WASHINGTON -- U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers wary of growing signs of the nation's economic distress voted Friday in favor of a $700 billion Wall Street rescue package, sending the biggest government intervention in the financial markets since the Great Depression to President George W. Bush for his signature
The 263-171 vote was a reversal from Monday, when House lawmakers shocked investors and their own leaders by voting against a more narrow version of the plan to buy up distressed assets from financial institutions. The result: a $700 billion bailout for financial firms combined with $152 billion in unrelated tax breaks and broader tools for federal regulators to deal with the growing economic crisis.
