GOP Allows Floor Debate to Begin

Finally! Abandoning their three-day-old filibuster, Republicans will allow the Senate to debate financial-regulation overhaul beginning Thursday—and will attempt to change the bill to their liking on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pledged to consider numerous GOP amendments. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he hoped "that the majority's avowed interest in improving this legislation on the Senate floor is genuine and the partisan gamesmanship is over." The debate's commencement comes after Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) made moves to prohibit taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, though they failed to agree on the creation of a consumer protection bureau.