Congress Arms Finance Reform With Big Guns

After the pinball-esque drubbing health reform took before Congress spit it out, it's Wall Street's turn. But, reports Politico, the financial reform bill making its way through the Capitol is actually picking up fangs rather than being rendered toothless. Democrats know they have the wind at their backs, Republicans can't afford to be perceived as siding with the Street, and as a result, the measure is gaining once-unlikely provisions.

Should the measure pass, the feds will gain the right to audit the Fed and to set up a barrier between credit-rating agencies and issuers. “I’ve always thought that they want to be part of Wall Street reform," Dick Durbin, who last week successfully championed an amendment cracking down on debit card fees, says of Republicans. "I think that’s why the filibuster crumbled.” (More financial reform stories.)