From NBC's Mark Murray
Why are Senate Democrats proceeding on their financial reform bill -- despite maybe not having the 60 votes (right now) needed to bring the legislation to the floor?

Because of poll numbers like these:

A new Washington Post/ABC poll finds that 65% of Americans support stricter regulations on how banks and financial institutions conduct their business.

Overall, the public is split on how President Obama is handling the regulation of the financial industry -- 48% approve and 48% disapprove.

But they trust Obama on this issue more than they do Republicans -- 52% say they trust the president to do a better job handling this issue, while 35% say they trust Republicans more.

The poll was conducted of 1,001 adults from April 22 to April 25, and it has a margin of error of plus-minus 3 percentage points.