Fighting Frank

Capitol Hill Agenda

Throughout 2009, industry groups have vehemently opposed President Barack Obama’s effort to create a new consumer agency for the financial sector.

 Initially, the White House and Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) wanted the lower chamber to pass regulatory reform, including language on the agency, by the August recess.

 

But Frank pushed back his timetable in the face of stiff industry resistance, looking to move it this fall. He also worked closely with the Obama administration to use the bully pulpit to make the case for the bill. But despite the White House’s public-relations offensive, the legislative effort stalled.

 

Frank has a liberal voting record, but he is a pragmatist and will compromise, when necessary.

 

Needing more votes and seeking to appease some conservative-leaning Democrats on his committee, Frank recently released a scaled-back version of regulatory reform. But major players in the financial-services industry didn’t bite.

 

Frank is now pulling out other stops to move his bill. He has scheduled a hearing for later this week on credit card reform, floating the possibility of reviving “interchange fees” legislation.

 

Retailers want to lower the fees, which are paid to credit card companies on every purchase that involves plastic. Credit card companies and financial institutions are strongly opposed to legislation that would make changes to the interchange fees.

 

Frank’s message is clear: If you don’t work with me on regulatory reform, you make that choice at your peril.

 

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on its healthcare reform bill later this week, while the House struggles to merge three panel-passed measures into one that can attract 218 votes on the floor.

 

Other issues that will be tackled in congressional committee this week include the 2010 census, extending the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit and proposed economic sanctions on Iran.

 

The debate on the war in Afghanistan will be discussed at length at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Obama will meet with congressional leaders of both parties on Tuesday to discuss the conflict.

 

 

 

 

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is chairman of the Finance Health subcommittee, but he has had little influence on healthcare reform this year.

 

He is the second-ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, behind Chairman Max Baucus (Mont.), yet was excluded from the bipartisan discussions on health reform.

 

He is clearly frustrated. This summer, he told The New York Times that he had “basically been shut out of the process.”

 

Baucus and Rockefeller do not see eye to eye on healthcare. Rockefeller called the Medicare prescription drug benefit, which Baucus helped create, “a national disaster.”

 

After Baucus released his long-awaited healthcare bill last month, Rockefeller said, "There is no way in its present form that I will vote for it.” He added that the Baucus bill would not attract his vote unless it was changed in “vast amounts.”

 

While various amendments have passed, the legislation has not been dramatically changed in the Finance Committee markup.

 

So the question is: Will Rockefeller vote for it? President Barack Obama is lobbying Rockefeller to vote yes.

 

Since Rockefeller made his remarks about the Baucus plan, Obama invited Rockefeller to the White House for a chat and then called him to make the case for a yes vote in committee.

 

It is hard to envision Rockefeller voting no. He has long been a champion of overhauling the nation’s healthcare system, having been a proponent of President Bill Clinton’s effort in the 1990s.

 

Rockefeller, who is an ardent supporter of a public option, has to be heartened that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is committed to passing healthcare reform that has language on a public option in it.

 

Even though Rockefeller was not pleased that he did not help craft the Finance Committee bill, he doesn’t want to be an impediment to Obama’s top domestic priority.

 

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has also been cagey on how he will vote. If Wyden and Rockefeller vote no (along with every Republican on the committee), the bill will be defeated. It’s very hard to see that happening.