Obama brings push for financial reform to Wall Street

 President Barack Obama comes to Manhattan Thursday to push for tightening the reins on Wall Street amid signs that Republicans are softening their opposition to a sweeping Democratic bill on financial regulation.

The president's pitch, however, will touch a sore spot in New York politics, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg defends Wall Street from populist bashing while complaining that the state's congressional delegation hasn't done enough to protect their largest city's vital financial industry.

In a speech scheduled to begin at 11:55 a.m. at Cooper Union in the East Village, Obama will try to once again make a case that taps into Americans' anger at Wall Street as the second anniversary of the economic collapse nears and as Democrats prepare to bring a bill to the Senate floor for its first votes next week.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday's speech comes at a critical time. He said Obama will "remind the American people what's at stake, what's important in financial reform."

"The House has passed financial reform," Gibbs said, "and the Senate is on the cusp, we hope, of both taking up and moving forward on changing the rules of the road for how banks and our financial system operate."

Obama wants to ensure "that we don't find ourselves at the mercy of a series of risky decisions as we have in the past," Gibbs said.

Bloomberg, who plans to attend the speech, has raised concerns about New York's bankers and brokers being burned by Obama's drive to put controls on the $450 trillion derivatives market, create a consumer financial protection bureau and end "too-big-to-fail" billion-dollar bailouts.

He also worries about the heated attacks on the industry.

"The bashing of Wall Street is something that should worry everybody," Bloomberg said last week. He added this week, "We're on their side."

Last week, Bloomberg took his concerns to Washington. He met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a harsh critic of the financial regulation bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and bill sponsor Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), an aide said Wednesday.

In Washington, Bloomberg complained that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been "AWOL" in defending Wall Street, according to a report on politico.com.

Though long seen as the senator from Wall Street, Schumer supports Dodd's bill and has made his own push for some provisions unpopular with the financial industry, most recently a tax on banks to repay about $90 billion in expended TARP funds.

Schumer also faces pressure from some of his Wall Street campaign contributors, who have donated millions to his funds and national races at his behest. But he defends his work.

"There is no question there were excesses in the financial services that helped lead to the crisis," Schumer said Wednesday. "We need to fix those problems with strong, forward-looking regulation that is constructive, not vindictive."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also supports Dodd's bill, an aide said. She is focused on a consumer financial protection agency and derivatives regulation.

Dodd and other Democrats say they see signs that Republicans are softening their opposition to the legislation. After McConnell earlier this week toned down his attacks on the bill, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) voted with Democrats on the Agriculture Committee to tighten oversight of derivatives, breaking the party line vote.

Reid is expected to bring the bill to the floor for its first votes Monday, requiring him to find a Republican to join 59 Democrats for the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster.