The Bush administration will pump-in a whopping $700 billion in a far-reaching three- stage bail out plan to rescue the nation's ailing financial system from bad debts, according to a Bill unveiled by lawmakers.
The 110-page Bill, intended to ease a growing credit crisis, came after a frenzied week of political squabbling that culminated in an agreement between the Bush administration and Congress early yesterday.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi said she hopes the House will take up the bill today. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he believes the Senate can move on the legislation by Wednesday.
Pelosi said the provisions added by Congress will protect taxpayers from having to pay for the bailout.
"We sent a message to Wall Street - the party is over," Pelosi, said, indicating that the Congress would rein-in the high-flying financiers who chased big profits through reckless investments.
President George W Bush, in a statement yesterday, said "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 $700 billion will not be given to the Treasury in one go to bail out the troubled financial institutions.
The distribution of money will come about in three stages, the first of which will be in the magnitude of $250 billion followed by a tranche of $100 billion and finally of $350 billion.