Senate Republicans ended three days of resistance on Wednesday and said they were ready to allow debate of legislation to overhaul regulation of the nation’s financial system.The same grandstanders that had moaned about "back room deals" and Congress not heeding the will of the people with respect to insurance reform, had been holding up open debate on financial reforms that a substantial majority of Americans favor, all in the service of their own "private negotiations" (i.e., back room deals).
This latest temper tantrum doesn't seem to have gained the Republicans much. Weirdly, the reason they're stating for dropping their filibuster is that that the Democrats hadn't conceded anything to Sen. Shelby, the Republican's chief negotiator.
That's not to say that there hasn't been any affect from the delay. Republicans aligned themselves with the bankers who helped to crash the economy and reinforced their reputations as partisan obstructionists. By caving on the filibuster, they've shown a remarkable lack of backbone. And we may yet be treated to the spectacle of several Republicans having to explain their initial support of the filibuster while explaining their positive vote for the legislation.
