When it comes to the bill on banking regulations that's pending in the Senate right now, Sen. Maria Cantwell has been a lead advocate for including dramatic reforms.



As we noted yesterday, we're still waiting to see if Sen. Cantwell's going to push for her Glass Steagall amendment, which trumps President Obama's weaker Volcker Rule when it comes to protecting consumers from investment banking shenanigans.

But Cantwell did call for some other reforms during the banking bill debate this week. Gender reform.

POLITICO reports this morning that Cantwell raised hell when she felt her female colleague Sen. Blanche  Lincoln (D-Ark)—who shared Cantwell's goal of getting strong regulations on derivative trading in the bill—wasn't being heard.  And once again, Cantwell's bad guy? Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner:

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) called out the Senate old boys for seeming to brush off the new girl on the financial reform block: Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.).



Resentment had been building already over the fact that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner never met with Lincoln on her derivative bill prior to her markup last week. And as described by two persons in the room, Cantwell served notice that it would be a big political mistake if Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) didn’t alter his package to blend in major portions of Lincoln’s work product.

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Asked about the treatment of Lincoln, Cantwell singled out Geithner: “The treasury secretary didn’t meet with her until after the bill was passed out of the committee… It’s important to go back and realize that we deregulated the derivatives, preventing the CFDC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] from doing their job, and a big part of getting this right is to go back and make sure derivatives are properly overseen by that agency.”

“I don’t have any beef with Reid. He’s doing a good job. I have concern about other people,” Cantwell said. “I want to make sure that both committee bills get integrated. It’s not just one committee. You have two bills and you should respect both.”

Cantwell herself has long favored tougher regulations for derivatives; and although not on Senate Agriculture, she was an influence on Lincoln and encouraged her “get tough” regulatory stance. Cantwell also brings her own experience with Congress’s old boy network: She was one of several House Democratic women who lost their seats in 1994 after backing President Clinton’s agenda while their male colleagues often played it safer.

Cantwell's office told PubliCola they didn't have any comment. "The piece pretty much speaks for itself," Cantwell's press secretary John Diamond said.