Senate backs Paulson's bail-out

The Senate voted 74 to 25 to back the plan after the bill was reworked to offer additional concessions to families and small businesses. The original bill was rejected by the US Congress as politicians did not want to give taxpayer’s money to ‘fat-cat’ Wall Street bankers, and many said the plan amounted to socialism. If the bill is passed by the House of Representatives, the US Government will be able to buy up bad debts from banks, allowing them to shift risk from their balance sheets and restore confidence in financial institutions. However, the deal was sweetened with a range of tax ...