Senate Passes Rescue Bill

WASHINGTON, DC-After the House shot down the Bush Administration’s financial rescue plan twice–the last time to the accompaniment of dramatically plunging equity values–the Senate’s passage of a similar measure loses some of its luster. The hope, however, is that with half of the legislative process complete–and an excess of 450 additional pages added to the originally three-page bill–foot-dragging House Representatives that voted against the bill on Monday will view the complex plan through a different prism.

Following three hours of debate in the Senate that began in early Wednesday evening, the measure passed by a vote of 74 to 25. This bill mimicked, in many ways, the version the House rejected in that it is based around a plan for the government to buy up toxic debt from beleaguered financial institutions.

The Senate version, though, differs from the earlier measure considered by the House in that it includes several tax incentives. The end result is a price tag that will be higher than the original figure of $700 billion–but also a bill more likely to actually pass.