Three pointless days of filibustering (stalling) by Senate Republicans have now passed by; highlighted at first by erroneous claims that the reform bill in question was a “bailout”, then by convenient claims that these reforms were written and endorsed by public enemy number one, Goldman Sachs; finally, after realizing that the public was not buying their theatre, Republican leadership gave in and has agreed to debate their Democratic counterparts on the matter. Why the delay? No reason other than pure petty partisan politics. These four preposterous P’s that drive so many voters crazy were used to postpone what should be a bipartisan plan from taking shape. It is in the best interest of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats, and the American public to effectively reform Wall Street. Even the biggest players in the industry will agree that unregulated gambling by fat cats helped contribute to the collapse of the American economy in 2008 and 2009. That being said, there was no stopping the typical 4 p’s approach from being taken by Republican leadership and conservative pundits alike.
Despite obvious bipartisan support for this bill, Senator Mitch McConnell could not help himself from projecting the exact opposite image. His false rhetoric contradicted the hard work being done behind the scenes by members of his own party to finalize a bill that would satisfy the demands of all sides. Despite his misguided efforts, most people agree that the need to take the debate to the Senate floor is both obvious and adherent to the Republican Party’s calls for greater transparency from both the Democrats and the President. Ironically, in a stark change from their claims during the healthcare debate, Republicans decided that they would prefer to work behind closed doors as opposed to appearing to work in a bipartisan manner in full view of their supporters. This change of heart is a curious political strategy. Debate on this matter could be beneficial to all parties, as there is a collective discontent towards Wall Street from the American public. Still, these very same Republicans who called for transparency are the very same people now scared to debate on the floor of the Senate.
The claim is that they needed confirmation that there would be no “bailouts” or “too big to fail” allowed in the bill. But they know very well that these matters were addressed in the bill as originally drafted by both Democrats and Republicans in 2009. They simply wanted to make sure that their individual campaign coffers were protected before braving up and debating the matter. The three days of filibustering produced no new reforms, nor did they change anything that could not have been changed through open debate. These are signs of deliberate stalling and unwillingness to compromise in public. Now that the debate has been cleared for the floor, let’s see if the Republican Party can swallow its pride, debate with their counterparts, and recognize that a bipartisan bill is in everybody’s best interest.
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