10.11.12

Sen. Cantwell Does Something Very Important, but Too Wonky for Folks to Pay Much Attention to, Let Alone Understand

By:  Posted by Goldy, thestranger.com

It's not always clear what our legislators do, especially when it comes to the kind of wonky policy stuff that US Sen. Maria Cantwell tends to play in. For example, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) just approved new rules that will make Enron-style market manipulation (i.e. fraud) more difficult... rules made possible by a piece of complicated legislation Sen. Cantwell authored as part of last year’s Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill.

"I particularly thank Senator Maria Cantwell for her leadership on the anti-fraud and anti-manipulation provisions," said CFTC commissioner Bart Chilton in a prepared statement. "Without Senator Cantwell these provisions wouldn’t exist." And this wasn't a one-off. This is just the kind of stuff that Sen. Cantwell does.

Not exactly the sort of sexy politics that gets a senator a lot of notice. And yet so far, Sen. Cantwell is still running unopposed in her 2012 race for reelection.