The Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill passed the Senate a few minutes ago by a 60-39 vote. Republicans Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine joined 57 Democrats to pass the bill. Democrat Russ Feingold, who apparently never heard of the aphorism about not letting the perfect become the enemy of the good, opposed the bill on grounds it did not go far enough.
Setting aside my concerns with the corporate governance provisions of the bill, I think its biggest failure is the absence of any substantive effort to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their policies and activities did much to create the housing bubble that led to the financial crisis. To date, moreover, they have required more than $150 billion in taxpayer funds just to stay afloat. Yet, all Congress did was to order a study of their role. It's an appalling gap.
