Bailout Gets NOD on Second Try

8220;While the focus has been on the Dow Jones and Wall Street, we are addressing the real pain felt by Mr and Mrs Jones on Main Street8221; - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented 700-billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush who quickly signed it.

8220;We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country,8221; Bush said shortly after the vote, although he conceded, 8220;our economy continues to face serious challenges.8221;

Underscoring that somber warning, the Dow Jones industrials, up more than 200 points at the time of the House vote, had fallen into negative territory an hour later. They fluctuated as the afternoon wore on.

The final vote, 263-171 in the House, capped two weeks of tumult in Congress and on Wall Street, punctuated by daily warnings that the country confronted the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if lawmakers failed to act. There were 58 more votes for the measure than an earlier version that failed on Monday.

In new signs of spreading crisis, California said it was running out of money, France said the world stood on the 8220;edge of the abyss8221; and European leaders were divided over their own response to the global crisis. Wall Street welcomed the action, but investors also were buffeted by a bad report on the job market. The Labor Department said employers slashed 159,000 jobs in September, the largest cut in five years. The House had shocked world markets on Monday by rejecting a previous draft. Lawmakers were wary of voter backlash in asking taxpayers to pay for Wall Street8217;s mistakes. On Friday, speaker after speaker said rejecting the bailout could have devastating consequences for an already slowing economy, arguing the bill was as important for small businesses, homeowners, students and pensioners as it was for the financial sector.

No overnight miracles

Home prices and auto sales are plummeting, manufacturing activity has tumbled and the consumer is feeling increasingly strapped. The economy seems nearly dead, and things could get worse before they improve 8212; even with Washington8217;s help

After the last big US bailout 8212; the formation of the Resolution Trust Corp. in 1989 to stop the savings and loan crisis 8212; it took a year for the stock market to improve, two years for the economy and three years for the housing market to breathe easy

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When Japan put a bailout plan in place in the late 1990s, its stock market took five years to recuperate

The total bill is 1.8 trillion

The credit crisis has pushed the potential bailout tab by the US government to 1.8 trillion. Here is a breakdown of the recent bailouts: