Sherrod Brown plans to oppose spending package

Jack Torry in our Washington Bureau is reporting that Sen. Sherrod Brown told Cox-TV today he plans to oppose the $1.1 trillion spending package designed to keep the federal government open until next September unless supporters of the bill remove a controversial change to the nation’s financial regulations.

The bill would change a section of the 2010 financial regulation law known as Dodd-Frank which prevents banks from using taxpayer-guaranteed deposits for transactions known as swaps where risky loans are sold. Proponents describe it as a minor change, but opponents such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have denounced it as a “Wall Street gamble with taxpayer money.”