Dems Cave to Scott Brown, Kill Bank Tax

Scott Brown's threat to vote against the financial regulatory overhaul bill unless Democrats met his demands yesterday succeeded in killing the part of the bill Brown had opposed: a $19 billion tax on big banks and hedge funds. Conceding to Brown and ending a dramatic few days of negotiation, lawmakers hastened late yesterday to replace the tax with $11 billion in funds from ending TARP early, Politico reports.

The death of Democrat Robert Byrd has compounded the already considerable power of Brown's swing vote. The Massachusetts Republican claimed he was looking out for consumers, to whom he said banks would pass along the tax in the form of higher fees. The Boston Globe, meanwhile, notes that the financial industry, the sector the tax would have impacted, was the largest contributor to Brown's campaign. (More Scott Brown stories.)