The Big Bailout Bill voting time has expired, but the vote continues

The 15 minute voting period for the House vote on The Big Bailout Bill has expired, but the vote remains open. It is currently 207 for passage and 226 against, meaning it has failed to gain enough support for passage. It is not unusual for the voting period to be extended as last minute horse-trading goes on. Maybe there is some hope that some votes can be changed in the next few minutes. But for now, the bill looks dead.

And, it is the Republicans who are killing it, with only 66 voting for it and twice as many, 132, voting against it. 141 Democrats have voted for it and only 94 against it.

Maybe the joint strategies are that the Democrats will be able to claim that they acted responsibly and the Republicans will be able to say that they voted against Bush.

-- Jack Krupansky