Look at the carnage (left). CNBC:
The market screamed as the House vote on the Wall Street bailout bill teetered on the edge of a cliff — and then fell off. “This is panic and ... fear run amok,” Zachary Karabell, president of River Twice Research told CNBC. “Right now we are in a classic moment of a financial meltdown,” he said. “The mood is definitely the old expression, ‘Fish or cut bait,” said Matt Cheslock, a senior specialist at Cohen Specialists. “Everyone’s kind of upset with the political grandstanding that’s going on. We haven’t solved any problems that we’re in,” he said.
McCain can’t like this news at all.
The package failed on a 228-205 vote after Congressional leaders held the vote open for a half-hour after time had expired as they tried to persuade lawmakers to change their votes.
The failure—after lawmakers remained in Washington over the weekend to negotiate a compromise—essentially sends Congress and the White House back to the drawing table as they try to craft a compromise.
After all, he “suspended” his campaign to round up the votes. His GOP “friends” flipped him the bird.
About two-thirds of House Democrats supported the bill. About two thirds of House Republicans—whom McCain had explicitly returned to Washington to work—voted against it.
More below the fold.