As you're probably seeing everywhere, the 700 billion dollar crap sandwich that's being served to taxpayers has been defeated by a small margin on the floor. Here's the vote count according to Hot Air,

The final tally was 207-226, with Democrats supporting it 141-94, while Republicans opposed it 66-132.

What we have here are large numbers of liberals who don't like the bill because it's not socialistic enough and thank goodness, 2/3 of the Republicans were fiscally conservative enough to reject socialism and stick up for the taxpayers.

So, what's next? On the one hand, Pelosi doesn't have to flip a lot of votes. But, on the other hand, because she has two large, diametrically opposed blocks of congressmen, any sweetener for either side risks peeling off more votes. Moreover, the public's mood is volatile and increasingly acidic.

This would be a great time for John Boehner and John McCain to propose an alternate insurance/loan based plan that would not put taxpayers on the line for 700 billion dollars. Pelosi has failed, so why not publicly propose an alternate insurance plan that could get 180 Republican votes?

It would be a great opportunity to stand up for the taxpayers and insist on a plan that doesn't promote socialism and doesn't allow us to be looted to reward irresponsible people on Wall Street. This vote is going to have a major impact on the election and it will likely be remembered for years. Stand up and lead -- show some courage -- now is the time to do it!