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Lawmakers reverse bailout votes

By Stephen Dinan (Contact) | Saturday, October 4, 2008

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Boosted by a change in the tone of the angry calls flooding their offices, enticed by added tax breaks or just scared by Monday's calamitous stock market plunge, nearly five dozen lawmakers switched their votes Friday to pass a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street.

Just days after the House defeated the first version of the bailout, those who switched said the intervening time convinced them that action now on an imperfect bill mattered more than waiting to get just the right measure.

"Monday I cast a blue collar vote," said Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee, one of 25 Republicans to switch from "No" to "Yes." "Today I'm going to cast a red, white and blue collar vote with my hand over my heart."

In addition to the Republicans, 33 Democrats also were against the bailout before they were for it. Their newfound support came despite the addition of $150 billion in tax breaks that weren't entirely offset by spending cuts or other tax increases.

When it became clear the measure would pass, dozens of lawmakers on the floor began to applaud - though not everyone was prepared to accept the vote as the end of the saga.

Rep. Steven C. LaTourette, Ohio Republican, vowed vengeance on Republicans who helped block his amendment to cut the bailout to $250 billion, and to strip out some of the tax breaks.

He said he will work to embarrass the 20 Republicans who joined Democrats in a procedural vote that ensured he wouldn't be able to offer his amendment. He said he will take as his inspiration Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's vow to make "famous" those lawmakers who include pork-barrel projects in spending bills.

"For those 20 Republicans, and those that aided and abetted them, we will make you famous," Mr. LaTourette said. "Shame on you."

But Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Democrats' point man for the bill, said that list should include Mr. McCain, who voted for the bill in the Senate on Wednesday, and pushed his House colleagues to support it.

Mr. Frank worked hard to convince Democrats the bill was not as bad as portrayed Monday. He repeatedly held colloquys with lawmakers on the floor Thursday to answer questions and establish a legislative history of what Congress intended.