Congress Approves Bailout, Bush Promises To Sign

October 3, 2008 · Filed Under Business News

Believe it or not, Congress took the unusual step of putting aside their hatred for one another and actually passed the damn bailout bill!

With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush for his certain signature.

The final vote, 263-171 in the House, a comfortable margin that was 58 more votes than it garnered on Monday. The vote capped two weeks of tumult in Congress and on Wall Street, punctuated by daily warnings that the country confronted the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if lawmakers failed to act.

Immediately after the vote President Bush pledged to quickly sign the $700 billion dollar package into law.

President Bush said Friday he would quickly sign into law a far-reaching $700 billion bill to bailout the nation’s tottering financial industry and thanked Congress for acting in a bipartisan and decisive fashion.

“There were moments this week when some thought that the federal government could not rise to the challenge. But thanks to the hard work of members of both parties, in both houses, and the spirit of cooperation between Capitol Hill and my administration, we completed this bill in a timely manner,” Bush said in remarks in the Rose Garden.

Now that the feds have their obscene bailout package lets see if they can right the ship and get this country going again.