n a proposal set to be unveiled this afternoon, Sen. Chris Dodd (D - Conn.) anchors his latest financial reform bill around a relatively undiminished Federal Reserve.

The Fed, of course, has no shortage of critics eager to excoriate its handling of the financial crisis. Actually, that's putting it lightly -- the central bank has been blasted for its handling of consumer protection, interest rates, its failure to spot the housing bubble and its role in bailing out some of the nation's largest financial firms.

As Simon Johnson notes, critics will surely object to the fact that Dodd's bill will entrust the Federal Reserve to oversee the nation's largest and most systemically important financial firms. "Unfortunately, on the major issue - too big to fail financial institutions that caused the 2008-09 crisis and that will likely trigger the next meltdown - there is nothing meaningful in the proposed legislation," Johnson wrote of the bill.

Just last year, Reuters notes, Dodd said the Fed had been "an abysmal failure." Now, it appears the central bank has made "a remarkable recovery."

Dodd's treatment of the Fed has certainly evolved over the past few months. In November, this Wall Street Journal headline declared that Dodd was among a group of "Senators Seeking Sweeping Curbs On The Fed." Also in November, the Washington Post, for its part, declared "Dodd's Reform Plan Takes Aim At Fed."

The first version of Dodd's bill would have "stripped the Federal Reserve of nearly all of its power to oversee banks," the Washington Post noted.

The current bill, well, lets just say it's a bit different. Here's Reuters on the bill's details:

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www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/15/dodd-financial-reform-bil_n_498802.html