The Republicans are really looking like fools over the way they've handled their opposition to something Americans really want to see get done--financial reform. They're sick and tired of the whiny CEOs and Wall Street honchos who rake in boatloads of cash and then cry that they haven't bought off enough politicians.
Mitch McConnell, who has taken the "Luntzification" of financial reform as far as humanly possible, is now flip-flopping on the issue and telling Americans that the GOP may be able to work with the White House after all:
A Democratic Wall Street overhaul bill may be gaining an unlikely champion: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
After a week of attacking the pending legislation as a ticket to new taxpayer "bailouts," McConnell is striking a different tone. Monday on the Senate floor, he called for lawmakers to move beyond "personal attacks and questioning each others' motives" to "fixing the problems in this bill."
And McConnell conceded, after being chastised by no less than President Obama in his weekly radio address, that "both parties agree on this point: no bailouts. In my view, that's a pretty good start."
On Tuesday, McConnell returned to the chamber and announced he was "heartened to hear that bipartisan talks have resumed in earnest." Senate Democratic leaders are preparing to bring the overhaul bill to the floor as early as Thursday, but all 41 Republicans have signed a letter stating their opposition to the bill in its current form. Unless Democrats can peel off at least one GOP senator to allow debate to proceed, a GOP-led filibuster could block financial regulatory reform indefinitely.
Sure Mitch, you 'wrote them a letter' and now everything is working just fine. Who does he think he's kidding now?
Richard Shelby chimes in with this one:
In fact, Sam Stein reports that Republican Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), the ranking member on the Banking Committee, said negotiations "have progressed to the point that the debate now centers on specific language rather than individual proposals.
McConnell lied all week that the 50 billion dollar fund paid for by Wall Street was somehow promoting taxpayer bailouts endlessly.
Halperin: What they're saying really doesn't make any sense.--
I cannot defend what they're doing. They are willfully misreading this bill or they are engaged in a cynical attempt to keep the president from achieving something.
Do you think Mitch is reading the new polling data that says Americans want something done to reign in the Masters of the Universe?
A new Gallup poll said voters were siding with Democrats on the issue: 50 percent of those surveyed said they supported giving the federal government new powers to regulate Wall Street banks, while 36 percent were opposed.
Another recent poll — from the Pew Research Center — showed 59 percent of Americans want Washington to address financial reform before any other issue.
“Wall Street gambled with our economy, and we all lost out as a result,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. “We need better accountability to make sure taxpayers never get left holding the bag for giant Wall Street investment banks again . … So far it appears that Wall Street has found a united ally in the Republican Party to protect them.”
The White House commissioned a poll which shows that Americans are siding with President Obama over the frazzled GOP.
Democrats delight in the prospect of Republicans voting, en bloc, to keep the debate from even starting at a time when voters are furious at Wall Street. Support for a financial industry crackdown is far more widespread and intense – 77% favor legislation like Obama's, according to a poll conducted for the White House and Senate Democrats – than it was for Democrats' health care legislation.
