Research Briefing

SEN. CHRIS DODD (D-CT) ON OBAMA’S POST-MASSACHUSETTS BANK REGULATION PROPOSALS

DODD YESTERDAY: “The Idea That The Administration Made Such A Major Point A Week Or So Ago Seemed To Many To Be Transparently Political And Not Substantive. And It’s Adding To The Problems Of Trying To Get A Bill Done.” (Sen. Chris Dodd, Opening Remarks At Senate Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs Committee Hearing, Washington, DC, 2/2/10)

DODD NOT ONLY ONE TO POINT OUT OBAMA’S AGENDA “SMACKS OF POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM”

The Washington Post’s Steven Pearlstein Says Obama’s Decision To Push Bank Regulations Seems “Less Substantive” And More “Political.” “However, Obama suddenly reversed course and embraced the populist critique, demanding that commercial banks give up their risky investment activities. In truth, the new rules probably would not do much to reduce the chance of another crisis, or another bailout. The president’s motives seemed less substantive than they were political, allowing him to shift from defense to offense and put Republicans in the uncomfortable position of having to defend the Wall Street status quo.” (Steven Pearlstein, Op-Ed, “Abandoning Health Care After Brown Election, And Other Washington Nonsense,” The Washington Post, 1/22/10)

David Gergen Says New Rhetoric On Banks “Sounds Contrived.” “I have to tell you there’s also dangers here. First of all, it sounds contrived. Two days after Massachusetts, to be out there three days after Massachusetts, to be out there with this kind of rhetoric, it doesn’t seem to fit him… [Democrats] have to think about this very carefully, about what the substance of what they’re doing is. It’s the rhetoric, the rhetoric is going to lead them into some bad places if they’re not careful.” (CNN’s “The Situation Room“, 1/22/10)

• Gergen: Making Corporate America The “Bad Guys” Could Hurt Efforts To Strengthen Economy. “It’s not at all clear if you start villainizing various industries, starting with the banks and many others, and the President engaged in some of this yesterday after the Supreme Court decision, if you make people in corporate America the bad guys, how do you think they’re going to work with you on economic recovery? Don’t they have to be partners in putting this economy back on track?” (CNN’s “The Situation Room“, 1/22/10)

Obama’s Proposal To Regulate Banks “Smacks Of Political Opportunism.” “President Barack Obama is largely right about the need to re-regulate banks, but the way he is going about it smacks of political opportunism… After the Democratic loss in Massachusetts and with his health-care reform bill becalmed in the Senate, he needs a victory. And the big banks, which vie with Washington in unpopularity with the public, were too tempting a target.” (Dale McFeatters, “Editorial: Obama Picks A Fight With The Banks,” Scripps News Service, 1/22/10)