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Senate approves revised bailout plan

by lgal3824 | October 1, 2008 at 05:28 pm

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WASHINGTON -- Update: The Senate has passed the legislation on a 74-25 vote.

With both presidential candidates returning to the Capitol to lend support, the Senate was debating a modified $700-billion Wall Street rescue bill this afternoon and planned a vote this evening. The first hurdle has been passed. Will the House follow suit?

Passage was widely expected in the chamber. But it remained uncertain whether the legislation, even with new "sweeteners," could prevail amid conservative and liberal resistance in the House of Representatives. On Monday, the House rejected a version of the bailout plan, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down 777 points. A new House vote has been set for Friday morning.

While negotiators worked to keep the basic legislation intact, they added a list of modifications to the rescue program itself as well as a broad range of sweeteners, including tax breaks, aimed at picking up support among House members.