This is an excellent opportunity for the Republican Party to contribute to financial reform, and show that they are looking out for more than special interests and Bank – Hedge Fund – Private Equity - Lobbyist.   Republican efforts at financial reform should not water down efforts to rein in Wall Street banks; but rather, Republicans should seek to remove those industries/institutions that have been unfairly dumped into the "financial services" category, such as the insurance industry, and in particular the property and casualty insurance industry (P&C).  

The P&C insurance industry is very conservative by nature, provides an invaluable service and financial security for Americans and American business, and was not engaged in the risky financial bets undertaken by Wall Street Banks, and AIG, that nearly brought this great nation to its knees.   Nor did P&C, but with the exception of AIG, take on TARP or bailout monies. 

The insurance industry is already heavily regulated, and its executives have consistently behaved in a responsible manner. 

Republicans have a role to play in financial reform, and extricating entities, and industries, that have been painted with the same broad brush of regulatory reform of "financial services," is the right thing to do.... is the American thing to do!  The time for nuance, cool thinking and foresight is now.

- J.M. Hamilton

WASHINGTON – With political pressure mounting, Senate Republicans relented on Wednesday and agreed to let Democrats open debate on legislation that would provide the most far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s financial regulatory system since the aftermath of the Great Depression.

The decision by Republicans to allow floor debate came after they voted three days in a row to block the bill, and it suggested that they saw political peril in being seen as impeding tougher rules for Wall Street. But Republicans still oppose many aspects of the bill and a rough floor fight lies ahead.

President Obama, at a rally in Quincy, Ill., praised the movement in the Senate, but warned against efforts to weaken the bill. “I want to work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to move this legislation,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “What I don’t want is a deal made that is written by financial industry lobbyists.”

Democrats on Wednesday had threatened to keep the Senate in session overnight to dramatize the Republican opposition. Republicans said they decided to move forward after talks broke down between leaders of the banking committee and it was clear they would win no further changes to the measure.

At 6:15 p.m. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada asked for unanimous consent of the Senate to begin debate and there was no objection.

The action came after the Republicans met late Wednesday afternoon to discuss the financial regulatory legislation and the steps ahead.

Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, said that the banking committee chairman, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, had assured him that Democrats would consider Republican amendments on the floor. But the Republicans do not have the votes to win approval of any of their amendments without substantial Democratic support. And the decision to allow floor debate to begin appeared to be a significant retreat on the part of the Republican minority.

Democrats reacted cautiously without understanding what had changed the Republican thinking. Republicans remained opposed to a number of provisions in the bill and still control enough votes to filibuster and ultimately prevent the bill from being adopted.

“It’s time for this debate to begin,” Mr. Dodd said in a statement. “And it must be a serious, vigorous debate. It is time for the Senate to operate as the Senate should. Members must be allowed to offer amendments. We must allow many voices to be heard as we work to create a sound foundation for our nation’s future economic strength.”

In his statement, Mr. Dodd accused Mr. Shelby of seeking to weaken provisions in the bill to create a consumer protection bureau. “I cannot agree to his desire to weaken consumer protections given the enormous abuses we have seen,” Mr. Dodd said.

Republicans insisted that they had won some crucial concessions from Democrats, including the elimination of a proposed $50 billion fund that would be paid for by big financial companies and would be used to help pay for putting failed banks out of business.

The Obama administration also had expressed opposition to the fund, out of concern that it would complicate efforts to deal with more costly failures of financial companies. And the Democrats already had expressed a willingness to remove the fund from the bill.

The Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Republicans had won assurances that the legislation would be adjusted to close loopholes that he said would allow for the possibility of future taxpayer-financed bailouts of failed banks. Democrats said the bill was written specifically to prevent bailouts and said that Mr. McConnell was misrepresenting the legislation in suggesting that such loopholes existed.

Mr. McConnell defended the Republican blocking maneuvers over the last three days, which he said “was instrumental in gaining assurances from the chairman that changes will be made to end taxpayer bailouts and the dangerous notion that certain financial institutions are too big to fail.”

Both sides have said they expect the legislation to be approved. If so, it would be the most far-reaching restructuring of the nation’s financial regulatory framework since the aftermath of the Great Depression.

While Republicans have sought to portray their opposition as a fight to make substantive changes to the bill, they began to come under increasing pressure on Wednesday to explain their unwillingness to start debate and to offer amendments on the Senate floor.

Some Democrats had predicted that the Republicans were increasingly eager to get the bill on the floor and move past the allegations of obstruction. “They can’t sustain this,” said Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico.

The Republican decision to allow debate came as the party faced a potential of a backlash over its opposition to the bill. In an appearance on the “Today” show on NBC, Senator Collins, a centrist known for working across party lines, faced a series of tough questions about the Republican refusal to begin debate, even as they joined Democrats in criticizing Goldman Sachs at an oversight hearing on Tuesday and both sides acknowledge there is broad agreement on most parts of the bill.

“Senator Collins, that does bring up the irony here,” the “Today” host, Matt Lauer, said. “Both of you agree changes have to be made, that this is an unacceptable situation. And yet for the second time yesterday, Republicans blocked further debate on this financial-reform bill. How can you say in one room, ‘we have a major problem here’ and how can Republicans say in another room, ‘But we don’t want to debate it openly on the floor of the Senate right now?’ “

“I am confident that a financial reform bill will be brought to the floor,” Ms. Collins said, but she was cut off by Mr. Lauer reminding her that Republicans during the debate of health care legislation had complained of too much backroom dealing.