Sunday blather summed up
April 19, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the chamber’s top-ranking Republican, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Democratic bill would continue the Obama administration’s intervention in formerly private industries. He called for renegotiating the measure instead of bringing it to the Senate floor.
“I think we need to get back to the table and get it fixed,” McConnell said. “We want to make sure that we don’t set up a system whereby we empower the government to continue doing what they’ve been doing.”
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Other Republicans expressed similar reservations Sunday, with the newest member of the chamber, Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, telling the CBS program “Face the Nation” he would join a filibuster of the bill as it is written now. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, also said he opposed the bill, but added on “FOX News Sunday” he thought a deal was possible.
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On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told the NBC program “Meet the Press” that he was confident a “strong package of financial reforms” will win congressional approval. However, Geithner noted the two sides remain apart on some issues, including how to regulate complex trading products called derivatives — a form of trade in which investors seek to protect themselves by offsetting their risk or speculating on the future value of assets.
Geithner called for “rules with teeth” to protect against another financial crisis.
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Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, who also appeared on “State of the Union,” said the Senate bill includes an “early warning” system intended to spot signs of another crisis, as well as a $50 billion liquidation fund created with money from banks and other finance industry holdings to pay for the costs of closing down failed entities.
Warner said the liquidation fund would mean Wall Street firms “have to write their own funeral plan” and put down money in advance to ensure an “orderly process” to bankruptcy in the event of another crisis.
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