By Shailagh Murray and Brady Dennis
Democratic leaders scrambled Monday to peel away the Republican votes they need to bring a Wall Street reform package to the Senate floor this week — an effort hampered by sharp partisan divisions.
Both sides are eager to exploit a lingering resentment toward Wall Street in the election-year debate. Democrats have seized on the attempt to curb reckless investment practices as part of an effort to depict the GOP as out of touch with the concerns of average Americans. On Monday, Democrats sought to use a lawsuit brought against financial giant Goldman Sachs by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a cudgel to persuade Republicans to line up behind the bill.
Republicans, in turn, think voters have even less faith in Washington than in the banks and investment houses that played central roles in the nation’s economic collapse, and they are portraying Democrats’ overhaul attempt as a “bailout” that could cost taxpayers billions.
