Pelosi: Bailout means 'party is over' on Wall Street

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that the House will vote on a new $700 billion financial bailout bill on Monday to send a message to Wall Street that "the party is over."

The California Democrat said the final language of the bill, which was agreed upon after marathon negotiations over the weekend, was put on the Internet for the public to see (financialservices.house.gov).

She appeared confident that it would get enough votes to pass, but a critical factor was whether conservative House Republicans, who had objected to an earlier draft, would sign on. The GOP members were meeting Sunday to work out their response.

Pelosi said the final sticking points of reaching an agreement had involved strong resistance from the Bush administration over limiting the size of "golden parachutes," or excessive compensation for executives of the troubled financial institutions.

She told reporters that the bill is not a Wall Street bailout, but a "buy-in" to help the economy get turned around.

"Working in a bipartisan way, we sent a message to Wall Street: The party is over," Pelosi said. "The era of golden parachutes for high-flying Wall Street operators is over. No longer will the American taxpayer bail out the recklessness of Wall Street."

The plan would allow the Treasury Department to buy troubled mortgage-backed securities and other loans held by financial institutions. The government could later resell the assets, presumably after they'd recovered much of their value.

Pelosi said she hoped to get the bill to the floor for a vote on Monday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said it would likely reach the Senate for a vote on Wednesday.

"This has been a bipartisan approach," Reid said. "Now we have to get the votes."

President Bush, in a statement, said that without the rescue plan "the cost to the American economy could be disastrous."

"This is a difficult vote, but with the improvements made to the bill I am confident Congress will do what is best for our economy by approving this legislation promptly," the president said.