Warner: GOP, McConnell should bring 'specific suggestions' to financial regulatory debate

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Sunday implored Republicans to resume negotiating financial regulatory reforms with "specific suggestions" in mind, not just general criticisms.

During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Warner said those discussions would be essential in meeting his "hope that we can get a bill that will get 75 votes."

The Virginia Democrat, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, has been at the center of the debate over the legislation's proposed liquidation fund, which would ensure failed firms can be winded down without harming the larger economy. Senate Republicans, especially GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have recently derided that initiative as merely a back door for taxpayer bailouts.

But Warner said the fund, paid into only by financial firms, "truly is a death panel," adding it would function as an essential "trip wire" preventing further economic trouble. However, he signaled he would support relaxing that provision, provided Republicans proposed an idea of how to do it.

"If there's a way to cut that back and make it smaller, I'm willing to hear about it," he said, stressing he needed "specifics, not just general [approaches]."

"What we'd like to hear from our Senate Republican leader is specific suggestions," Warner later said, taking direct aim at McConnell's previous remarks.

(Cross-posted from the Briefing Room)