No one wants to stop it----
Senate Republicans oppose financial reform in letter
3:52pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All 41 Republican members of the U.S. Senate have signed a letter, obtained by Reuters on Friday, opposing a Democratic financial reform bill.
President Barack Obama's Democrats have expressed optimism that they could win over the solitary Republican vote needed to guarantee the bill's smooth path through the Senate.
"We are united in our opposition to the partisan legislation reported by the Senate Banking Committee," said the letter addressed to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.
"As currently constructed, this bill allows for endless taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street and establishes new and unlimited regulatory powers that will stifle small businesses and community banks," the letter said.
It comes as Democrats move to bring their 1,336-page bill, hammered out over months of debate and bipartisan negotiations, to the Senate floor for a vote, expected this month.
Democrats want to tighten government regulation of banks and capital markets to prevent a repeat of the 2007-2009 financial crisis that tipped the U.S. economy into a deep recession and unleashed a global drive for reforms.
Republicans oppose the legislation, calling it a costly over-reach by government. The bill is also widely opposed by the banking industry and Wall Street, which would see their profits squeezed under some of the reforms proposed.
(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; editing by Patrick Graham)
