“Senate Banking Committee” on The Daily Caller

There are many valid reasons to be angry with bankers, and supporters of Senator Chris Dodd’s (D–CT) latest rewrite of his financial regulatory bill, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, have mentioned them all. Americans have heard all about greedy bankers, huge bonuses, shady accounting practices, and outright greed. But the reason for this rhetoric is nothing less than an attempt to seize control of the financial services industry and to micromanage it. (more)

The Senate Banking Committee approved Monday, March 22 the financial services overhaul bill by a vote of 13-10 (13 Democrats and 10 Republicans). An expected week-long mark-up schedule was cut short when Republican committee members decided over the prior weekend against submitting any amendments to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd’s bill. (more)

While the Senate Banking Committee may be close to proposing a financial regulatory reform bill, elsewhere in Washington the investigation continues into what caused the meltdown in the first place. (more)

The Federal Reserve will look into a report that several Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs, have been betting on a default by Greece on its sovereign debt, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. (more)

Last week’s surprise announcement by Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) that he will not seek reelection is yet another shift in the future make-up of the Senate Banking Committee. Bayh’s retirement comes only two months after the Committee’s Chairman, Senator Chris Dodd announced he would not seek reelection. (more)

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) garnered attention last month when it hauled the heads of four of Wall Street’s largest banks to Capitol Hill to answer questions about their roles in the taxpayer-funded bailouts of their companies. And since that first round of public hearings, the 10-member commission and its staff of 35 has worked quietly from offices on Pennsylvania Avenue, questioning key players behind closed doors as part of their ongoing investigation into the causes of the financial meltdown. (more)

WASHINGTON — A US Senator has taken the extraordinary step of blocking more than 70 of US President Barack Obama’s nominees amid a dispute over a lucrative US Air Force tanker deal, senate aides said Friday. (more)

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker will call for Congress to “define the business of commercial banks” and set policies to resolve large, complex failing institutions with “euthanasia not a rescue,” according to his remarks prepared for delivery before a Senate panel Tuesday and obtained from a Capitol Hill source. (more)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada postponed a vote on Ben Bernanke’s reconfirmation as chairman of the Federal Reserve originally planned for Friday as both Republican and Democratic lawmakers issued statements of concern about his role in the financial crisis. (more)

The net income the Federal Reserve Bank reported on Tuesday — $52 billion, the highest in all the Fed’s 96 years — is likely to plateau, or even evaporate, next year. The record profits mostly result from interest payments on bonds it purchased as part of a 2009 purchase program scheduled to end on March 31. (more)