I think this situation sucks. I also think that three mainline conservative Republicans I know quite well who are all well steeped in the financial markets strongly tell me there is little or no choice that this bill or something damn close to it needs to be passed immediately.

I think that House Republicans are total sh*ts for playing election time politics.

I think the House Democrats are spineless for not stepping up and passing the damn bill. I understand wanting 100 Republicans but just pass the damn bill already.

Here in NoVa fiddling while Rome burns …

The Dems came through with more then enough support for it to pass if even 50% of the Republicans had supported it. Yet the GOP could barely get 1/3 of the House Republicans to vote for it….

What backwards partisanship! The Republicans wanted the Dems to pass something they, the Republicans weren't even willing to support and if the Dems didn't pass it then the Dems would be blamed!

For better or for worse, Washington is run by people belonging to political parties. It's run by people beholden to corporate interests and to a lesser extent, their voters. You just can't expect any part of Washington, especially the Congress, to enact a plan that doesn't reflect those corporate interests, electoral realities or party loyalties.

This is a rock and the hard place situation. The Paulson plan sucks, but not doing anything may suck worse or not. That's the problem with the whole situation, no one knows what the outcome will be either way.

I'm just glad I'm not in the Congress on either side of this.

I'm still asking “Where are the moderate folks around here?”

I thought the whole point of his dramatic sweep into Washington was to see this crisis through? He apparently supports the bailout- but just like the immigration bill– his colleagues are not standing with him.

If we're going to nationalize the losses, we *need* to nationalize the profits until the system has recovered. Otherwise the moral hazard, to employ a recently overused phrase, is too great.

Yes, imagine that — some members of Congress voting to correctly indicate and respond to what the overwhelming majority of the US public thinks of this bailout.

Now what will be done? The Dems can't hope for doing anything more ambitious that would result in more GOP rejection votes — unless they believe they can pass what they view is a better bill (mainly homeowner-oriented and less public bailout of Wall Street itself). Maybe do the GOP insurance scheme (it's still a government program, not “free market” at all) on mortgage loans in exchange for tighter regulations and even interest rate limits (and GOP-driven income minima, with Dem subsidized loans to Dem voters who would be left out of loans thereby).

Consider what a slap this was, not to Pelosi, but to Treasury Sec and to BUSH.

If the Democrats are going to own the political ramifications of a bailout bill, they might as well write their own. This was an attempt to do things the Republican way, and apparently the Republicans weren't really on board.

Perhaps Boehner could help identify these twelve Republicans who decided to base their vote on a single speech instead of the merits of the bill. Instead of deciding to vote based on two weeks of discussions, compromise, and negotiations, these dozen Republicans decided to be small-minded, vindictive and petty enough to vote based on a speech instead. Screw the country, these dozen Republicans wanted to play politics!

(And I'm no fan of the concept of a 'bailout' plan myself – As a general rule I fall on the side of free market capitalism over government intervention. But principles be damned, we're not looking for a solution here — we're doing BATTLEFIELD TRIAGE – the bailout plan is really a bandage that will provide enough time to start looking at real solutions. I'll hold my nose and support it as an exception rather than the rule)

Why didn't Senator Obama get all of the Democrats to support something that his administration is going to have to implement. There were 95 nay votes from the Democrats. Senator Obama should have taken owner and shown himself a leader instead of his avoidance and hedging that mark him as a Harvard lawyer instead of a leader.

The Great Depression taught us that in extreme times of global economic collapse, the government needs to stimulate the economy.

Boehner and Blunt know that most Americans think this bailout stinks and hope they can bash Democrats over the head with it next month, and regain the majority. Pelosi is being smart.

Well, let's see. The Republican WH and Treasury and Fed Reserve supported it, as did the Republicans (apparently in Congress). I assume McCain would have voted for it since he didn't come out with any opposition (that I can find). The Dems in Congress (obviously) supported it as did the Dems (apparently) in the Senate.

As I posted earlier on elrod's piece, McCain can't even unite his party in Congress on the most important issue facing this country…. How is he suppose to continue to campaign as someone who can reach across the aisle and come to bipartisan agreement if he can't even whip up the votes in his own party.

I understand fully that McCain is in the Senate but he aligned himself with the House last week when he landed in town and threw a wrecking ball into the process after both the House and Senate said they were close to a deal. McCain used the House discontent for his own political purposes. And he is seen in Congress by many to be the leader of the GOP since Bush is a lame duck. Furthermore McCain did claim he would come up with an agreement on this.

Well, this time he failed. Let's see how he handles this situation. If he continues to work on the bill and try to get his party in line, that's great! That's what he should be doing. But if he blames the Dems, then he is only playing politics. Blaming the Dems is not a good way to gain bipartisan support, on either this or future endeavors.

Oh… I guess it's really the Dems fault….

Personally I think a lot more needs to be done to get the economy back on track. This bill is (was) just a bailout of Walls St.

I agree we can't rush in where angels fear to tread- but something has to be done.

If we the people float these cascading failures then we need a bond of assurance we're not gonna get the proverbial shiv in the back two , three, five terms from now- otherwise we the people should collectively say F**k You to these banks as a thank you gift if they don't.

Payback can be a real biotch.