Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. I will keep this entry short since I got home more than an hour late and I want to watch the All Star Game. But enough about me!
FINREG: The conference report accompanying the Financial Regulation bill is on the verge of passing this Thursday. Today, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) was the 60th Senator to publicly declare support for the bill, which will assure that the bill makes it to President Obama's desk next week. Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the bill, which sets up a vote Thursday afternoon.
I'm excited about this bill's passage, mostly because it represents the first serious regulation of the financial industry since the 1930's. We've been going in the opposite direction ever since. As many other commentators have noted, the bill is designed for us to better handle a future crisis, not so much to prevent one. A lot of the bill's success depends on its implementation. The new consumer protection agency within the Federal Reserve must be bold and ambitious, for example. I'm mostly afraid that a future Republican President will be able to water down these agencies without enough institutional protection in place.
In other Senate news, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin will announce the replacement to the late Senator Byrd on Friday evening. By next week, this should give the Democrats the votes (hopefully) to pass a much-needed extension of unemployment benefits.
THE WHITE HOUSE: The biggest news today from the White House is that Jacob Lew was selected to be the next Director of the OMB, the same title he held during the later years of the Clinton Administration. This seems like a good choice. Even though correlation certainly doesn't imply causation, Lew presided over the only budget surpluses in the last 40 years.
THE HOUSE: The House just dealt with some suspension bills today, they'll get down to serious legislative business tomorrow.
That's it for now! Comments: Leave them!
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