Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to remove Bank Tax and sell out kids and grandkids again!

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Responding to a threat by Scott Brown to vote against the the massive Wall Street overhaul package, US Representative Barney Frank and Senator Christopher J. Dodd were planning to reconvene a conference committee today to revisit the bill and remove a $19 billion tax on big banks that would have paid for increased oversight.

Dodd told reporters that they were planning to scrap a $19 billion bank fee – which has been Brown’s latest objection – and that the 43-member committee would meet as early as this afternoon.

Brown declined to comment on the changes, telling a battery of reporters that he wanted to wait and see what the conference committee decided.

Earlier today, Brown said that he would vote against the Wall Street regulatory overhaul that was adopted by the committee last week, citing the last-minute addition of the $19 billion in bank taxes to pay for the bill. It was a switch in position for Brown, who had previously voted in favor of an earlier version in the Senate.

The Massachusetts Republican sent a letter this morning to the top House and Senate negotiators – Representative Barney Frank, of Newton, and Senator Chris Dodd, of Connecticut – to reiterate his strong opposition to the tax.

It was the second time that Brown has used the leverage of his swing vote in the Senate to influence the bill in ways that were beneficial to the financial industry. He previously had made his continuing support contingent on winning key provisions in the conference committee for State Street Corp. and other banks, allowing them to continuing using a percentage of their capital to invest in Wall Street securities. Link to Barney and Dodd selling out

Brown sought to exempt altogether financial institutions that use banks for limited purposes, such as MassMutual and its insurance business or Fidelity Investments and its investment funds.

He also wanted to let firms invest a limited amount of their top capital in hedge funds and private equity funds. Brown initially called for a 5 percent cap, but negotiators settled on 3 percent. Those changes were backed by Boston-based State Street Corp. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp., which has several thousand Massachusetts employees.

KNOW THY ENEMY

Scott Brown..He Did It! He held finanical reform hostage

so State Street Corp. Mass Mutual and Bank of New York Mellon

got what they wanted. Scott remains commited to his

financial constituents and remains indifferent to

the impact his self centered and self serving

representation will impact grandchildren.

He deems himself pretty and throws temper

tantrums like he is still in junior high.

Let's simply bend over for Scott Brown and tap into

TARP funds to pay the $19 billion and simply send the

bill to grandchildren as it will be years before they

know what hit them....