Something He'll Fight For?

There was no real surprise behind today's votes in the Finance Committee, especially considering what Robert Reich had to say just yesterday.

The most value that can be squeezed from these two votes is the very literal confirmation of who has been bought and paid for by the health care industry interests...

But this is surprising. There actually appears to be something Obama is either willing to fight for - or to let die - rather than allow half-assed reform give people a false sense of action from Congressional Democrats:

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that there were "big" concerns inside the administration over reports that Congress was scaling back a key pillar of the president's approach to reform: the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). And, in a warning shot to the legislative branch, he suggested that proposed legislation to create the CFPA might not pass the president's desk if it becomes too watered down in the process.

"The president would not sign any bill that he thought was too weak," said Gibbs. "I think we have seen what happens whether it is credit card companies, mortgage companies, we now see it more in stories covering the charges for bank overdrafts and the amount of money that costs the American people each year. The American people deserve an advocate on their behalf dealing with these entities. The president believes that strongly and believes that at the end of the day we will have a strong Consumer Finance Protection Agency working on behalf of the American people."

Granted, this Administration's history isn't exactly stellar when it comes to financial industry reforms (much less anything else that requires twisting Congressional arms), but it's difficult to find anything wrong with a veto threat in this case.

Then again, I suppose in a couple of days that Geithner and Rahm will quietly pull Gibbs aside, explain to him that the big contributors aren't going to be happy with this bill, and all talk of a veto will dissipate like so much dew on a summer morning.

But it's nice to see after 9 months of waffling some fortitude from this President. More please...