NM Senators Criticize Republicans for Blocking Vote on Wall Street Reform Bill

Senator Jeff Bingaman today issued a statement saying he is disappointed that the Senate will not begin debate this week on a bill to reform Wall Street.

The Senate did not get enough votes to end a filibuster of the measure, S.R. 3217, which is intended to put an end to the bad behavior on Wall Street that is largely responsible for the economic downturn. The vote, which was along party lines, was 57-41; 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster. Not one Republican voted against the filibuster. One Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), joined Republicans to block the debate. (Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid voted against cloture in order to preserve his right to bring the bill back to the floor again.)

“It is very disappointing that we can’t muster enough votes to even debate a Wall Street reform bill. Americans are suffering deeply because of the bad decisions Wall Street made. I believe we must act now to put an end to the kind of behavior that devastated our economy and that put millions of Americans out of work,” Bingaman said.

Bingaman said he hopes some senators will reconsider their votes in the coming weeks and end the filibuster on the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.

Senator Tom Udall also issued a statement critical of the filibuster saying, "Reckless gambling and greed on Wall Street left America’s economy teetering on the edge of a cliff. Despite our near economic collapse and the billions of taxpayer dollars it took to bail out Wall Street, not a single Republican tonight voted to debate or amend a bill to hold them accountable. Wall Street’s irresponsible behavior cost middle class jobs, savings and retirements. It’s shameful that taking action to right this wrong has become yet another game of partisan warfare.”

At least now the entire world knows that the GOP is the Party of Yes on at least one issue -- giving Wall Street continuing free rein to run Ponzi games, create crooked investment schemes tied to exotic "derivatives" and generally run amok endangering our economy. Their filibuster in the Senate clearly shows they're on the side of Wall Street greed mongers and against the interests of ordinary Americans.

The U.S. House passed their financial reform bill (H.R. 4173) in December by a vote of 223-202.