Republican senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Scott Brown and Charles Grassley crossed the aisle and voted for the finance reform bill, which is now headed for conference with the House's version.
In the process, Senator Brown (R-MA), the Tea Party's candidate of choice, crossed the aisle to show that he's an independent person, not beholden to politics. Just as interesting, was that of Senator Grassley (R-IA) showed that he's able to politics above policy, and come back to the center which he rapidly abandoned last Summer. I guess if Tea Party activists were tired of politicians playing politics, they got the right guy, even when he doesn't support their specific Libertarian-leaning causes, eh?
Senators Collins (R-ME) and Snowe (R-ME) really didn't have to worry about their votes, as Maine is a bastion of independent-minded folk that care less about political affiliations and more about policy.
BUT, it's important to note that Senator Feingold (R-WI), a strong proponent of regulatory reform, voted against it, worried that it was insufficient. He's a smart guy, so it's hard to ignore the concern that banks and Wall Street will find loopholes the second the final bill is signed into law.
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