Why Did The Bailout Fail?

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 30, 2008 2:30PM

Yesterday, Washington and Wall St. descended into chaos as the bailout plan was voted down by the House of Representatives. But why? What happened? Some House Republicans blamed a speech by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), “I do believe that we could have gotten there today, had it not been for the partisan speech that the Speaker gave on the floor of the House. We put everything we had into getting the vote to get there today.” Here's the speech. Does Pelosi speak the truth? Or is it an unnecessary poke in the eye? And is it really a valid excuse by Republicans? Somehow, we don't see this speech also causing 40 percent of Democrats to vote against the bailout.