Chris Dodd: “The only reason that they even have a job is because of the taxpayers and their ability to put forth money to this.”

The truth is that the catastrophe was years in the making caused by regulatory negligence and Wall Street gambling.

In fact, it was the uncertainty inherent in a nontransparent and reckless financial system that made Dodd-Frank necessary in the first place.

I had hoped we'd get in the lame duck session to the ratification of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement and the Panamanian Free Trade Agreement.

But, whether such a temptation is motivated by a noble desire to speed up the legislative process or by pure political expedience, I believe such changes would be unwise. To my fellow Senators who have never served a day in the minority, I…