Why Republicans Want to Kill Financial Reform

The Senate Republicans commit political suicide by blocking the financial reform bill from being debated on the Senate floor. An ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 65 percent support stricter regulation. The GOP establishment is unhappy that Republican voters aren't strongly against financial reform. The same poll shows 52 percent of Americans trust Obama on financial reform.

Steve Benen asked why are Republicans scared to debate financial reform on the Senate floor.

But Republicans have a different approach in mind — they don’t want to even start the debate. Despite all the talk of the last year about transparency, GOP officials insist that all work on Wall Street reform occur behind closed doors, and the ideas that could be debated on the floor are instead hashed out in secret, in between Republican fundraisers with representatives of the very institutions affected by the legislation.

The answer is Wall Street gives out more lobbying money than any other industry. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn met with 25 Wall Street executives to ask for more lobbying money. Republicans will kill financial reform in exchange for Wall Street helping get more Republicans elected. That is why Republican Senators have no interest in debating financial reform.