The eyes of the financial world will be on the House of Representatives today as it votes once again on a federal bailout plan aimed at saving the nation’s drowning credit system.
Baltimore financial experts underscored the importance of the vote, which comes four days after the House struck down the original version of the bill and two days after the Senate overwhelmingly passed a modified version.
“I think it’s very important, I think we need to restore some of the confidence lost in this crisis,” said Larry Adam, chief investment strategist with Deutsche Bank/Alex. Brown in Baltimore. “I think in many ways the market is pushing the congressmen to pass it. Both the stock markets and the equity markets are pushing them to do it.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 348 points Thursday as Wall Street awaited Capitol Hill’s action.
On Monday, the House defeated the original version of the bill 225-208, sending the Dow down more than 777 points, its largest-ever one day drop.
The House’s vote will hinge on whether congressional leadership was able to convince enough members that the new version of the bill was significantly changed from the one they defeated earlier this week.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., didn’t think a second defeat was likely.
“I don’t think we’re looking at that,” Cardin said. “My expectation is that the leadership won’t bring it to a vote unless they have the votes to make it pass.”
Adam said the bill’s failure in the House on Monday was a crucial error in an environment of heightened market fears.
“That was the biggest mistake they made, to come out on Monday with such a high-profile bill and not have the votes, was really surprising,” Adam said.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the second-ranking House Democrat, said there was a “good prospect” of approval, but he wouldn’t put the measure up for the vote planned for Friday unless he was confident it would pass.
What won’t happen, he said, is a repeat of the kind of crushing scene that played out earlier this week when the bill failed.
“I’m going to be pretty confident that we have sufficient votes to pass this before we put it on the floor,” Hoyer said.
Federal unemployment data is due to be released today and is expected to hold the unemployment rate at 6.1 percent. It could be a potentially brutal day if the House defeats the bill again and the rate is higher.
On those concerns, GOP Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee announced he was switching his vote from “no” to “yes.”
“If some of us don’t change our vote, [it’s] going to be a real ugly day in America, and I don’t want to be a part of that,” Wamp told Fox News Channel on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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