Goldman Sachs has told the media it didn’t structure the Abacus deals under SEC investigation to fail, because it invested its own money in the deal. But a Goldman witness today explained they had not choice: they wanted to lay it off but couldn’t.

Chris Dodd remains buried in talks with Republicans on Wall Street reform. Were he to reach a deal with them, it would be expected that the GOP would demand no amendments changing the bill in exchange for their support, which could essentially close up the bill and not allow for any improvements on the floor. By contrast, Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Banking Committee, wants to open up the Wall Street reform bill to a full debate with a majority-vote amendment process.

In an exclusive interview with FDL News, Senator Merkley said that the process of debate and amendment in the health care process, where Republicans would not allow unanimous consent on amendments unless a 60-vote super-majority was required, amounted to a “travesty for democracy.”

Ryan Grim reports that a bipartisan group of Senators is backing an amendment that will restore the Grayson-Paul “audit the fed” language to the Senate Financial Reform bill after Chris Dodd gutted it.

In the wake of Arizona’s Show Me Your Papers Act, I keep seeing this wingnut meme about how much all these damn Mex’cans are costing us.

In a made-for-Jon-Stewart moment, Levin asked again and again about the “shitty deal,” and Sparks tried to dodge, but the conclusion was clear – Goldman Sachs knew Timberwolf was bad, and yet not only marketed it to investors, but marketed it as a top priority.

The Democrats were meant to get the message loud and clear, and they did. The financial reform bill is quite toothless and it appears to have codified many of the things Goldman Sachs wanted, including making the bailouts permanent, so it’s win-win for them.

Carl Levin, in his statement, said that while Goldman and other investment banks, when they act properly, play a valuable role in the economy. “But in looking at this crisis, it’s hard not to echo the conclusion of another congressional committee, which found, ‘The results of the unregulated activities of the investment bankers … were disastrous.’ That conclusion came in 1934, as the Senate looked into the reasons for the Great Depression. The parallels today are unmistakable.”

A bunch of NY subway riders may have almost gotten killed last September 11 because Dick Cheney wanted to boost poll numbers in 2006 rather than let law enforcement work.

Democrats blasted Republicans, and deftly sidestepped the reality of Ben Nelson’s vote, for blocking consideration of a Wall Street reform bill, and they planned to bring up a revote as early as today, Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Jan Brewer’s really stepped in it.