Source: Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post
For the first time since the Great Depression, Congress has Wall Street on the defensive. One setback after another has beset the financial titans accustomed to having their way when it comes to writing rules and regulations that govern their industry, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) promised to push forward on reform Thursday.
Wall Street’s traditional defenders in both parties are generally members of leadership, working to hold the center against populist attacks from both the left and right. But with Reid trailing in his bid for reelection, he has little to gain by defending the financial industry against the tide of public opinion. His number two, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), came out Tuesday in favor of a far-reaching amendment that would break up big banks and cap their size. And his number three, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), has infuriated Wall Street by largely remaining silent as his traditional backers are slain day after day.
Schumer’s allies told New York magazine that his silence is strategic, and that any full-throated defense of Wall Street only emboldens those on the attack. Wall Street’s lobbyists have largely absorbed the same lesson and have, to an unusual degree, stepped back from the field.
That leaves an alliance of progressives and traditionally conservative Republicans with varying motivations unusually close to something resembling victory. The New York Times has taken notice, reporting Thursday that “the confluence of a high-stakes election year and a pervasive anti-Wall Street sentiment after the recession has given liberals unusual muscle in the debate. It has also raised the prospect that they could succeed in reshaping the bill.”
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