The House Republicans and Democrats voted to approve a rescue plan that could cost up to $800 billion and is designed to bring stability to the financial markets, which was later signed into law by President George Bush. 

After a tumultuous week that included House politicians voting down the first rescue bill and Senate approving an amended version of the bill, politicians did what was expected and approved the bill. 

In a statement, Bush said "we have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country."  Bush conceded the "economy continues to face serious challenges."

The signing of the bill by the president means that the Treasury Department now must do the following: establish guidelines for the program within 45 days; hire immediately an interim Assistant Secretary to run what will become the Office of Financial Stability; and begin hiring asset managers to develop the appropriate auction for purchase of assets.

Politicians had been reticent to approve the legislation, given the widespread opposition to the bill by Americans who view it as a bailout for greedy executives on Wall Street. Still, political leaders including presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama -- who both voted for the bill in the Senate -- have urged party members to back the bill, saying something has to be done to avert an even worse decline in the economy.

The vote was approved 263 to 171. According to the vote tally, 172 Democrats and 91 Republicans voted for the rescue plan. Of those that voted against the plan, 63 were Democrats and 108 were Republicans. In comparison, the final vote tally on Monday’s vote was 205 to 228, with 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans voting for it. Of those that voted against it, 95 were Democrats and 133 were Republicans.  The Democrats boosted their "aye" numbers by 32 from Monday, while it was 26 more from the Republicans.

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In a statement,  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the “legislation is a critical step toward stabilizing our financial markets and ensuring an uninterrupted flow of credit to households and businesses.”  Bernanke said the Federal Reserve will work closely with the Treasury.  "We will continue to use all of the powers at our disposal to mitigate credit market disruptions and to foster a strong, vibrant economy," said Bernanke.

The reaction to Monday’s no vote was swift. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 700 points and continued on a roller-coaster ride the remainder of the week. The amended bill included items that would make it more palatable to politicians like raising the FDIC insurance to $250,000 from $100,000.

The vote comes amid new signs that the economy is weakening. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that financial intuitions reduced short term loans to companies by a record $94.9 billion, bringing the total decline to $208 billion in the past three weeks. General Electric (GE), a blue-chip stalwart, this week was forced to raise billions of dollars at less-than-stellar terms.

Despite worrying signs the economy is weakening, many Americans are still opposed to the rescue plan. Their reluctance did moderate somewhat after the steep decline in the stock markets Monday but is still strong. The rescue plan is designed to restore liquidity and stability to the financial markets and protect home values, college funds, retirement accounts and savings account. With some exceptions, the authorities of the act will terminate two years from the date of the enactment.

As part of the bill, the Treasury Secretary is authorized to create a troubled asset relief program called TARP to purchase troubled assets from any financial institution. “Troubled assets” include residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to mortgages. It also includes any financial instruments that the secretary determines necessary to  purchase to promote stability in the financial markets. That includes  troubled assets held by, or on behalf of, eligible retirement plans.

The secretary is only allowed to spend $250 billion to buy troubled assets at any one time. The president has the authority to request an additional $350 billion from Congress. The secretary has access to a total of $700 billion, and tax incentives and other add-ons to the plan put about $100 billion additional into it.