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 U.S. Sens Chuck Hagel (R) and Ben Nelson (D) of Nebraska joined 72 Senate colleagues Wednesday, endorsing a $700 billion economic bailout plan.
Before voting for the plan, Hagel told the Associated Press the package won't solve all the nation's current economic problems, but will be important in helping the markets regain new confidence.
Nelson was more blunt about his vote in a news teleconference Wednesday.
Nelson said it was like "putting a pretty bow on a skunk. The skunk still stinks."
The Senate's approval of the bailout plan, coupled with some popular additions, left backer hopeful it would convince the House to accept the plan by Friday and end the legislative uncertainty that dropped the Dow Jones Industrial Average 777 points Monday.
Wednesday night, a bipartisan coalition of senators - including both presidential candidates - showed no hesitation in backing a proposal that had drawn public scorn, though the outpouring eased somewhat after a market plunge following the House defeat. The Senate margin was 74 to 25 in favor of the White House initiative to buy troubled securities to ease a growing credit crunch.
In St. Paul, MN, Brown College lost Hagel as its commencement speaker Wednesday to the financial bailout vote. Hagel, a Brown alumnus, had to cancel his appearance at the ceremony at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul because "he needs to be in Washington for the Senate vote this evening," the school announced.
Sen Nelson wasn't happy about voting in favor of the bailout, but said something had to be done. "Over the past week, I have heard from more Nebraskans on this issue than perhaps any in my career in the Senate," said Nelson. "I share the anger and frustration everyone feels about this crisis, and how we got here. We'd like to think we have a choice, but we don't. We can try to stop a crisis from becoming a catastrophe. Or we can sit on the sidelines and watch the catastrophe unfold."
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