The Incumbent Protection Racket in Action

Remember when I said that Blanche Lincoln's ambitious proposal to regulate banks was intended to fail?

I said that it was just a reelection ploy in a tight primary election.

Well, the US Senate is proving me right:

But they [Senate leadership, the Obama administration, etc.] may have gotten themselves stuck with it--at least for now. With their assent, the plan was authored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who designed it to guard her left flank against a somewhat formidable primary challenge, and has been boasting of it on populist grounds for weeks. And that according to Republican and Democratic Senate sources, has led Democrats to quietly agree to postpone any changes they decide to make to her proposal until After this Tuesday's election has passed, to avoid embarrassing her in front of voters.

(emphasis original)

Lincoln pushed it out of committee knowing that it would be shredded by the Senate leadership.

She just wanted someone else to be the villain, preferably on Wednesday, May 19, or a few days after that.