Chris Dodd's Extreme Makeover

[rayofreason]

Source: Mother Jones

Something very strange has happened to Sen. Chris Dodd. As Washington finally moves to address problems in the financial system, the White House is proposing only a modest shakeup of the existing regulations. The legislation that Rep. Barney Frank is spearheading in the House isn't much more ambitious. But Dodd, the Democratic chair of the Senate Banking Committee and long known for his deep Wall Street ties, is suddenly pushing for reforms that sound like a populist's wish list.

Dodd wants to strip the Federal Reserve of its authority over banks. He wants to merge America's scattershot collection of banking regulators into a single entity. And he doesn't want the Fed to take on the new job of monitoring systemic risk to the economy; he prefers to hand this task to a new council of regulators. These are bold suggestions. Is Chris Dodd really willing to take on Wall Street? Or is he merely championing reforms that sound impressive but have no chance of passing?

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/10/chris-dodds-extreme-makeover

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Just goes to show that Friends of Angelo don't let Friends of Angelo drive unelected.

Or at least they try. Any fine progressives not beholden to finance able to make a run in CT?

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. He & Arlen Specter have to play Democrats now.

They are both up against tough reelection bids next year.

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. I wouldn't call the only senator...

...to filibuster the immunity amendments to FISA a 'play democrat'.

[karynnj]

10. He was not the only Senator to filibuster FISA

The first time it was voted on 10 Senators voted against cloture - which is how you fillibuster. What you can say is that Dodd made the public effort to whip up support for the filibuster and he led it.

[high density]

6. Play Democrat?

Dodd?? Do you have him confused with Lieberman?

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. No. I am not a fan of Senator Dodd.

Too little too late on these banking regulations. This should have been done before the first dime of TARP was passed out and I hold him responsible for that.

[brendan120678]

3. I have a bad feeling that Dodd is going down next year...

there's a lot of anti-Dodd sentiment. Hopefully most of that will have blown over by next year.

[harmonicon]

4. I don't want it to "blow over"

He's responsible for some major fuck ups, and it's time he addresses that - this is a start. Maybe he finally realized that sometimes you have to make legislation which people want instead of what gets the most campaign contributions if you want to win.

[pokercat999]

5. Could this be a response to the revelation about the

sweetheart loan from Countrywide? Much like John McCain's remake after the Keating Five Savings and Loan scandal.

[Psephos]

8. Don't forget to inquire about his Irish "cottage" either. n/t

[laughingliberal]

9. His motives are of absoluely no interest to me

Have not been happy with his role in deregulation and the like in times past. That said, my interest is in seeing what happens now. If he is proposing the most wide sweeping reform of the industry and is prepared to fight for it, I'm with him on it. How much respect would a Republican garner, at this point, if he stood up and said, "We overreached. I still believe in limited government regulation and low taxes but I can see that the extremes of any policies are dangerous. Now is the time for us to look at this and modify our philosophy in light of the recent failures?" I would respect that individual and I will give Dodd kudos for doing the right thing now.

[redqueen]

11. CT Dems need to field a challenger NOW.

And let's hope they learned their lesson from the Lieberman fiasco.

[NewJeffCT]

12. There is a challenger

but, he really has no shot against Dodd.

http://merrickforachange.com/bio

[redqueen]

14. Why not?

[NewJeffCT]

16. it's very difficult to challenge an incumbent like Dodd in CT

Ned Lamont had millions of his own money to spend - I don't think this guy does. He has el zippo for a profile around the state from what I've seen. Linda McMahon - the wrestling CEO/Republican who just entered the race is making a splash with a huge amount of advertising.

[redqueen]

17. Perhaps CT Dems should start assisting the guy.

I'm sure other Dems would be more than willing to chip in as well... but he has to raise his profile somehow. Have you seen him speak yet? How does he come across in person?

[NewJeffCT]

18. No

Other than his entering the race, I have not heard of any public events being reported locally.

CT Dems are very set in their ways - even after Lamont defeated Lieberman in the primary, no major state Democrat actively campaigned for Lamont. And, Dodd is more liked than Lieberman among Democrats.

[redqueen]

19. I find it sad that so many blame Obama & blue dogs for so much... when stuff like this

is really the root of the problem.

Ah well.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

13. Dodd gets slaughtered in Michael Moore's

new movie. He's got a lot of damage control to do.

[robcon]

15. Those are not "bold suggestions"

changing the 'players' in financial regulation is easy, not bold. Who cares whether the Fed or some other organization regulates banks?

What would be bold would be to change the game - revise the objectives and powers of the regulators.