previously that I think that the legislation is, at best, a modest step forward. Many of the amendments are aimed at weakening reform and are being pushed by the financial inustry’s lobbying machine.     One […]

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   This was in the Financial Times today: A US bank regulator joined financial executives on Wednesday in calling for changes to consumer protection rules proposed by Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Senate banking committee. “In every case consumer protection has the edge and will trump safety and soundness and I think that is […]

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    Chris Dodd has put his regulatory reform bill on the table. Bottom line: it is, at best, average–and certainly does not do what needs to be done to remake the rules of the economy.     The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is giving the Federal Reserve Board more power, particularly placing consumer protection in […]

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Yesterday, I raised my concerns about the Senate’s proposal to hand more power to the Federal Reserve Board and give the Fed the role of protecting consumers. Honestly, I thought it was a cruel joke and a perfect example of the Washington insiders protecting the interests of Wall Street. Barney Frank agrees.   Here is […]

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   It is hard to overstate how out-of-touch the insiders in Washington are–and how much they are far more attuned to the demands of Wall Street and the financial powers-that-be. You can’t find a better example than the apparent bi-partisan deal to give the Federal Reserve Board more power–and, most astonishingly, the power to protect […]

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  I suspect we are going to be distracted by an emerging debate between Congressional Democrats and The White House on how to handle the CEO pay caps written into the economic stimulus bill. This is a distraction because, in all honesty, the pay caps aren’t real.   Today, there is this news in The […]

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