Democrats don't need Republicans for Banking Reform Bill

Previously I posted a Talking Point Memo about Democrats hoping that Republicans would oppose the financial regulations bill so that they could use the issue in the coming election. Well, the Democrats appear to be making it impossible for Republicans to support the bill.

“I would say all signs we get from the White House is they’re not interested in talking, they’re not interested in making a deal with us,” McConnell told reporters. “They want to jam through a totally partisan bill. And if they do that, and it looks like the Dodd bill, it will guarantee perpetual taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street banks.”

Republicans are gravitating toward a strategy that defies the conventional wisdom held by Democrats — that the GOP, from a political standpoint, cannot throw up uniform opposition to Wall Street reform as it did with health care reform. A senior Senate Republican aide said the conference believes it has “a strong case to make as to why the bill is bad.” . . .

UPDATE: So much for Obama's bipartisanship.

For weeks, the White House strategy on financial regulatory reform remained an open question: Would President Barack Obama water down his bill just to get something passed — the way he did on health care?

A Palinesque “Hell no!” was the answer coming from the White House on Wednesday as the president, his senior aides and his allies on Capitol Hill issued an ultimatum to Republicans fighting Democrats’ plans to overhaul financial oversight.

“For the president, you have to be willing to accept a strong bill,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, after Obama emerged from a contentious meeting with GOP congressional leaders.

“If the effort to get this close is simply to take steps to weaken that legislation, that’s not what the president is interested in.”

Democrats are so emboldened that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is prepared to bring the Banking Committee bill to the floor with no major concessions to Republicans and essentially dare them to vote against the measure, senior leadership aides said. . . .