Reid Forces Republicans' Hand on Financial Reform

The Senate Majority Leader schedules a big test vote for Monday

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, anxious to get financial regulatory reform and impatient with Republican delays, has scheduled a key test vote for 5:15 p.m. on Monday. The vote for cloture on debate will require 60 votes. With Republicans still struggling to determine whether they will support reform, can the test vote pass? Is Reid moving too fast?

• Reid's Bluff-Calling Will Work  ABC News's Rick Klein predicts, "Financial regulatory reform is exceedingly likely to pass the Senate next week. It will do so, in all probability, with decent, maybe even significant bipartisan support." He adds, "The next big legislative item will end with some of the recognizable bluff-calling, just like that, with Washington either moving with unusual alacrity or its usual sluggishness, depending on your perspective."

• Even If It Fails, It Succeeds  Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown and Meredith Shiner write, "if no Republican cracks, and the bill goes down, Reid is calculating that would be politically devastating for the GOP, because the party would appear to be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Wall Street bankers many Americans blame for the recession."

• Could Lead To Damaging 'Showdown'  The Washington Post's Brady Dennis and Paul Kane warn that Reid could be "setting up a possible showdown between Republicans and Democrats if efforts at a compromise fall short." They "must find common ground" on a handful of contentious provisions, such as the $50 billion resolution fund and the Volcker Rule, if they are to proceed.

• Why Dems Want To Move Fast  Nesweek's Jonathan Alter explains, "The longer the negotiations went on with the GOP, the weaker the bill would have become. Unlike health-care reform, where the Republicans were all opposed, this bill was in danger of being watered down by Republicans who were, well, carrying water for the banks. The bill is already weak tea, but at least now it won't get any weaker."

• Exploiting the Fraying GOP Opposition  The Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman and Damian Paletta write, "Internal GOP divisions improved Democrats' chances of securing another of their big domestic priorities: a bill they could tout as addressing the causes and aftermath of the financial crisis. ... Nerves appeared to be fraying among Republicans faced with the increasingly unappetizing prospect of opposing new curbs on Wall Street."