Senate to Tweak Bailout —But not Much

Harry Reid needs time to corral votes

(NEWSER) - The easy vote is over for financial reform: The sweeping measure that, among many other things, creates a consumer protection agency and puts limits on derivatives trading breezed through the House 237-192. But it won't reach President Obama's desk by July 4 as planned because the Senate has postponed its vote until after the holiday recess, reports the Washington Post . More»

GOP argument against reform is upside-down, writes Paul Krugman

(NEWSER) - With financial reform on deck, Senate Republicans are busily figuring out how many "can get away with claiming that war is peace and regulating big banks is doing those big banks a favor," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Alabama's Richard Shelby is portraying efforts to rein in big banks as a bailout, and John Boehner recently urged bankers to stand up to Congress and "not let those little punk staffers take advantage of you." But in this case, Krugman says, it's those "punks" who are looking out for the taxpayer. More»

Financial firms poured $450,000 into his Senate campaign

(NEWSER) - In the 6 days before the special election for US senator from Massachusetts, employees of financial companies gave a whopping $450,000 to Scott Brown. The donations came just after President Obama proposed a fee on Wall Street’s biggest players to help pay back lost TARP funds. The influx of cash to the GOP candidate could portend a major push to both kill financial regulation and elect Republicans this fall, the Boston Globe reports. More»

Proving they serve banks, not families, says Elizabeth Warren

(NEWSER) - Senate Democrats are signaling that they're willing to drop the independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency to get financial reform passed, but they'll have to go through bailout watchdog Elizabeth Warren to kill it. The fight over the independent agency is a showdown between the banks' interests and those of American families, Warren told supporters yesterday—and the outcome will show "whether the financial crisis actually changed something." More»

It's been a bumper year for BS from the big banks, writes Nomi Prins

(NEWSER) - As Wall Street happily trots off into 2009's sunset, same old bad habits in tow, things aren't looking so hot on Main Street—no matter the crocks the bankers sold us, writes Nomi Prins at AlterNet . Here's some of Wall Street's finest whoppers of the year.

• The economy has improved. "Sure—if you work at Goldman Sachs or had an affair with Tiger Woods," writes Prins. For the rest of us, unemployment is in double digits and next year is looking bleak.