11:36 A.M.: The Los Angeles Times reports that the White House lobbied Republicans right up until the vote, in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to overcome Republican objections to the bailout: "Right up until the roll call, Bush, Cheney and Paulson and industry groups called skeptical members of the president's party. Deputy White House Press Secretary Tony Fratto said they worked one-by-one through a list of potentially recalcitrant Republicans, seeking to answer their complaints."

11:33 A.M.: House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, the Republicans' top vote-counter in the House, tells a news conference that he miscounted -- he believed Republicans had a dozen more votes for the bailout than they really did. He blames "partisan discussion" for the failure of the bill.

11:31 A.M.: Deidre Walsh, A CNN producer who was inside the House chamber during the vote, describes the final moments before the bailout failed. Walsh reports House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shook her head, and the House fell unusually silent when the gavel came down indicating the vote was over. Walsh called it "an unbelievably extraordinary moment," unlike anything she had ever seen on the House floor.

11:13 A.M.: The Los Angeles Times reports the bailout has failed in the House.

11:08 A.M.: CNN, reading wire copy live on air, reports the bill has been defeated in the House. Some confusion evident on the House floor. The Dow industrials fall 616 points. CNN had earlier pointed out that a Dow sell-off of this magnitude "is not a crash."

11:03 A.M. Tally unchanged, 226 against, 207 for. Fox reporter: "The arm-twisting goes on, this is not a done deal." The bulk of the bailout opposition is coming from House Republicans.

11:00 A.M.: Tally unchanged: 226 against, 207 for. Voting remains open. 217 votes are needed to pass the bailout.

10:57 A.M. Dow is down 468 points. Tally unchanged: 226 against, 207 for.

10:54 A.M.: Tally unchanged: 226 against, 207 for. Fox News anchor observes, "It looks like, for the time being, the $700 billion bailout has failed in the House." Voting, however is still open; members of the House can change their votes. The bailout has not yet failed.

10:52 A.M.: Dow industrials bounce off their lows, now down 399 points.

10:51 A.M. One arm has been successfully twisted. One "no" vote switches to a "yes," the tally is now 227 against, 206 for.

10:49 A.M. 228 against, 205 for, one not voting. Among Republicans, the bailout is failing by a 133-65 vote; Among Democrats, it is favored by 140, opposed by 95. Voting is not yet final. Much discussion on Fox News of whether leadership can twist enough arms to change the outcome.
House bailout efforts minute by minute - Los Angeles Times

Yowza.
What really slays me about this whole thing is Wall Street's reaction.
It's like they were expecting to be handed a baby bottle, and when they didn't they crapped themselves.

They have no right to "expect" this money, and the response says a lot.

I hope in the new bill the include bankruptcy legislation. And insert something about investigations!
They won't come back till Thursday. Hope they get plenty of rest and decide to do whatever's right for the US.

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Salty

THANKSGIVING MENUS AND TIPS

A GREAT PLACE TO SHOP

You have a mistaken view of what affects the Dow and the market. When investors (and these are actually on Main street) feel that their money is at risk, they sell their stock and stuff it into safer fare - picture under the mattress, which these days equates to buying Euros - which is why the dollar plunges - or in good old fashioned gold, which is going through the roof. Not much different than Joe Smith saying he's taking his money out of the bank - although less ignorant. Certainly it is not the financial institutions that are making the Dow plunge, seeing as it's detrimental to them. "Wall Street" did not cause this reaction.

No. No real confusion here, although the situation is probably more complex than I originally implicated.

When that bailout money hits these businesses, what do you think will happen to the stocks of these businesses?
Okay. Obvious answer is goes up.

And by "Wall Street's Reaction" I should have probably been more clear.
I don't see "Wall Street" as made up of JUST "businesses".
It's made up of investors too, IMO.
Perhaps others don't incorporate that into their connotations...

Also there is anger and frustration at the "speculation" game, but all of this is just me venting. You did a good job of laying out facts and not emotion.

Anyone who has a 401K plan or a money market account is an investor and has the potential to affect the market. You don't do it directly, but the companies that invest "on your behalf" make a profit off working your money, and you can be sure they're moving it around to make sure you (and they) get the most out of your money. Not to mention corporations outside of the financial sector. Nothing rotten or speculative about it, it's just the foundation of our economy,

I understand the injustice of stocks going up on financial institutions... but I guess we can at least take comfort that the ones that are left probably were the least invested in the subprime mess, and thus the least guilty of the pack.

I am referring not to the direct investment approach, but rather to other techniques like Credit Default Swaps.
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/ope...fraid-ask.html
Credit default swap - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Short (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be contrary, but those do not affect the Dow, nor would they cause the market to crash. Those are responsible for the billions upon billions in losses that the banks reported, but not the 700 point drop in the market today. That was just panicked investors (little, medium and big).