Senate Preps for Wall Street Face-Off

With Monday's vote to begin formally debating Obama’s financial overhaul bill looming, Washington is gearing up for a partisan showdown: Senate Republicans say they’ll block efforts to move forward with the far-reaching bill—unless Democrats agree to make key changes to it. The possible face-off was hashed out on the Sunday talk circuit, with guests on both sides expressing optimism that an agreement could eventually be reached, yet doubt that it would be reached in time for cloture Monday evening. "It might be later this week, it might be next week, but the main thing is to get a good bill," Richard Shelby (R-AL), the ranking Republican member of the Banking Committee, said today on NBC's Meet the Press. Shelby and Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), two of the major players in this process, made a rare joint appearance on the show, which many think bodes well for the bill to move forward on Monday. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) struck a partisan note on Fox News Sunday, saying “We want to make sure that they don't have the same kind of approach on financial services that they did on health care,” and also said he didn’t think Republicans would allow debate on the bill to proceed on Monday.