Story Created:
Oct 2, 2008 at 5:38 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Oct 2, 2008 at 7:28 PM EDT
The Senate approved a 450 page rescue plan Wednesday night. Lawmakers added in hundreds of pages of items, they say "sweetened" the deal. So we wanted to know, what's in the new rescue plan?
All day we've been sorting through pages and found some unusual requests, that Democrat Senator Bill Nelson says could increase the cost of the bill to $850 billion dollars.
"They've added on $150 billion dollars of more spending, that's not paid for. It will have to be borrowed from the government of China," Senator Nelson said.
That money from China could go to a number of things, including:
- People who sued Exxon over the 1989 Valdez oil spill (Sec. 504-Page 301-line 20)
- $148 million dollars to wool research (Sec. 325 - Page 295- Line 7)
- $100 million dollars to improve auto race tracks across the country (317- Page 290, line 1)
- $ 192 million dollars in excise taxes to Puerto Rico and Virgin Island for rum (Section 308- Page 279-line 11)
Senator Nelson says the added spending was to get more lawmakers on board. "They're trying to get the votes in the House of Representatives . Remember they only need 22 votes," he said.
Even with the additional spending, Florida's Republican Senator Mel Martinez voted for the rescue plan saying, "it provides the tools necessary to rescue our financial system."
The House of Representatives will vote on the bill on Friday.
Congressman Connie Mack has been opposed to the bailout from the beginning and plans to vote against it. He issued this statement today: "When you peel away the layers, the Senate Bill is still a massive $700 billion bailout. It still gives the federal government an unprecedented and inappropriate amount of power. And it still quashes the free market in the name of political expediency.”
Congressman Tim Mahoney's office failed to return our calls for comment as of 5:30 PM, Thursday.
To read the entire text of the bill passed by the Senate click here.