Another QOTD

DO YOU THINK THE BAILOUT WILL BE APPROVED?


Please read some excerpts from today's news:

By Charles Babington • Associated Press Writer • October 2, 2008

WASHINGTON — House members are getting another chance to vote on a bill many would like to avoid: a massive financial rescue that has infuriated millions but is being promoted as critically needed to stave off a deep recession.

This time, it comes back to the House loaded with billions of dollars worth of tax cuts and other sweeteners. They are meant to attract at least a dozen House members who voted against the measure Monday, when it failed, 228-205, triggering a record drop in the stock market.


Senators added the new items in a 74-25 vote late Wednesday, sending the rewritten package back to the House for a showdown vote expected Friday.

House leaders planned to spend Thursday pressing rank-and-file members for the dozen converts they need.

The bailout package was never in danger in the Senate. Senators instead played catalysts for the House, adding tax provisions popular with the left and right in a bid that House leaders hope — but cannot guarantee — will persuade enough of the House rank-and-file to switch from "nay" to "aye" on a highly contentious bill a month before Election Day.

The rescue package would let the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates say, that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a serious recession.

To some degree, at least, House GOP opposition appeared to be easing as the Senate added $100 billion in tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, plus a provision to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance.

House Republicans also welcomed a decision Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission to ease rules that force companies to devalue assets on their balance sheets to reflect the price they can get on the market.

There were worries, though, that the tax breaks might cause some conservative-leaning Democrats who voted for the rescue Monday to abandon it because the revised version would swell the federal deficit.