Bailout plan rejected - supporters scramble

As I've said before, I'm not a fan of bailouts. Unfortunately, the survival of these gigantic financial institutions is so tightly connected to the overall economy's success that I consider this bailout a necessary evil. If we could let these banks fail and struggle through in the short term, I think that would be good. However, the picture painted by all parties involved says that if we don't bail them out, that the ripple effect will be that tons of businesses will fail and tons of people will lose their jobs and homes.

The House of Representatives struck down the bailout with a vote of 228 to 205 against.

Republican leaders, who had pushed their reluctant members to vote for the bill, pointed the finger for the failure at a speech given Monday by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Pelosi, speaking on the House floor, had blamed the nation's economic problems on "failed Bush economic policies."

House minority leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said after the vote that passage would have been possible if it had not been for Pelosi's "partisan speech."

Vote for the bill based on what is in the bill, jackass, not because you don't like what Nancy Pelosi said. Either you think it's the right thing to do or you don't, but don't play this childish game.