House Minority Leader John Boehner

The Issue: The US House of Representatives voted today on the long awaited financial bailout bill.  The bill, which had the bipartisan support of house leadership and President Bush, narrowly failed by a margin of 205 to 228.

The bill’s vote was preceded by a speech made by the Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi, where she ciriticized President Bush’s (and by association the House Republican’s) failed policies.  House Minority Leader John Boehner blames Pelosi’s speech for the failure of the bill.

My Take On It: Nancy Pelosi messed this one up.

With a deal as fragile as this one, Pelosi went too far by criticizing the Republican Party.  Perhaps she thought that with the House Democrats supporting the bill she could use the public forum as an oppotunity to push the party line during this election season and help her fellow Democrats in the local races (or maybe Obama in the big race).  When you have negotiated a deal where the economy hangs in the balance and the voters are clearly not supporting it, you need to find some common ground with Republicans and set aside your differences for the sake of the country.

Pelosi should have been thanking the President and House Republicans for their efforts to develop a bipartisan agreement, not chastising them for supporting lending deregulation.  Wait until after the bill is passed to place blame, not five minutes before the vote is to take place.