One additional comment on the Republican claim that they voted against the bailout because Nancy Pelosi was mean to them. Pelosi spoke relatively early in the debate for such a high-ranking leader. Normally the speaking slots at the end of a debate on a big bill are reserved for the party leaders, who take the floor in roughly the reverse of their order of rank, with the Majority and Minority Leaders closing things out, and sometimes the Speaker if she wants to have a say.

But yesterday, Pelosi spoke well before the rest of the leadership. And all of the Republican leaders who came to the microphones to cry that they were bullied by the Speaker had exactly zero to say on the floor about it. Isn't that something? That Republicans were so insulted that they'd vote no, and their leaders had absolutely nothing to say about it, even though they were allotted generous amounts of time to address things on the floor?