Update: House approves $810 billion bailout

11:30 a.m. PDT: An hour after the bailout passes, the Dow turns negative, down 41 points. Reader commentary on the bill is pretty negative too. Highlights:

Jeremy: This is a sad day for America.

Ed the Renter: This is the day the dollar died.

CraigW: This is infuriating. Throw these morons out of office.

CompaJD: Get your Pitchforks!!!!!

A couple of commenters have written in defense of the House, and the bailout:

Jim Thomlin: No, this is a great, day. Although still, even with financial armageddon on the table, 171 congressman STILL didn't have the guts to do what is right, and that is pass this bill. I'm sorry but the average person HAS NO IDEA what's at stake here.

Add your comments in the comment section, or click below to continue reading L.A. Land's earlier coverage of the House vote, in which the bailout was approved, 263 to 171.

10:40 a.m. PDT: Mixed reaction to the House approval of the bailout bill. One commenter complains: "What a piece of dung. This just makes me sick." Another, however, compliments the House: "All I can say is GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! About time the house did something right!"  Mixed reaction on Wall Street too: The Dow gives back more than half of an early rally, is up 91 points.

10:36 a.m. PDT: Dow now bouncing a bit, up 137.

10:32 a.m. PDT: The Dow is slipping, now up just 77 points. Why the sell-off? If you haven't noticed, the economy stinks.

10:28 a.m. PDT: Final tally on the bailout vote is 263 to 171. The Dow is up 174 points. "Anticlimactic," says the CNBC reporter on the NYSE floor.

10:27 a.m. PDT: The Dow is slipping a bit, but still positive for the day, up 159.

10:26 a.m. PDT: Voting is over, the $810 billion bailout bill has passed the House.

10:24 a.m. PDT: Yes 254, no 167. The Dow is up 219 points. Worth noting: Wall Street wise man Art Cashin told CNBC this morning that the worst-case scenario he could envision today was: The bailout passes the House, yet stocks sell off anyway.

10:22 a.m. PDT: Yes 231, no 148. There are 84 Republican "yes" votes, up from 65 earlier in the week.

10:20 a.m. PDT: Yes 192, no 108. To this point, 71 Republicans are voting "yes" -- earlier in the week, only 65 Republicans voted yes. There are at least six Republicans who have switched their vote from "no" to "yes."

10:18 a.m. PDT: Yes 168, no 86. Among Republicans, the vote is 65 for, 55 against. Dow is up 241 points.

10:16 a.m. PDT: Yes 141, no 66. CNN's Frank Sesno notes the salient public emotion about the current situation is anger: "Anger at Wall Street, anger at Washington, anger at the Congress, anger at the White House."

10:14 a.m. PDT: Yes 120, no 54.

10:12 a.m. PDT: Yes 111, no 43. To this point, the Republicans in the House are favoring the bailout 44-29.

10:09 a.m. PDT: Yes 91, no 35. The Dow industrials are up 293 points.

10:08 a.m. PDT: CNN reports its count shows that 19 "no" votes from earlier this week have switched to "yes" votes.

At 10:07 a.m. PDT: Yes 57, no 22

Comments

[Jeremy(jemarqu)]

This is a sad day for American.

[CraigW]

This is infuriating. Throw these morons out of office.

[jim thomlin]

No, this is a great, day. Although still, even with financial armageddon on the table, 171 congressman STILL didn't have the guts to do what is right, and that is pass this bill. I'm sorry but the average person HAS NO IDEA what's at stake here.

[Manny from Miami]

All I can say is GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! About time the house did something right!

[CompaJD]

Get your Pitchforks!!!!!!

[I Live in L.A., Too!]

What a piece of dung. This just makes me sick.

[Tim K.]

The only stocks that should be going up are the banks that will be receiving the money. Everyone else is going to suffer because of the same economic problems that already exist.

This is the most important part folks - call your representatives NOW and tell them you will be voting for their opponent. They have NOT represented you and deserve to be kicked out of office.

[OverIt]

Looks like we just went from "Suck" to "Blow"...

[I Live in L.A., Too!]

To Jim and Manny:

I'm afraid your enthusiasm is misplaced. This money will not solve anything. It might make people feel better for about .2 seconds. But the underlying problems in the economy have not been addressed. Prices will adjust downward as demand continued to decline in a host of areas -- not just in housing. This is like placing a single sandbag to stop Hurrican Hugo. It just isn't going to hold.

[WaitingInSocal]

"We were dealt a bad hand; we made the most of it," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

[Fred]

Sorry Jim, I'm an average person and I know EXACTLY what is going on here.
Soviet style interventions have never worked. They just delay the inevitable.
The concept of risk has to be re -introduced into the Wall Street lexicon.
There also has to be mass culling in the financial services industry.
Only then will the economy begin to recover.

[ryanman]

I thought if about 10 million americans went to DC and shutdown the capital today that maybe that would give 2 more days for a better thought out process to actually get proposed. Instead we have a crap sandwich with 110 million extra. Spend it now Congresspersons, because these will be you last few months.

[Giacomo]

Well, at least now the conversation can change.

Now comes the anti-climax. Over the coming weeks, it will become clear that this extraordinary commitment of public funds will not succeed in returning the false prosperity, or stopping foreclosures, or supporting inflated house prices.

[Jared]

Just a REALLY disappointing joke! Other countries are laughing at us. Between this bailout and Palin running for office, I'm sad to say that this country needs A LOT of help! Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, etc... they are ALL rolling in their graves.

[GDC]

The idiots who said this bill was necessary for main street will be able to find out shortly that the real problem is not close to being cured.

[Robert NO longer in LA]

Now. will you wake up and vote OUT the INCUMBENT PARASITES? The Republicans GOT us HERE, and the Democrats NAILED OUR COFFIN SHUT. The raw, corrupted power of the 20-30-40 year sitting incumbent MUST END, NOW!!!!

[Revgen]

This is a sad day for the country. Instead of letting assets fall so the market can correct itself, the government steps in to save these financial institutions. This country is going to be heading for a deep deep depression the longer we try to stall this thing. It's a short-term fix that will only make this problem worse in the long run.

The only positive I can take is that my local rep who I contacted repeatedly once again voted against the bill. Unfortunately, my vote can't throw the others out of office.

[Ed the Renter]

This is the day the dollar died.

[Tim K.]

I will go on record predicting that this $700B bailout will have not have the intended effect - that is, to "unfreeze" the commercial paper credit market.

What will happen, is you will see another request for money akin to $300B, now that we're not so shocked at being asked for huge sums of money.

[Nick]

"I'm sorry but the average person HAS NO IDEA what's at stake here."

This much I agree with. The average person has no idea that the statements about the government possibly not losing all or most of the money are total BS lies. The average person doesn't think about the debt consequences for future generations, or what would happen if the credit rating of the US itself is downgraded. The average person doesn't understand the full magnitude of this payoff to the very people that created the housing meltdown, and how it is unlikely to have any positive impact on the actual economy. The average person also doesn't understand the magnitude of the "loans" outstanding from the Fed ($1.2 trillion, for reference), and how destructive that is to our economic system, and how that prevents the Fed from providing liquidity and necessitates this massive traitorous payoff bailout disaster.

The average person only gets the high-level idea: it's not in their interests for the bought members of their government to be giving the people's money to the financial institutions which caused so much harm to the country as a reward for their actions; it's just not right. Unfortunately for us, the people DO have the right high-level idea, even though they don't yet (and may never) grasp how monumentally bad this action is for them.

[Todd Davis]

I love the condescending posts about the "average person" not understanding. It seems like everyone in favor of the bill - representatives and senators included - claims that they "know" or "understand" better the problem than the American people.

What a sick joke. It's party time on Wall Street tonight!

[David]

Wall Street will be back within 90 days asking for more money. Without foreclosure relief the bailout is like pumping up a flat tire without fixing the leak. It's just going to go flat again.

[KenDoMore]

Wells Fargo just took a big load away from the gov by purchasing Wachovia. This is big big news for the real estate market!

With the new bill, the Treasury is going to make money on these mortgages. It'll just take a few years. Paulson should follow Buffett in insisting getting a good deal for the tax-payers-share-holders. Call your representatives to help make sure this is done right.

$7 b project will create lots of jobs for the huge financial workout.

This is the right thing to do, but won't solve all problems.

[TakeFive]

Did they at least close the barn door now that the cows got out?

Nope.

Just got some more cows.

[Laker]

Peter,
Please place a list of those that voted YES for the bill. I will personally make sure as many people that i know will vote for their opponent, don't care if he/she is REP or DEM.

Also put a list for those that voted NO, let's call them to support and also send them a check if possible.

Where is the stock market reaction??? The Dow should have gone up by 1000 at least....unless the government on Monday has actually was the main purchaser of stocks and kept the declines at -777. Today may joe 6 packs actually bought many stocks but the government dumped the stocks they bought on monday....
I think that without the FED buying stocks on monday, the Dow would have dropped to 5000. Since the FED can't keep the share they bought, the market does not increase but stay flat...
Smart money is not in stocks but in FDIC cash....