Democrats Will Try Again to Move Forward on Financial Reform

After failing yesterday to convince even one Republican to break ranks with their party and vote with Democrats to begin debate on a financial industry reform bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled another cloture vote for 4:30 p.m. today to get the process moving.

No one expects the vote to turn out differently than last night, when the Senate did not reach the 60-vote threshold to overcome Republican objections and begin debate. (One Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, also sided with the GOP, saying he could not support proceeding to a bill that he has not seen.)

But with Goldman Sachs executives now testifying before the Senate for what Sen. Carl Levin called the company's decision to put "own interests ahead of the interest of its clients," Democrats are all too happy to continue putting Republicans on the record as opposing moving forward on the bill.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll Monday found that "about two-thirds of Americans support stricter regulations on the way banks and other financial institutions conduct their business."

Democratic leaders are expected to continue holding votes to move to debate until the Republican coalition fractures. Republicans hold 41 seats in the Senate, enough to hold up the legislation.

Both Republicans and Democrats have tried to cast each other as "the Party of Wall Street," with both sides pointing to significant financial industry campaign contributions to members of the other party. While financial firms had been donating more money to Democrats than Republicans for much of the last six years, they have shifted their giving to Republicans this year.

Among the bill's provisions are the creation of a system for dismantling struggling large firms, the establishment of a consumer protection agency, and a requirement that derivatives be traded openly. The House has already passed its version of the legislation.