Dodd Drops Plan to Kill Lincoln Swaps Restriction

If Blanche Lincoln had won the primary outright last night, then her proposal to require that banks separate themselves from their swap desks would be dead, and the bullet would have been Chris Dodd's proposal, which was to defer implementation for a year for a 'study', and then let Timothy "Eddie Haskell as Wall Street's Bitch" Giethner decide whether it was necessary.

We all know what Geithner would do.

But Lincoln is going to a runoff, and her opponent, Bill Halter, is already saying that this is exactly what she planned, that she would make the proposal, but would let it die once it was politically convenient.

So, Chris Dodd has decided not to introduce the "kill the regulation" amendment.

My guess is that he got a frantic call from Lincoln this morning, begging him to wait until after the June 8 runoff, and so the dynamics of the Congressional incumbency protection racket dictates that he pull the amendment off the table ……… At least until June 9.