A key member of the Senate banking panel said Friday he believes controversial language on derivatives trading could be eliminated from Wall Street reform legislation during conference.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said the language proposed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) could be removed to please skeptics of the bill, including many in the administration.

"Listen, I think we'll find a way that we can have the goal that Chairman Lincoln wants but still make sure there are no unforeseen consequences," he said on MSNBC. "That's what part of the conference will be about."

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The price tag for rescuing failing financial institutions has dropped another $11.4 billion. 

The cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program is now $105.4 billion, since the White House released its fiscal year 2011 budget in February, the Treasury Department said Friday in a letter to Congress. 

Several factors contributed to the cost adjustment, including the appreciation in value of 7.7 billion in shares of Citigroup stock held by the Treasury, increasing 80 cents a share. In addition, Automotive Industry Financing Program investments have increased as the outlook for the domestic industry has improved, and the cost related to AIG has decreased by $2.9 billion as company prospects have improved.

In 2008, TARP was authorized $700 billion but the Treasury hasn't spent the entire amount. 

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Big banks will be unsuccessful in stripping provisions they dislike from the Wall Street bill, two Democrats pledged Friday.

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Florida Senate candidate Kendrick Meek (D) is demanding BP show his state the money as part of their reparations from the oil spill in the Gulf.

Meek, in a conference call with Florida reporters, said the company should pay more than the $25 million it pledged to spread the word that Florida's beaches have been unharmed by the spill.

Florida is a popular tourist destination, particularly with the summer vacation months looming, and tourist dollars are one of the state's major sources of revenue.

Meek said that BP should kick in at least $100 million, which he argued was only half of the revenue the company generates in a day, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record.

“While I applaud your company’s promise to make $25 million available to promote Florida tourism, it simply is not enough,” Meek wrote in a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward.

“I am writing to request that you pledge an additional $75 million - the amount of money required by conservative estimates to run an adequate domestic and international marketing campaign. This type of ad campaign will cost at least $8 million a week. Over 12 weeks, it will cost the state at least $100 million.”

The company has not offered a public response to Meek’s request.

Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Crist, who's running for the Senate as an independent candidate, wants $35 million from BP.

He said the state would spend the money on "an an emergency advertising blitz to calm tourists worried that Florida beaches might become fouled by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico," according to the St. Petersburg Times.

Crist also wrote to BP, and a company spokesman told the paper that BP was "reviewing Crist's letter and planned to meet with the governor and visit Florida officials."

Over 1 million real estate investment partnerships will be negatively affected by the proposed tax increase on carried interest included in legislation extending several tax and spending measures, the Real Estate Roundtable announced Friday.

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House Republicans want an up-or-down vote on the European bailouts and put members on record as to whether they support spending U.S. dollars to aid financially strapped foreign countries.  

"I believe that would send a powerful message to President Obama that we cannot take this 'too big to fail' policy globally," said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), vice chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. "The only thing that is too big to fail is America." 

The vote would be non-binding and aimed specifically at U.S. involvement in the bailout of Greece and potentially other European nations. 

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue sharply criticized Senate passage of the Wall Street reform bill, saying the move was more about political posturing that will eventually drive capital offshore.

"If you want to drive capital out of the United States, this is your bill," he said in prepared remarks. "This process was about political sound bites rather than sound economic policy."

On Thursday, the Senate passed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 by a 59-39 vote. The legislation is considered to be the biggest restraint placed on the finance industry since the Great Depression.

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Possible explanations for the recent stock market plunge haven’t satisfied lawmakers, who pressed federal regulators for more answers during a hearing on Thursday.

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The stock market continued its downward spiral Thursday, recording its worst day in more than a year amid growing concerns over U.S. and European economic conditions. 

The Dow industrials plummeted 376 points, or 3.6 percent — the largest drop since March 5, 2009 — on growing worries about the European debt crisis and its effect on the United States, an unexpected increase in weekly claims for unemployment insurance and sagging investor confidence in the markets. 

The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators also fell last in April, which could mean the U.S. economy's recovery will continue but could stall later in the year.

The S&P 500 lost 3.9 percent and the Nasdaq composite dropped 4.1 percent — knocking all three indexes off more than 10 percent from their April highs. 

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