President Obama presented the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill as broadside to the big bailed-out banks. To some extent, the banks took it as such, as they shifted their donations from being heavily Democratic to heavily Republican.

But all along, there were signs that the legislation wouldn’t hurt the big banks too much, and that, in fact, it might help them. Back in June, as Wall Street hosted a fundraiser for Barney Frank, I wrote, “Even if banks don’t like all his regulations, they might consider them a price worth paying to ensure future bailouts.