Yep.My first reaction was that Nelson had seen what's going to happen to him in 2012 and is now just pandering to the other side.
1. He knew this vote was just a "test" and was not going to pass, so he avail himself of a better negotiating position.
2. He may be looking to be "bought" by helping his richest constituent Warren Buffett to get an exemption from derivatives rules, because it was excluded from the "test vote" bill:
Democrats Reject Warren Buffett's Bid for Derivatives Exemption - CNBC /WSJ, 2010 April 26, by Alex Crippen
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) late this morning that Democrats have agreed to "kill a provision from their derivatives bill pushed by Berkshire Hathaway that would have allowed the company to avoid a significant financial hit." CNBC's John Harwood has confirmed that development with his sources, although John notes the finreg debate still has a ways to go in the Senate, and then in House-Senate negotiations. The government wants to require companies to set aside collateral to cover potential losses from derivatives contracts. A front page piece (free content) in the printed edition of the Journal earlier this morning said Berkshire and Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson have been pushing to "largely exempt existing derivatives contracts" from the collateral rules. The Journal says Berkshire's argument is "it shouldn't be made to redo existing contracts and that it is already healthy enough to cover its obligations." ..... And in his "Ask Warren" appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box in March of 2009, after criticism and concerns over Berkshire's derivatives, Buffett had this to say: "We've used derivatives for many, many years. I don't think derivatives are evil, per se, I think they are dangerous. I've always said they're dangerous. I said they were financial weapons of mass destruction. But uranium is dangerous, and I just went through a nuclear electric plant about two weeks ago. Cars are dangerous. But I mean, every American wants to have one. You know, the -- a lot of things can be dangerous, but generally we regulate how they're used. I mean, there was a -- there was some guard up there with a machine gun on me, you know, when I was at the nuclear plant the other day. So we use lots of things daily that are dangerous, but we generally pay some attention to how they're used. We tell the cars how fast they can go." ..... Democrats in the Senate aren't buying what Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is selling.
I am not a fan of Warren Buffett's politics, but if he can help scuttle this power grab "reform" from seeing the light of day, more power to him and Ben Nelson.