Sen. Ben Nelson’s most prominent constituent (if you exclude Tom Osborne, of course) is billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who was opposed to provisions in the financial reform bill that would regulate existing derivative contracts. There was a move afoot to exempt those pre-existing derivatives from the bill’s reach, but it failed. That may explain why Nelson deserted his party and voted not to bring the bill to the floor for debate.

David Kurtz

David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.