In an institution as sharply divided these days as the U.S. Senate, lawmakers typically follow the party line and rarely even listen to each other's speeches.
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But Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., had his ears open as Franken, D-Minn., recently described the purpose of his bill about credit raters and how it would work.
Shortly after Franken argued that his provision would have the effect of breaking up the cycle of credit-rating agencies providing inflated ratings to get repeat business, Wicker took to the Senate floor to offer his backing.
"I had not intended to speak tonight but having heard my friend the senator from Minnesota talk about problems with rating agencies I thought I would rise to say that in very many respects the senator from Minnesota is correct," said Wicker. "I hope we can strengthen the bill with regards to rating agencies."
(Market Watch)
Wicker was the first Republican co-sponsor of his credit rating amendment. His amendment passed 64-35.
