Bipartisan support for financial reform looked likely up until now. Though two camps had emerged prior to the introduction of a bill, they had been, for the most part, based on the issue rather than the party. However, with legislation looming Democrats and Republicans have split at the seam (hard to say we didn’t see this coming). With President Obama leading the way, Senate Democrats are pushing their bill with no rewrite necessary. Expecting that a few key Republican senators, particularly those up for reelection, will support the bill, Democrats are much less inclined to change this bill than the healthcare reform passed last month. While the GOP rallies around senator McConnell, both parties agree that overheated rhetoric will only hurt policy.

Effectively the bill would give the FED the right to monitor the nation’s largest banks, those with assets over $50 billion. Then, if any institution were deemed instable the law would provide the Treasury Secretary with the authority to take over and effectively shut the company down. The overall goal, voiced by both Obama and Geithner, is to avoid any more taxpayer bailouts of financial institutions.

As legislation approaches, White house press secretary Gibbs adds that Obama “could not accept bad policy in pursuit of bipartisanship.” It is about time that the President has favored policy over politics. Though it would be great if everyone in Congress could work together, it is clear that in this particular case political clout is trying to overshadow lawmaking. Something needs to be done to prevent future collapses and if partisanship gets in the way of this bill then it could be years before another solution appears.