Obama pushes for Wall Street reform on Main Street tour

(News Terupdate) - Continuing to hit on environmental and economic topics, President Obama will wrap up his "White House to Main Street Tour" Wednesday with stops in Illinois and Missouri.

Obama will tour a biorefining plant in Macon, Missouri, on Wednesday afternoon and talk with workers about economic issues, according to the White House. He was expected to discuss Wall Street reform during an appearance in Quincy, Illinois.

On Tuesday, Obama told a crowd in Ottumwa, Iowa, that it is "not right" for Republicans to prevent a Wall Street reform proposal from coming up for debate in the Senate.

Senate Republicans blocked a motion Tuesday to begin debate on a bill that would overhaul financial regulations. The GOP senators say the proposal is too broad and needs to be tightened in closed-door talks with Democrats before coming to the Senate floor for debate.

In his Ottumwa appearance, Obama challenged Republicans to allow a public debate on Wall Street reforms.

"The American people deserve an honest debate this bill." Obama told the crowd. "You should not have to have to wait one more day."

The proposed reforms are intended to prevent another Wall Street meltdown like the one that led to the U.S. recession, Obama said.

"We can't let another crisis like this happen again," he said. "We can't have such a short memory that we let them convince us that we don't need to change the status quo."

Senate Democrats have accused their Republican counterparts of stalling momentum on the bill in an attempt to water it down.

Republican leaders have identified their main concern as a Democratic plan to set up a consumer watchdog agency to protect against lending abuses such as unfair credit card charges and mortgage practices.

The votes Monday and Tuesday on opening debate were intended to generate public pressure on the Republicans by raising awareness of their opposition to moving forward on the popular issue. A third vote on launching debate on the measure is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

One moderate Republican, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, indicated Tuesday he would switch his vote from 'no' to 'yes' if negotiations on the bill between Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, fail to reach agreement soon.

The American people "want us to get something done," Voinovich said in explaining why he would eventually join Democrats in insisting the bill be debated on the floor.

Voinovich wouldn't say how long he would wait before switching his vote, but added, "I have an idea of how much time it takes to cut a deal." According to Voinovich, "a whole bunch" of other Republicans are likely to make the same decision.

Dodd and Shelby have repeatedly said they were close to a deal, with agreement on most of the issues. However, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, who also has taken part in negotiations, said Tuesday he was "far less optimistic" that a deal would come anytime soon.

Obama's remarks in Illinois on Wednesday will continue to focus on Wall Street reform legislation, the White House said.

In addition to the visit to a biorefining plant, Obama's time in Missouri earlier in the day will include a visit to a farm near the town of Palmyra, according to the president's schedule.

Obama kicked off the White House to Main Street tour in December with a visit to the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. Since then, the president has made stops in Lorain County, Ohio, and Savannah, Georgia.

The tour is explained on the White House Web site as an effort to "spend some time outside of Washington and talk to American families about what they are experiencing during these tough economic times."

In segments of the tour, "the President will regularly visit communities across the country and meet with members of the community and share ideas for rebuilding our economy for the long term," the Web site says.

Source : CNN

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Obama to Republicans: Let Senate debate Wall Street reform

Ottumwa, Iowa (News Terupdate) - President Obama challenged Republicans to allow a debate on Wall Street reforms, telling an Iowa crowd Tuesday it's not right for the GOP to prevent a proposal from coming up in the Senate.

For the second straight day, Senate Republicans blocked a motion to begin debate on a bill that would overhaul financial regulations. The GOP senators say the proposal is too broad and needs to be tightened in closed-door talks with Democrats before coming to the Senate floor for debate.

"The American people deserve an honest debate on this bill," Obama told the crowd. "You should not have to have to wait one more day."

Obama said Senate Republicans "unanimously blocked efforts to even being debating reform."

"They won't let it [the bill] get on the floor to be debated," Obama said. "It's one thing to oppose reform, but to oppose just even talking about reform in front of the American people and having a legitimate debate? That's not right."

The proposed reforms are intended to prevent another Wall Street meltdown like the one that significantly worsened the U.S. recession, Obama said.

"We can't let another crisis like this happen again," he said. "We can't have such a short memory that we let them convince us that we don't need to change the status quo."

Senate Democrats accuse their Republican counterparts of stalling momentum on the bill in an attempt to water it down. The votes Monday and Tuesday on opening debate were intended to generate public pressure on the Republicans by raising awareness of their opposition to moving forward on the popular issue.

A third vote on launching debate on the measure was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

One moderate Republican, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, indicated Tuesday he would switch his vote from no to yes if negotiations on the bill between Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, fail to reach agreement soon.

The American people "want us to get something done," Voinovich said in explaining why he would eventually join Democrats in insisting the bill be debated on the floor.

Voinovich wouldn't say how long he would wait before switching his vote, but added, "I have an idea of how much time it takes to cut a deal." According to Voinovich, "a whole bunch" of other Republicans are likely to make the same decision.

Dodd and Shelby have repeatedly said they were close to a deal, with agreement on most of the issues. However, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, who also has taken part in negotiations, said Tuesday he was far less optimistic that a deal would come anytime soon.

"I just know where they are, policywise, and I just don't see it," Corker said."I don't think anytime in the near future there's going to be a bipartisan agreement."

Republican leaders have identified their main concern as a Democratic plan to set up a consumer watchdog agency to protect against lending abuses such as unfair credit card charges and mortgage practices.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, contended earlier Tuesday that the consumer agency would extend far beyond Wall Street to infiltrate daily transactions of all Americans.

Shelby headed to another negotiating session with Dodd after Tuesday's vote against starting debate on the bill. Asked whether Dodd is offering any flexibility on the consumer protection provision, Shelby said no.

"They've been pretty steadfast in their view of the consumer agency," Shelby said. "We think we have some constructive recommendations."

Dodd questioned the Republicans' sincerity, saying: "They don't want a consumer protection agency at all. Let's be honest about it."

Source : CNN

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Senate panel approves Wall Street reform bill

Washington (News Terupdate) - A Senate committee on Wednesday passed a proposal aimed at helping protect the economy from future meltdowns and taxpayers from more Wall Street bailouts.

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 13-8 in favor of the bill, which would impose regulations on the complex system of Wall Street trades known as derivatives.

Senate leaders now will look at merging the measure with a financial regulations reform bill already passed by the Senate Banking Committee that is headed for debate by the full chamber.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa was the lone Republican to vote with Democrats on the agriculture panel for the bill.

While Wednesday's hearing was but one step in the legislative process, it could provide part of the framework for a congressional deal on financial reform legislation -- a major priority of the Obama administration.

Republican senators who last week expressed unanimous opposition to the Banking Committee's bill now, after continued negotiations, say a compromise is possible.

"Both sides have expressed a willingness to make the changes needed to ensure without any doubt that this bill won't put taxpayers on the hook for future bailouts of Wall Street banks," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Tuesday. "I'm heartened to hear that bipartisan talks have resumed in earnest."

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas, the Agriculture Committee's chair, opened the hearing by saying the legislation would confront "tough problems" in trying to increase regulation of Wall Street trading.

Lincoln, who is expected to face a tough re-election campaign this year, called the proposal "a robust package that balances the needs of strong, meaningful reform and recognizes the needs of these markets."

"This bill will bring 100 percent transparency to a currently unregulated, dark market," she said.

The Agriculture Committee oversees the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission, which has been in charge of derivatives for decades because they originated with farm commodities.

Watch how derivatives work

The House has passed its version of a finance reform bill, and now Democrats seek to bring a Senate version up for chamber debate.

The bill approved by Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee would set up new regulatory oversight of financial industry practices with the goal of preventing another Wall Street meltdown such as the one in 2008 that launched the U.S. recession.

It includes an "early warning" system intended to spot signs of another crisis as well as a $50 billion liquidation fund created with money from banks and other financial industry corporations to ensure an orderly process of closing down failing entities.

Source : CNN

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