Sen. Bob Corker appeared on Hardball yesterday to talk financial reform and Mitch McConnell's amazing verbatim spew of the Frank Luntz talking points designed to kill any meaningful Wall Street reforms. He took care to point out that he has "never used those Frank Luntz talking points...", confirming the not-too obscure fact that Mitch McConnell has memorized them all and IS using them. (Full text of Luntz memo)
He optimistically predicts final passage of Dodd's bill with 70 Senators voting for it. Of course, Dodd's bill doesn't really have much in the way of derivatives reform. That's Senator Blanche Lincoln's bill.
In fairness to Sen. Corker, he has been the one single Republican who actually tried to find a bipartisan solution to financial reform before the GOP leadership shut down the entire effort.
Corker’s conduct exemplifies the Republican strategy (which, in fairness, he may not have fully understood until last week). Having spent months working on the bill with committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Corker suddenly found himself vowing to support a filibuster over provisions in the bill that he had helped to write.
If Senator Corker isn't filibustering the bill, then who is the 41st vote? Let me guess...maybe Ben Nelson?
