Senate thwarts GOP attack on consumer watchdog

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100507/ts_nm/us_financial_regulation

The Senate on Thursday rejected a Republican attempt to defang consumer protections in a sweeping Wall Street reform bill, while voting to give small banks a break on deposit insurance.

Despite procedural delays, lawmakers covered some ground on a top priority of the Obama administration that would be the biggest overhaul of the financial rulebook since the 1930s.

A proposal to challenge the Federal Reserve's secrecy about its role in the 2008 financial meltdown gained support in the Senate, but a vote on it was put off until next week.

As lawmakers debated, a stock market stampede wiped out nearly $1 trillion in equity value before prices recovered. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst intraday point drop ever.



Democrats defeat GOP alternative on consumer agency
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36905.html
Sanders told POLITICO Thursday night that the compromise included "very minor modifications, which in some ways strengthen the bill." He pointed to provision requiring an audit of Fed bank governance, including whether the bank directors effectively represent the public and whether the election of bank directors presents a conflict of interest.