Debate Rages in House Prior to Vote

Some voices from the ongoing House debate on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill, as lawmakers plan to vote before 1 p.m. today:

- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): "The party is over.

How did [the current crisis] sneak up on us? Almost on little cat feet? Democrats like the free market. But the free market, as encouraged by some Republicans, has not created jobs, has not created capital; it has created chaos."

- Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), Budget committee ranking member: "This is a Herbert Hoover moment: He made some big mistakes after the Great Depression and we lived with those consequences for decades. Let's not make the same mistake."

- Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.): "This [bailout bill] is from the same people who brought us this mess, except this time we have a gun to our heads. This is extortion. A vote for this bailout is to ratify business-as-usual in Washington."

- Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.): "To do nothing will cause unconscionable consequences for our country."

- Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio): "I say we go back to the drawing board. We need the right deal, not a fast deal."

-- Frank Ahrens