The three-day standoff over the financial reform bill is over in the Senate. Now the real fight begins. Republicans dropped their filibuster and allowed the bill to proceed to the floor for debate instead of blocking it a fourth time. Talks to forge a bipartisan deal behind closed doors apparently had gone as far as they were going to go, and when Harry Reid called for the bill to proceed by unanimous consent this evening, nobody objected, reports the New York Times.
Richard Shelby said Republicans had won concessions, in particular on a portion of the bill they characterize as a bailout fund. But Democrats wouldn't budge on the formation of a consumer protection agency, which the GOP sees as a "massive new bureaucracy," reports the Washington Post. The GOP will now push for changes in what promises to be a lengthy fight on the Senate floor. "It's time for this debate to begin," said Chris Dodd.
(More financial reform stories.)
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