Republicans Reject Finance Bill Again, and Offer a Plan of Their Own

By EDWARD WYATT and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
NYT

WASHINGTON — Republicans thwarted the Democrats’ efforts to overhaul financial regulation for a second day on Tuesday and floated an alternative proposal with some crucial differences in the regulation of consumer lending.

The plan would also tighten regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants, provisions that were not included in the Democrats’ proposal.

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, warned that the Democrats’ bill would reach deep “into every nook and cranny of American business,” and tried to portray his party as a protector of Main Street from the unintended consequences of a bill aimed at fixing problems on Wall Street.

Democrats again accused the Republicans of demanding that the parties resolve all of their differences in closed-door negotiations before bringing the bill to the Senate floor for amendment — a process in which the Democratic majority enjoys a decisive advantage.

(More here.)