Source:
CNNWASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- The smooth passage of the final Wall Street reform bill later this week just got tougher.
Senate Democrats on Monday were scrambling to secure the60 votes they need to overcome a GOP filibuster following the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and critical comments by Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, a moderate Republican who had been supportive of the legislation.
The hang up for Brown: A provision that would charge banks and hedge funds a new tax to pay the $19 billion ten-year tab for implementing the new reforms. A Brown spokeswoman on Monday reiterated that Brown "cannot support any bill that raises taxes."
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Congressional watchers said that in the end they believe the legislation will pass. They said Cantwell and Feingold, as well as Republican senators from Maine Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, will vote for it.
"We believe that sheer guilt and momentum will unify all 58 Democrats," said Teddy Downey, a policy analyst for Concept Capital Washington Research Group. "The serious concerns about bank leverage and size were addressed in a variety of ways, removing a lot of the reasons the more liberal Democratic members couldn't vote for it before."
Read more:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/28/news/economy/Wall_Street_reform_votes/index.htm?hpt=T1
It's always something.