Volcker Presses Hill for 'Volcker Rule'

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker—once a peripheral adviser to President Obama; now the inspiration behind his financial crackdown—is to urge Congress on Tuesday to adopt the “Volcker rule,” which will limit banks’ risk and separate commercial and investment banking. The key, however, lies with eight senators on the Senate Banking Committee, who have been working in pairs of one Republican and one Democrat. So far—no surprises here—the Republicans aren’t biting. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), who once almost left Congress to take a job in the Obama administration, tells The New York Times, “I think it’s confused the issue considerably, because he’s basically fanned the fires of populism and in a lot of instances, populism doesn’t give you either good regulatory activity or strong markets.”