So that was interesting. They kept the vote open for a while after time expired, but now it looks like the bailout bill is dead. Maybe they’ll try to resurrect it later this week, but I don’t really see how.
What happens now? Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC can keep merging and closing and bailing out as they’ve done up to now. And if things keep spiraling downward, Congress can come back into session on Nov. 5 (or soon thereafter) and pass something. It shouldn’t be that hard then–the economy would by definition be a lot worse, and the next election would be two years away.
Update: Oh, oh! Charlie Gasparino, the Official Thinly-Sourced-but-Often-Correct Scoop Purveyor of the Panic of ’07 and ’08, says House Democratic leaders still think they can get the votes they need.
Update 2: Boehner, on TV as I write, says it’s all Pelosi’s fault for making a “partisan speech” today.
Update 3: Blunt says it was “the press reports” that did it. Oh, and it’s the Jewish holidays’ fault too. But it’s not over yet.