All sides pressing Frank on finance bill

WASHINGTON — Representative Barney Frank, trying to complete intense negotiations between the House and Senate over a massive revision of financial regulations, is coming under significant lobbying pressure from across the political spectrum as he tries this week to come up with a compromise that can win final approval.

Frank said the negotiations are just part of finalizing a bill. “What you have to decide at some point is that you hope that people will find that there are enough important things that they agree on so that they can tolerate an utterly small amount of disagreement,’’ Frank said. “It’s impossible to pass a bill that everybody’s happy with.’’

Yesterday, in a large congressional conference room, House and Senate lawmakers gathered around a table to discuss some lingering issues. One looms large: how far to go in restricting the financial product known as derivatives, which many institutions use to speculate or hedge their investment strategies.

Frank said the legislators would work through the next few days to complete their work.

The committee is trying to reconcile the differences between a House bill passed in December and a Senate bill approved last month. The Senate bill is seen as having tougher restrictions on businesses. Overall, the legislation is designed to crack down on some of the risky practices that contributed to the economic meltdown of 2008.

Why is this guy not in jail?

WAKE UP AMERICA

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