Does Meaningful Financial Reform Have Any Chance?

baselinescenario.com — What the Democrats need is something that will compel big banks to come out in force against them — to show their teeth and to pick off votes in an explicit manner. These powerful forces, once mobilized and out in the open, will almost certainly stop anything from passing the Senate. But the debate will grab people’s attention — and the ads, the lobbying, and the outrageous vote buying of Big Finance will help get across the bigger point: Big banks became only more powerful as a result of our most recent boom-bust-bailout sequence. Reasonable reform has almost no chance of passing the Senate. But a well-crafted debate, drawn up on the right terms — and with the support of the president (although don’t hold your breath on that) — could really help shift popular understanding of the issues.

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