Democrats have a hypocrisy problem
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- The obscure banking provision that threatened to derail the recently passed government funding measure was derided by Democrats as a sop to Wall Street.
But some on the left have a John Kerry-esque problem with the "Boehner Bank Bailout" -- they were for it before they were against it.
At issue, is the so-called push-out regulation, which was designed to prevent banks from using government insured money to make risky investments -- like the loan swaps that fueled the 2008 financial crisis. Buried inside the 1,600-page spending proposal to keep the government running is a small provision to end that prohibition.
Democrats are livid.
READ: What's tucked in the spending bill
But last fall, that same proposal was considered by the Republican-controlled House. The bill, the majority of which was written by Citigroup and other Wall Street banks, passed with the support of 70 Democrats.
On Thursday, 28 House Democrats seemingly changed their mind, voting against the spending bill that included the rollback provision -- a provision that has become the rallying cry for progressive Democrats hoping to kill the bill. Of course, the massive legislation gives lawmakers lots of potential explanations for why they changed their votes. But whatever the explanation, in politics, it's still scored as a flip-flop.
Many progressive Democrats complained that the rollback was snuck into the bill at the last minute. Not true, said Republican and Democratic sources familiar with the negotiations. It had been an issue for weeks.
On the House floor, California Rep. Maxine Waters blasted the rollback as a danger to consumers.
See the original post:
Democrats have a hypocrisy problem