They Voted For You: Banking

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., helped defeat "a plan to spare hundreds of thousands of homeowners from foreclosure through bankruptcy, a proposal that President Barack Obama embraced but did little to see through," The Associated Press reports.

Byrd was among a dozen Democrat who joined with Senate Republicans to scuttle the measure in the 45-51 vote. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., did not vote.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois had championed and negotiated the proposed amendment, "which Obama had said was important to saving the economy and promised to push through Congress," AP reports. "But facing stiff opposition from banks, Obama did little to pressure lawmakers who worried it would encourage bankruptcy filings and spike interest rates."