WASHINGTON — The political pressure to enact financial reform intensified Friday as the government accused
The mere suggestion of further impropriety at a Wall Street firm, coupled with intense hearings that laid bare regulators' unwillingness to rein in risky lending practices at Washington Mutual could significantly hamstring Republican efforts to oppose or weaken a reform bill.
"It's going to be harder for the industry to make the arguments that they have been making, and it's going to be harder for a politician to be seen as a supporter of theirs," said Douglas Elliott, a fellow at the
Senate Democrats are hoping to vote on financial reform this week, and GOP leaders have been scrambling to keep Republicans united in opposing it unless Democrats agree to further compromises. But analysts said Friday that getting changes now will be tough.
"Even allegations of wrongdoing by any Wall Street firm strengthens the case for financial reform and makes it politically more difficult for anyone in Congress to oppose a strict bill," said Chris Low, the chief economist at
Cornelius Hurley, a professor at
"I think it does strengthen her hand in that argument, the gist of what she is saying is that these are very complex products and they should not be engaged in the traditional banking system which relies on trust and confidence," Hurley said. "The complaint against Goldman is exhibit A of abuse of trust and confidence."
The Goldman suit may also bolster the case for other controversial provisions such as the so-called Volcker Rule that would prevent banks from engaging in proprietary trading and investing in private-equity firms or hedge funds.
The
Sen. Carl Levin, the chairman of the
Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner at
Democrats leapt on the Goldman allegation to bolster their arguments for reform. "We don't need to know the outcome of this case to know that the opaque nature of unregulated asset-backed securities fueled the financial crisis," said
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) echoed that sentiment. "This is also why we need to pass strong Wall Street reform this year," he said. "Republicans should stop obstructing our efforts to hold Wall Street accountable so that Main Street can once again prosper."
Though many analysts predict that enough Republicans will come around to ensure passage of the Senate bill, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky persuaded all 41 GOP senators to sign a letter saying they would oppose the bill in its current form.
"We are united in our opposition to the partisan legislation reported by the Senate Banking Committee," they said in a letter.
And Republican leaders tried to argue that the Goldman suit bolsters their argument, saying the bill would perpetuate government bailouts. This argument has been widely discredited in recent days —
"Despite President Obama's rhetoric, his permanent bailout bill gives Goldman Sachs and other big Wall Street banks a perpetual, taxpayer-funded safety net by designating them too big to fail," said House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio).