The story

President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the leadership of both parties pushed for a $700 billion financial bailout plan intended to shore up the nation's lenders. Such consensus is rare these days in American politics, but the bill still failed in the House on Monday afternoon.

The reasons why became a bit more clear Tuesday.

The House of Representatives defeated the plan by a 228-205 vote. A majority of Democrats -- 140 -- supported the bill and 95 voted against it. Most Republicans -- 165 -- opposed the plan, while 65 supported it. Read full article »

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