The original vote was defeated 228-205, meaning a whopping 58 members changed their minds and voted for the bill. I'm sure they got an ear full from constituents over the past week or so. Unsurprisingly, Boehner was still unable to deliver half his caucus. It's pretty funny to see House Republicans run around claiming to be acting on true conservative principles. Where the hell have you all been for the past eight years of George Bush?
The House has approved a massive Wall Street bailout four days after rejecting a similar measure.
The measure was approved in a 263 to 171 vote, with 172 Democrats and 91 Republicans offering support.
The House voted against a similar measure on Monday, which caused the Dow Jones Industrial to plunge by 778 points — the greatest single-day drop in the average’s history.
Wall Street's reaction is tepid, with the Dow gaining about 120 points so far. The other indices both rose a little more than 1% .
The House of Representatives had been under severe pressure to pass the $700 billion rescue package for banks and other financial firms after figures showed today that American employers slashed 159,000 jobs last month. September's job losses were much more severe than predicted by Wall Street economists, who had forecast 100,000 jobs would be cut. The unemployment rate is at 6.1 per cent, the highest in five years.
Around the world, calls had come for the US House to pass the bailout bill.
Francois Fillon, the French Prime Minister, said the world stood on the "edge of the abyss".
Mr Fillon, whose country is hosting an emergency summit with Italian, British and German leaders on Saturday, said only collective action could solve the financial crisis. He said he would not rule out any solution to stop any bank failing.
"The world is on the edge of the abyss because of an irresponsible system," he said, alluding to widespread anger over past lax regulation of financial markets and excessive lending.
To make the bill more attractive, the Senate raised the ceiling on federal insurance for bank deposits from $100,000 to $250,000 dollars, and added up to $150 billion in tax break extensions for middle class families and business.
