Finance Reform Bill Ready to Pass

After a tooth-and-nail fight over health-care overhaul, the Senate has quickly come close to passing a major financial-reform bill with bi-partisan support, thanks largely to the widespread unpopularity of Wall Street. “I’m hesitant to talk about it being done, because it’s not,” Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) said in an interview, adding: “We are on the cusp of doing something pretty significant.” As it stands now, the bill is largely unchanged from the original version proposed by Democrats, and would institute an independent “watchdog” to prevent loan abuses. In spite of support for the bill from both sides of the aisle, Republicans are growing uneasy about increasingly harsh new rules for financial institutions, making some Democrats nervous about the number of amendments now scheduled for votes before the bill itself can pass. “We run the risk of losing this bill,” said Dodd. “I have been here for 30 years, and I have watched what can happen.”