U.S. House to vote on bailout today -- looking for 218 UPDATED

Today's vote has been somewhat overshadowed by the debate, the Wachovia takeover by Wells Fargo, and a report showing that the number of U.S. jobs lost in September was the greatest in 5 1/2 years. The Blue Dog Democrats may be the key to getting the 218 votes necessary to get the bill passed (it received 205 votes on Monday). Of the Blue Dogs’ 49 members, 23 voted for the bill Monday, and that was before the bill was revised in the Senate to include pork-barrel tax breaks for manufacturers of wooden arrows and rum distillers, among other things.

Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper, a member of the fiscally-conservative Blue Dog coalition, said yesterday that "the bailout forced us to go into the flooded basement and pump out the water -- while we're down there we see there's termites everywhere."

Update (12:15): Voting is taking place now. Current vote is 122 for, 58 against with 7 minutes remaining.

Update II (12:20): The bill has cleared the necessary 218 votes for passage with 226 votes.

Update III (12:25): Final vote is 263-171.

Update IV (12:40): Arkansas Congressmen Ross and Boozman both voted for the proposal but voted against a procedural measure waiving the pay-as-you-go measure prior to the main vote on the floor. It was speculated that Blue Dog members may vote against waiving the pay-go to register their displeasure with the pork add-ons.

Update V (1:00): Who switched? Politico has a partial list.