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Passing of Healthcare Bill means Financial Reform takes poll position in Obama’s priorities

Monday 29 March 2010 - by Luke Nelson

Financial regulatory reform will be back in poll position on the US legislative agenda now that Congress has passed US President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan.

The House of Representatives voted 219-212 in favour of the Healthcare Bill in March, which will cost $938bn (€703bn) over ten years.

Sources in Washington said that while the healthcare plan was still being debated, it “sucked the life out” of the legislative process as the time and energy of those on Capitol Hill was fully immersed in bargaining for votes on the Bill.

With healthcare off the agenda, in terms of the legislative programme at least, there have been indications that the Obama administration will now focus its efforts on financial reform.

In a statement made last month, the President promised that he will use every tool at his disposal to see the “essential” proposed reforms enacted.


He also criticised the “army of lobbyists” working for financial corporates and stressed the need for a Bill that reflects the need of the American people rather than the special interests of Wall Street.

Senator Chris Dodd has unveiled his version of the Financial Reform Bill, which includes the creation of an independent consumer protection watchdog and aims to eliminate the possibility that some institutions are too big to fail.

Dodd’s bill is being debated by the Senate Banking Committee which has submitted a high number of amendments.

In a recent statement, Obama set out that he is in support of Dodd’s version.
Obama said: “After months of bipartisan work, Senator Chris Dodd and his committee have offered a strong foundation for reform, in line with the proposal I previously laid out, and in line with the reform bill passed by the House.

"It would provide greater scrutiny of large financial firms to prevent any one company from threatening the entire financial system – and it would update the rules so that complicated financial products like derivatives are no longer bought and sold without oversight.”


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