Dodd Confident Senate Will Make Progress On Financial Reform This Week

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) expressed confidence Monday that the Senate will make headway on financial regulatory reform this week, despite mounting challenges from Republicans.

“I'm going to work on the assumption … that when we bring this bill up later this week that we'll have the votes across the board...to allow us to debate this legislation, consider amendments and move forward," said Dodd during a morning press conference.

Dodd added that if Republicans have suggestions for a better strategy toward reforming regulation of the financial industry, then they need to come forward soon. Otherwise, the effort to move forward with the legislation will continue.

“The door has been open … it’s never been closed. My Republican colleagues on the committee and leadership know that,” Dodd explained. “But I’m waiting for the knock on the door.”

The legislation would put a $50 billion fund in place that “too big to fail” banks would pay into in order to ensure that they would receive assistance if they ever came into hardship. According to Dodd, the idea for the program, similar to what smaller banks do with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, came from the Republicans, so their recent opposition was not foreseen.

“This was a Republican suggestion to have a pre-payment in the bill,” said Dodd. “I’m willing to listen to some other ideas, provided we don’t expose the taxpayer [to risk.]”

According to the chairman, reform legislation would have prevented Goldman Sachs Group Inc. from committing fraud, as alleged recently by the Securities Exchange Commission.

“Our bill would have prevented those kinds of events from happening,” said Dodd.

Senate Democrats Dodd And Dorgan Will Not Seek Reelection

As the U.S. moves into what promises to be a highly turbulent election year, Senators Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) have announced that they will seek reelection in 2010.

“This is my moment to step aside,” Dodd said Wednesday in a speech from his home state. “One year from this week, our state will have a new Senator.”

Dorgan issued a statement denying that his decision to leave the Senate was in response to the upcoming election, and added that he believes he could maintain control of his seat had he decided to run again.

Republicans have set their sights on both seats, with businesswoman and World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon as a popular contender for Connecticut and North Dakota Governor John Hoeven gaining momentum in his state.

On a state level, Democratic Colorado Governor Bill Ritter will also not be seeking reelection. Michigan Lt. Governor John Cherry, also a Democrat, closed his gubernatorial campaign as well.

Michael Moore Delivers Stern Warning To Democrats

Filmmaker Michael Moore warned Congressional Democrats Tuesday that their re-elections could be at stake if they fail to deliver a public option and stronger financial regulation.

“When [voters] see a hypocrite ... they will be relentless in working against you, even if it means the Democrat doesn’t win,” Moore said during a speech hosted by the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen.

“We’ll find Republicans who are smart enough to realize that the majority of Americans want universal health care,” Moore added.

Moore singled out Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) as one member of Congress particularly vulnerable to being ousted in 2010.

The filmmaker also criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the health care reform debate.

“It saddens me when I see you, President Obama, out there stumping for health care reform. There is no enthusiastic support for your position,” Moore said. “The reason for that... is that you started with a compromise.”

“Anybody who's negotiated anything knows you don’t start with your final position,” Moore said. “You started in a place where you had no wiggle room.”

Moore directed the controversial documentaries “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11.” His next film, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” will be released Friday.

Dodd, Finance Official Share Conflicting Views On TARP

By Laura Smith

The Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a meeting Thursday to talk about the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and TARP (Trouble Asset Relief Program).

The panel consisted of Herbert M. Allison, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability; Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program; Gene L. Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the United States; and Elizabeth Warren, Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel.

Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and SEC Chairman Chris Cox came to Congress with an important message, and that was that the American economy was close to a total collapse.

“Our nation was in the midst of an economic crisis that threatened small businesses’ ability to make payroll, cost us more than half a million jobs, turned the American dream of homeownership into a nightmare for many, kept students from getting college loans, and wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in savings that Americans were counting on for their retirement,” he said.

He said the Bush administration had a proposal on how to help large and small businesses who were unable to access the credit they needed to operate, but called it was unacceptable.

He stated that the Bush administration asked for an unprecedented amount of taxpayer money and executive power under the unchecked control of one unelected individual, with no guidelines to ensure that it would be used properly.

“Doing nothing wasn’t an option. But neither was this proposal,” Dodd said.

Herbert Allison said earlier this year that what the nation faced was no longer just a financial crisis; it was a full-blown economic crisis. He said that in January alone, 741,000 Americans lost their jobs, home foreclosures were at a rapid rate, and businesses and families were struggling to find credit.

“In short, the economy was in a free fall and there was increasing concern we were headed towards a second Great Depression,” Allison said.

He said a comprehensive strategy was put in place to stabilize the financial system and the housing market, to stimulate economic activity, and to provide help to those in most need.

“TARP has been vital to our achievements to date, and it will continue to be an important part of our recovery. The recovery has just begun, the financial system remains fragile, and the credit markets are not fully functioning. And with unemployment still unacceptably high, home foreclosures still rising, and many Americans still suffering through no fault of their own, we still have work to do,” Allison said.

He stated that EESA had authorized $700 billion for TARP, and that as of September 21, 2009, Treasury has announced plans to provide $644 billion for specific TARP programs.

“Of that amount, we have entered into commitments of $444 billion, and we have disbursed $365 billion,” he said.

Allison said a large part of the total activity to date occurred last fall under the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) following the adoption of EESA in October 2008.

Better Access To Education And Better Schools

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Two new pieces of legislation were introduced to the Senate yesterday
by Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) to improve access to education for children and to develop better facilities for children to learn.

The Starting Early Right Act and The Child Care Facilities Financing Act of 2009, "are critically important and essential in any environment because we are not doing nearly enough on child care...both of these bills speak to that basic challenge,” Casey said during a conference call today.

The Starting Early Right Act aims to help all children have equal and improved access to education. This bill would amend the Childcare and Development Block Grant of 1990 by investing an additional $10 billion each year to help low income families ensure their children receive access to a high quality education.


The Child Care Facilities Financing Act of 2009 aims to get to the “bricks and mortar,” Casey said. The bill would provide financial assistance to improve schools and other learning establishments. “This bill would set up a grant program,” Casey added.

Casey has already received support from Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and hopes to see bipartisan support from Senators towards this legislation.

Casey is also in talks with President Obama and his administration about education policy. Casey is an advocate of the Obama administrations focus to help children from zero to five.

“In the midst of this economy it’s especially important that President Obama has demonstrated the type of leadership that he has on his zero to five initiative...I think both of these bills are consistent with what the President is trying to do,” Casey said.

In closing Casey said these bills would, “provide the kind of dollars for good quality childcare as well as a bill to provide the dollars for the physical infrastructure for a care setting that is appropriate for children.”