Where We Need People Power In The Financial Reform Fight

Today Zach Carter and I discuss the road ahead on the Senate financial reform fight. In the wake of demonstrations on Wall Street on Thursday, he sounds an optimistic note about the ability of progressives to influence the upcoming floor debate on Sen. Christopher Dodd's legislation and lays out where progressives should focus their attention.

One reason for the optimism is the group of about a dozen progressive senators who are in various ways working to improve the bill. One of the most important improvements is an amendment spearheaded by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, that would break up "too-big-to-fail" banks. Brown made the case for the amendment today in an op-ed in The Washington Post: "Fifteen years ago, the assets of the six largest U.S. banks made up 17 percent of our gross domestic product. Today, the top six banks make up 63 percent of GDP. No wonder our economy's fate is tied to their stability. ... With mega-banks, a single insolvency can send our economy into a tailspin. We shouldn't wait for trouble; we should avoid it."

Zach says that this is a signature fight. "Whatever other regulations we enact, if we don't break up the banks, it is not all obvious that they would have any effect," he says.

Another is the estimated 10,000 people who showed up for the financial reform demonstration in New York's financial district on Thursday, "When you see 10,000 people on Wall Street, that's the sort of thing that makes a politician think twice," he says.

Zach also discusses the news today that the Justice Department is pursuing criminal charges against Goldman Sachs, an announcement he says doesn't surprise him given what he gleaned during his earlier liveblogging of the Senate investigative hearing into Goldman Sachs.

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