Besieged by pleas from its constituents, from corporate executives to struggling wage earners, the House of Representatives reversed itself Friday and approved the controversial $700 billion financial-system rescue plan, designed to keep the nation from falling into an economic abyss.
The 263-171 vote reversed the House's rejection of the bill Monday and came two days after the Senate passed a revised version of the plan, including $110 billion in unrelated tax breaks and other incentives aimed at converting House members to back the bill. In the end, 172 Democrats and 91 Republicans joined forces to pass the measure and send it to President Bush to sign into law.
Public opinion earlier ran strongly against the measure — widely perceived as a bailout for Wall Street — but sentiment shifted after the first House vote, when a stock-market plunged hammered millions of stock-backed 401(k) retirement plans.
