Cornyn: No bipartisan deal on financial reform bill

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Wednesday said optimism has waned for a broad swath of Republicans to support Democrats' financial reform bill. 

"I didn't get the sense that people were quite as optimistic here, today, this afternoon, as they have been as recently as yesterday," he told reporters. 

Cornyn, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, blamed the lack of enthusiasm on Democrats painting Republicans as Wall Street sympathizers to gain political support for the bill. 

"They [Democrats] want to make a political issue out of this as opposed to solving the problem," he said, adding, "From the president on down, [Democrats] basically are trying to pretend that Republicans are somehow protecting Wall Street." 

Democrats have recently accused Republicans of putting the interests of Wall Street above those of regular people.

Cornyn called the Democratic proposal a "bad bill" that is in need of a serious overhaul. 

"This [bill] represents, at least in the present form, a vast expansion of federal government power over the entire financial services industry, from the bottom, up," he said. "And it's not designed to fix the problem of too big to fail that got us into this mess in the first place." 

Cornyn also said that Republican support could increase for the reform bill created by Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) if the Connecticut senator was allowed unfettered negotiation power.

"It [support] kind of vacillates, depending on to what extent Senator Dodd is in the driver's seat and to the extent to which the White House pulls him back," Cornyn said. 

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Banking's ranking member , is expected to meet with Dodd later this evening to discuss a way forward on the bill.