Scott Brown blasts Democratic Wall Street reform bill

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), a crucial swing vote, has blasted a Democratic bill to reform Wall Street, signaling a more bitter fight than expected on the issue.
    
“It’s clear that all efforts for a bipartisan resolution has failed,” said Brown, who voted on Monday with Democrats to advance legislation extending unemployment benefits.

Brown has emerged as one of the few swing votes in the Senate since winning a special election earlier this year, but he has drawn the line at the financial reform bill drafted by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
    
“To use that issue as a political wedge at a time when people are hurting and we need to solve problems and address issues in that field is wrong,” said Brown.
    
Brown said he is still open to working toward a bipartisan solution but that if Democrats advance what he called the partisan bill that President Barack Obama has promoted in recent weeks, “I can’t support it.”

Brown said the legislation would hurt community banks and small businesses, add an “extra layer” of regulation, and is “clearly being used by the administration to drive a wedge” and “that’s wrong.”

“The bottom line is the bill that is being composed right now by the chairman has been influenced by the administration to the point where it’s politics over really solving problems,” Brown said.