Bailout Passes House
Friday the US House of Representatives passed the bailout bill by a vote of 263 to 171. The bill was immediately signed by President Bush. In a Rose Garden appearance at the White House Bush stated, “By coming together on this legislation, we have acted boldly to prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country.” The bailout bill remains unpopular with US taxpayers and the revised version of the bill contains many earmarks unrelated to the bill’s original intent.
Bush Administration Lobbies House
The House vote followed intense lobbying by the Bush administration and supporters of the bill. The law essentially allows the US government to purchase toxic assets from troubled banks and financial institutions. The bill is designed to inject massive amounts of money to loosen all but frozen credit markets. Recent market events such as the record fall of the Dow Jones Industrial Average earlier in the week and a worse-than-expected monthly jobs number with 159,000 jobs lost in September. How all this will affect world currency markets is uncertain at this time but many investors are flocking to the dollar seeking the safety and Forex opportunity the dollar provides in times of crisis.
