consumers and merchants fairly. if we can't stand up and do that, why are we here? >> with today's vote, the fed will proceed with cutting the fees by about $12 billion, a 70% reduction starting in july, shep. >> shepard: one senator said interesting today this is kind of like having to choose between two children as which is the favorite? lobbists from the banks have been out in force rallying against this. >> yeah, the children being small retailers on one side and community banks on the other. some senators wanted to delay these cuts, saying the loss of revenue for small banks could shut some down. >> i could care less about the wall street banks. they are going to do fine. i will tell you what, we lose the banks in our small towns in montana or wyoming or tennessee, and you can put another nail in the coffin of rural america. >> financial firms argue that many retailers, especially the big chain stores, will not pass