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I've been writing about the financial crisis and following the reform bills making their way through Congress. This post is the clearest I've seen on clarifying the fine and not-so-fine distinctions between Blanche Lincoln's proposal, the Merkley Levin amendment attempt and the Volcker rule concepts. For readers who want to sort out where the Obama Adminsitration started out on derivatives reform and what "their" Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner actually put on the table, they would do well to consult Michael Greenberger's portion of the Roosevelt Institute's issue essay - "Make Markets be Markets," from March 2010 - that is, between the passage of the House bill in Dec. of 2009 and the intensification of the Senate maneuverings in the spring of 2010. Here's the link: http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/sites/all/files/OTC%20Derivatives.pdf Greenberger, who is one of the genuine experts whom reformers repeatedly quote from, says Geithner's Aug. 11, 2009 paper, called the "Proposal OCT Act," advanced four significant loopholes to thrwart comprehensive regulation of derivatives: One for excluding Foreign Exchange Swaps - which is important because an increasingly chaotic international economy means everyone is trying to hedge currencies values - and many are trying to make bets on their direction; Second, another loophole to escape Mandatory Clearing and Exchange Trading for non-banks...;Third, "Thwarting State and Private Regulatory Enforcement; and Fourth, setting a legal impediment to voiding "an illegal swap in either state or federal court" - something Senator Cantwell has been trying, unsuccesfully, to close by an amendment. The title of Greenbergers essay is "Out of the Balck Hole: Reg. Reform of the Over-the-Counter Derivatives Market." It certainly helps shine a lot on the gap between what the President wanted back in June of 2009 and what his own Sec. of the Treasury was pushing in August of the same year. So far Geithner's loopholes had prevailed both in the house and Senate versions - until Senator Blanche Lincoln's proposal caught everyone by surprise - thanks Mary, again for clarifying some of the toughest concepts clouding things for the general public.