November 22, 2008 12:15:04 PM CST
(Newser) – Leaders and lobbyists are scrambling to marshal support for the revamped bailout bill before it returns to the House at midday today, the Washington Post reports. Democratic and GOP chiefs believe they can sway enough votes to swing it—although only a few have switched so far. Some Republicans who backed it the first time around are considering nixing it this time, annoyed by the tacked-on special-interest tax breaks.
The bill is likelier to be saved by wooing Democratic skeptics, according to one observer. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed that she would cancel the vote rather than send the bill to another defeat. "We're not going to take a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes," she said. "I'm optimistic that we will take a bill to the floor."
Source Washington Post
Oct 3, 08 3:00 PM CDT Less than 2 hours after the House passed the $700 billion bailout bill, President Bush signed it this afternoon. With a stroke of a pen, he set in motion $110 million in tax cuts and sent the legislators on both sides of the 263-171 vote home to explain themselves to their constituents just over a month before Election Day, the Los Angeles Times reports. More »
Oct 3, 08 12:49 PM CDT The House passed the revised $700 billion buyout plan this afternoon, 263-171, raising hopes that the economy will be able to fend off a recession, reports the Washington Post. After 5 days of arm-twisting, 26 Republicans switched their no votes; a total of 91 joined 172 Democrats in backing the legislation today. Within minutes, President Bush said he'll sign it as soon as Congress gets it to him. More »
Oct 1, 08 3:31 PM CDT The Senate version of the bailout bill has ballooned to more than 400 pages as legislators flesh out details in hopes of gaining passage as soon as tonight, Politico reports. The marquee measure boosts FDIC coverage of individual accounts from $100,000 to $250,000, with numerous lower-profile provisions intended to speed passage and increase pressure on the House to get moving. More »
Sep 29, 08 8:01 PM CDT As members of the House of Representatives cast their ballots on the $700 billion bailout package yesterday morning—the negative votes piling up even as the market plummeted—the Los Angeles Times was blogging. Kicked off by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's final words to the House—"The alternative is nothing and that is not acceptable"—it took just over a half hour to go down to a defeat that surprised leaders of both parties. More »
Sep 29, 08 3:12 PM CDT The efforts of Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner were not enough to quell a revolt within their parties that killed the financial bailout bill today. The bipartisan opposition to the bill reflected in the 228-205 vote—95 Democrats and 133 Republicans dissented—reflects liberal representatives’ unease with rescuing highly paid executives and the GOP’s displeasure with a decidedly non-free-market solution, the Washington Post reports. More »
We were clearly outgunned on Monday. We lost, no doubt about it. I have no intention of losing again. - R. Bruce Josten, chief lobbyist for the US Chamber of Commerce
The pork barrel projects that were put in this bill ought to be a wake-up call to the public and all members of Congress. - Rep. Spencer Bachus (D-Ala.)
Financial Crisis • bailout • credit crisis • House of Representatives • Nancy Pelosi • House Republicans • vote • House Democrats
