White House and Democrats Join to Press Case on Financial Controls

From the New York Times:

The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders said Wednesday that they would press forward with legislation to tighten regulation of the nation’s financial system. Rebuffing Republican criticism, the Democrats effectively dared the minority party to side with Wall Street by opposing the measure.

After a contentious meeting at the White House between President Obama and Congressional leaders from both parties, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, accused Republicans of once again obstructing every effort by Democrats to govern. He expressed confidence that he could win the 60 votes needed to advance the bill.

“This is the same stall we got on health care,” Mr. Reid said after the meeting, standing on the driveway outside the West Wing.

Senior Democrats said the bill could reach the floor as soon as next week. And while Senate Republicans, if they remain united, could filibuster, Democrats said they were calculating that a number of Republicans — especially those up for re-election — would not cast a vote appearing to favor hedge funds and banks over average Americans.