The Senate’s maneuver infuriated House members, who don’t want the cost of the tax breaks added to the deficit. But aides say the political risk of blocking the bailout has grown too large since Monday’s stock market plunge, which erased $1.2 trillion in market value. One leadership aide called passage “a fait accompli.” Even members who weren’t spooked by the largest point drop in the history of the Dow Jones average have noticed a significant change in the tenor of their constituent calls. Poll numbers show that while people don’t like the bailout package, even more fear its failure. “We’re going to get rolled,” said a top aide to a Democratic representative who’d supported the bill Monday but didn’t like the Senate’s handling of the tax provisions. “House members who care about fiscal discipline are being backed into a corner here.”
Staff on the Hill tells me that phone calls against the bailout have slowed somewhat, but that constituents are still overwhelmingly against it. Some have had trouble getting through:
At times, the Capitol Hill switchboard is so clogged that callers get a recording, and lawmakers’ answering machines sometimes pick up during regular business hours because all telephones in their offices are in use.
Nancy Pelosi, noted uniter not divider, is calling for “decisive bipartisan action:”
“I welcome Senate passage of the economic rescue plan, which includes robust safeguards to ensure that taxpayers are protected through oversight and accountability.” Pelosi said in a statement released by her office. “The House will act in a bipartisan way to restore market confidence as well as Main Street’s confidence in our economic future.”
Conservative members are said to be warming to the bill. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) have all expressed openness to the new version, and others will likely feel pressured by the “yes” votes of their home state senators.
