Below The Beltway

In a move that doesn’t really come as much of a surprise, the U.S. Senate approved a modified version of the $ 700 billion financial industry bailout bill:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Senate on Wednesday night passed a sweeping and controversial financial bailout similar in key ways to one rejected by the House just two days earlier.

The measure was passed by a vote of 74 to 25 after more than three hours of floor debate in the Senate. Both presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and John McCain, R-Arizona, voted in favor.

Like the bill the House rejected, the core of the Senate bill is the Bush administration’s plan to buy up to $700 billion of troubled assets from financial institutions.

Those assets, mostly mortgage-related, have caused a crisis of confidence in the credit markets. A major aim of the plan is to free up banks to start lending again once their balance sheets are cleared of toxic holdings.

But the Senate legislation also includes a number of new provisions aimed at Main Street.

The changes are intended to attract more votes in the House, in particular from House Republicans, two-thirds of whom voted against the bailout plan.

The House is expected to take up the Senate measure for a vote on Friday, according to aides to Democratic leaders

Here’s the official tally (the only Senator not voting was Ted Kennedy, who is suffering from brain cancer):

Voting Yes (75): Akaka (D-HI), Alexander (R-TN), Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Bennett (R-UT), Biden (D-DE), Bingaman (D-NM), Bond (R-MO), Boxer (D-CA), Brown (D-OH), Burr (R-NC), Byrd (D-WV), Cardin (D-MD), Carper (D-DE), Casey(D-PA), Chambliss (R-GA), Clinton (D-NY), Coburn (R-OK), Coleman (R-MN), Collins (R-ME), Conrad (D-ND), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Dodd (D-CT), Domenici (R-NM), Ensign (R-NV), Feinstein (D-CA), Gramm (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA), Gregg (R-NH), Hagel (R-NE), Harkin (D-IA), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX), Inouye (D-HI), Isakson (R-GA), Kerry (D-MA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Kohl (D-WI), Kyl (R-Az), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (I-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), McCain (R-AZ), McCaskill (D-MO), McConnell (R-KY), Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Murkowski (R-AK), Murray (D-WA), Nelson (D-NE), Obama (D-IL), Pryor (D-AK), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Rockefeller (D-WV), Salazar (D-CO), Schumer (D-NY), Smith (R-OR), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Stevens (R-AK), Sununu (R-NH), Thune (R-SD), Voinovich (R-OH), Warner (R-VA), Webb (D-VA), Whitehouse (D-RI)

Voting No (25): Allard (R-CO), Barrasso (R-WY), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Cantwell (D-WA), DeMint (R-SC), Cochran (R-MS), Crapo(R-WY), DeMint (R-SC), Dole (R-NC), Dorgan (D-ND), Enzi (R-WY), Feingold (D-WI), Inhofe(R-OK), Johnson (D-SD), Landrieu (D-LA), Nelson (D-NE), Roberts (R-KS), Sanders (I-VT), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), Vitter (R-LA), Wyden (D-OR)

So, basically, we were thoroughly screwed by the members of the upper house.

Next, it’s back to the House of Representatives, where I’m betting we’ll find Monday’s results reversed rather quickly.