That was my first reaction: "How embarrassing for USAns: At least five Europeans countries got their shit together in 48 hours to pull off these rescue packages, while USAns took over one vaudevillian week and still blew it in a farce of partisan pettiness."

As David Brooks put it in his latest column:

This generation of political leaders is confronting a similar situation [as Franklin Roosevelt did in 1933], and, so far, they have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed.

However, on second thought, even if a large chunk of those who voted against it did so on "anti-socialist" grounds and because Nancy Pelosi hurt their feelings, the effect was that Congress rejected a deal that most of the public did not like at all, and that government leaders were trying to half-force, half-sneak by the people.

In short, I agree with paving:

You have to understand how important this was today, for the American voter.  We've had absolutely NO say in the past 8 years.  Dissent, public opinion, etc, have been ignored by both parties. ...

Suddenly the people are remembering that if they disagree with the actions of their govt. there is a possibility that the govt. will change and act differently.

Unfortunately, while Bernie Sanders is taking this opening to show some some leadership, I'm afraid in the end, "the people" are going to get steamrolled and the current package is going to get jury-rigged into effect anyway:

Senate to Vote Wednesday on Bailout Plan - NYTimes.com

Senate leaders scheduled a Wednesday vote on a $700 billion financial bailout package after agreeing to add tax breaks and a higher limit for insured bank deposits in a bid to attract enough votes to reverse a shocking defeat in the House and send legislation to President Bush by the end of the week.

After a day of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, top lawmakers said the Senate proposal would include a tax package as well as a plan endorsed on Tuesday by both major presidential candidates and the Bush administration to raise government coverage for bank deposits.

"It has been determined, in our judgment, this is the best thing to move forward," said Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the majority leader, in announcing the surprise move. "This is good for the country."

Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.