We dare you to oppose this! No, not you, Ben Nelson..

On Monday night, the Democrats held the first of a series of test votes to attempt to bring the financial reform bill to the floor for debate and amendments. As expected, the Republicans voted against the motion to proceed as a bloc, setting the process back several days. They were joined by the conservative Democratic senator, Ben Nelson, who has been trying to appease his Nebraska voters since his vote for the health care bill in December. The Republicans have been claiming that their unified vote against the motion to proceed is because they want the bipartisan negotiations involving Bob Corker, Chris Dodd, and Richard Shelby to continue. These talks had previously collapsed after going on for several months in which the Republicans came back to the negotiating table more than three times.

Putting the politics of the financial bill aside, what the Republicans are doing here is completely hypocritical. In John Boehner's closing speech against the HCR bill, he frequently cited back room deals and closed negotiations in his opposition. By voting against the motion to debate and amend the financial reform bill, Republicans are essentially saying that they want to postpone debate on the bill in favor of closed door negotiations. What these senators do not seem to understand is that voting against a motion to begin debate is a vote against doing anything about the problem the bill is addressing. If you are really committed to solving the problem, the first step is to add your ideas through amendments on the senate floor.

I don't think I need to say this, a solid majority of Americans support this already.