Senate Passes Financial Reform

Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd zip up after screwing the taxpayer again.

The Senate passed the broadest reform of the nation’s financial system since the Great Depression Thursday, paving the way for President Barack Obama to sign into law his administration’s third piece of major legislation.

The Senate's 60-39 vote came nearly two years after a financial crisis knocked the U.S. economy to its knees.

At a thud-inducing 2,300 pages, the legislation is designed to rein in big banks and protect consumers, with the aim of averting a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

"The financial reform legislation approved by the Congress today represents a welcome and far-reaching step toward preventing a replay of the recent financial crisis," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a statement after the vote.

Its ultimate impact, however, will depend on the government regulators assigned to implement it.