Jeanne Sahadi

CNNMoney

October 3, 2008

After two weeks of contentious and often emotional debate, the federal government’s far-reaching and historic plan to bail out the nation’s financial system was on the verge of enactment Friday afternoon.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t



President Bush, speaking less than an hour after the House voted 263 to 171 to pass the bill, is expected to sign it later Friday.

“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,” said Bush.

The House vote followed a strong lobbying push by the White House and other supporters of the bill, following the House defeat of a similar measure on Monday – a defeat that shocked the markets and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle.

The legislation, which would allow the Treasury Secretary to purchase as much as $700 billion in troubled assets in a bid to kick-start lending, would usher in one of the most far-reaching interventions in the economy since the Great Depression.

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