It Didn't Have To Be This Way
WASHINGTON AP) — Unable to muster bipartisan agreement on key banking provisions, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Thursday he will offer his own version of a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations without Republican support.A month of talks between Dodd and Republican Sen. Bob Corker had found common ground on but details on key provisions, including consumer protections and other sticking points.
"Together we have made significant progress and resolved many of the items, but a few outstanding issues remain," Dodd said in a statement. Dodd said he still aimed to get a consensus bill, but said time was running out.
Dodd's go-it-alone choice comes in the midst of an emerging culture of high partisanship on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and Republicans have been at odds for over a year on health care changes, little progress has been made on climate change and energy legislation, and members of both parties watch warily as an angry voting public continues to show heavy disdain for incumbents.
Two points: first, it's comments like the one above that make the Democrats think that they have to include the Republicans in everything on equal footing (just like the GOP did when they ran Congress, right?). It's not like the Democrats had a mandate or anything.
Second, the story makes it seem like Dodd is going solo because he figures that's the only way to "get 'er done." Survey says: WRONG. As Rachel Maddow points out, Dodd brought this mess on himself by not taking advantage of the Democrat's committee majority:
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Which goes back to my title: it didn't have to be this way.
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