Senator Dodd’s legacy, a fighter for financial reform

I am almost embarrassed to admit it: The first time I heard of Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), I was watching “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” a few years ago.  In one of his reoccurring, comedic interludes, O’Brien compared Mr. Dodd’s headshot with that of an animated Simpsons character, I believe, saying that they looked just alike. Since then, I have forgotten who the “twin”, animated character was and learned much about Mr. Dodd.  (I will exchange my chagrin with pride now, realizing that my political IQ has increased tremendously at the expense of my knowledge of pop culture.)

Earlier this week, Mr. Dodd announced his plans to retire from the United States Senate where he has served for almost 28 consecutive years.  While his announcement (made amid a flurry of controversy regarding his diminishing popularity and ability to maintain his seat) was not shocking, it certainly was disappointing to learn that one of the most powerful fighters for consumer rights is leaving.  As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Dodd was especially vociferous about the need for change to the credit card industry. 

Mr. Dodd’s political legacy will be, in general, his passionate advocacy for financial regulation and, in particular, the passage of his Credit CARD Act of 2009. Furthermore, he will be remembered for standing up for and sticking with unpopular ideas like credit card reform decades before any significant legislative reform was enacted.  While the verdict is still out on the Credit CARD Act and considering that many believe the timidity of some of Mr. Dodd’s regulatory policies are self-defeating, this much is clear: Consumer advocates and financial reformists alike have lost significant ground in the fight to ensure equity in our financial system.  I doff my hat to Mr. Dodd.

In a statement distributed on Jan. 6 by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), Mr. Dodd is lauded:

For the past three years, Chris Dodd has provided skillful, creative, and forceful leadership on some of the most important problems facing our country and the world.  While I greatly admire his leadership on health care reform, obviously the area where we have worked together most closely is in our capacity as chairs of the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over the financial industry and the economic crisis that industry caused.  For both of us, taking over as committee chairs in 2007, after many years in the minority, gave us a high degree of responsibility to tackle the problems that have been caused by the prior period.  I was consistently impressed with Senator Dodd’s ability to act effectively in the difficult parliamentary environment of the Senate as we responded to the Bush Administration’s request to deal with the financial crisis, and working at the same time to prevent another occurrence.  Those who admire the work done by Kenneth Feinberg to put the first constraints in American history on excessive compensation for inancial executives should remember that it was Senator Dodd’s amendment that gave him that power.

I will miss his leadership in future Congresses, but I do look forward to working closely with him for the rest of this year on finishing the job of significant financial regulatory reform, to which he is committed, and to which he has already worked to advance.