I support the bail-out, but I also sympathize with those that don’t. People say that they are irresponsible for not voting for it when something needs to be done. But if they really feel that this is the wrong thing to be done, then wouldn’t they be irresponsible to vote for it? I agree with you that I don’t fault those who oppose it if they really object to its content.

Here are some exerts of Pelosi’s speech. I’m not sure what’s up with Gaucho’s link. In any case, it’s not entirely wrong to change a vote based on a speech. By saying those things right before a vote, voting yes would have been interpreted by some as an agreement to the things Pelosi said. Therefore, Pelosi could have used the passed bill as a mandate to implement policies in line with the views she described in that speech. With that in mind, I’m sympathetic to voting no based partly on the speech if they thought voting yes would send a message that would be destructive.

Pelosi wanted Republicans to vote yes for political cover for her own party. Republicans seemed like they might be willing to provide the cover, but then Pelosi pushed her luck by not only wanting political cover for the bill itself, but tried to take advantage of the situation by trying to make a yes vote look like an admission of free-market failure by the republicans. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but clearly some belongs to Pelosi.