Feingold explains 'no' vote, says bill won't prevent crisis

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) raised some eyebrows today by voting against cloture on financial reform.

In a just-released statement, Feingold said the bill would fail to prevent another financial crisis.

"We need to eliminate the risk posed to our economy by 'too big to fail' financial firms and to reinstate the protective firewalls between Main Street banks and Wall Street firms," Feingold said. "Unfortunately, these key reforms are not included in the bill. The test for this legislation is a simple one — whether it will prevent another financial crisis. As the bill stands, it fails that test. Ending debate on the bill is finishing before the job is done.”

Democrats fell three votes short of the 60 votes necessary to end debate. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) was the only other Democrat to vote against cloture. Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) did not vote.