Corker expects another week of negotiations on Wall Street reform bill, removal of $50B fund

Democrats will eventually drop a proposed $50 billion fund and it will take another week for a financial regulatory reform bill reaches the floor, epublican Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) told reporters Tuesday, 

As negotiations continue on the bill, Corker, a lead negotiator and Senate Banking panel member, criticized his own party's strategy for targeting the unwinding fund as a reason to hold up the measure, saying that reaching a bipartisan agreement "isn't a heavy lift." 

Corker said he wouldn't be surprised if the bill attracted between 70 and 80 votes. 

His expectation are that Senate Democrats will file cloture by the end of the week then possibly hold a vote on Monday to proceed to consideration of the measure.

Corker said it would be fair to give Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) the rest of this week "work something out."

The argument that the $50 billion fund allows for "unlimited" bailouts plays into the hands of the Obama administration, which also opposes the account, he said. Keeping the fund would halt the administration's effort on a proposed bank tax, he added. 

"They want to tax the banks and if there's a $50 billion pre-fund, it keeps them from doing it, so I don't understand our line of attack over that fund," Corker said. 

Corker, who said he isn't against the bill because of the account, said it has nothing to do with bailout and called the rhetoric of the past couple of weeks "silly" between Congress and the White House.  

The fight is between Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner who opposes the creation of an "unwinding" fund and FDIC administrator Sheila Bair, a Republican, who proposed it, Corker said. During earlier negotiations on the bill, there were several suggestions from both parties on the size of the fund and there still needs to be a way to wind down firms whether the money is collected up front or after a firm fails. 

"If we end up with a good bill I'm going to vote for it, if we end up with a bad bill I'll vote against it," Corker said.