Talks With G.O.P. on Financial Bill at ‘Impasse,’ Dodd Says

By SEWELL CHAN
NYT

Two months of Senate negotiations over legislation to rewrite financial regulations — a top priority of the Obama administration — fell apart on Friday amid wrangling over a proposal to create a consumer financial protection agency that would oversee credit cards, mortgages and other products.

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, said that Democrats would forge ahead with their own proposal, in the absence of Republican support. That could result in a bitter partisan fight resembling the struggle over health care — an outcome that Mr. Dodd has said for months he would try to avoid.

The administration, which has announced a series of initiatives to help small businesses and is seeking Senate action on a jobs bill next week, gave a guarded response to the breakdown in talks. “Enacting comprehensive financial reform remains an urgent priority and we believe it is important that the process move forward,” the deputy Treasury secretary, Neal S. Wolin, said.

While Republican members of the banking committee expressed hope that a deal could still be brokered, several Democratic members said on Friday that they were resolved to move on.

(More here.)