Last week, as the on-again, off-again bi-partisan negotiations on financial regulatory reform were on again, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) said that they were on the 5 yard line and hoped to put the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. Shortly thereafter Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) announced that he was going his own way and yesterday unveiled a partisan bill. The Banking Committee said that a mark-up of the Dodd bill will start next week.

The Dodd bill isn’t all that different from his original draft that was released to the public last November. Even though the Consumer Financial Protection Agency will be housed in the Federal Reserve, it will still be an independent agency in all but name with wide sweeping regulatory powers with, as the Washington Post puts it "few checks on that authority." Provisions to federalize corporate governance remain in the Bill, while efforts to address systemic risk will sweep in non-financial companies and create additional layers of regulation. In providing for resolution authority, businesses will be hit with a new $50 billion tax to fund a permanent bailout fund, the systemic risk council and Federal Reserve will have the authority to break-up companies that are deemed too big and the imposition of the Volcker rule will place American firms at a global competitive disadvantage.

In commenting on the bill yesterday David Hirschmann,  president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (CCMC), said “this bill takes three steps backwards with the hope of making future progress.” David Hirschmann will hold a press conference at 12 noon today to discuss the Chamber’s concerns in greater detail.

In going the partisan route Senator Dodd cited the dwindling days left on the legislative calendar. What is being lost in the debate is that the U.S. economy needs to have real regulatory reform to provide businesses and job creators with the capital markets needed to fuel a 21st century economy. Real reform means clear rules of the road, allowing people to succeed or fail on their own and stopping the ingratiation of moral hazard. Real reform will create a system that can fuel prosperity and job growth for the next generation. Reform that misses the mark will breed stagnation and see the economy limp from crisis to crisis.

Putting points on the board, not worrying about the clock is what the American people need and deserve. A humble suggestion—lets everyone roll up their sleeves and work to find the right solutions. Sometimes its grit and determination that gets you into the end-zone, no matter what the clock says.