Senate Republicans side with Wall Street again , they want back room deals, don't want Consumer Protection Agency.

Unconcerned with the political consequences, US Senate Republicans hung together and again blocked Democratic efforts to start debate on financial reform legislation to rein in Wall Street greed.

For the second time in two days, lawmakers voted 57-41 to take up the popular bill, falling short of the 60 needed to move ahead with the toughest regulatory overhaul of its kind since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"Republicans have made it clear whose side they’re on: Big banks on Wall Street, not middle-class families," said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who set the stage for a similar vote on Wednesday.

The vote came as top Goldman Sachs executives faced a barrage of questions and criticism from a key Senate committee over the investment giant's actions in the run up to the collapse, now the subject of a fraud lawsuit.

Republican Senator Richard Shelby, their conference’s lead negotiator, said they want to give back-room negotiations begun last year more time to forge a compromise bill. Shelby said "the biggest obstacle" was the creation of an "intrusive" consumer financial protection agency.

The financial reform legislation aims to tighten regulations on the giant market in derivatives, complex, privately traded instruments tied to the underlying value of a commodity and seen as vehicles for dangerous speculation.

The Republican argument against health care reform was that there were too many back-room deals negotiated, when it comes to protecting the interests of Wall Street over middle-class Americans the Republicans now want to give back-room negotiations more time.