We (Sweden) did solve our crisis in much the way this bill was supposed to work (See link below.)
There are a lot of things that can be said about how Sweden ended up in the situation we did in 1992. Never before or since have I felt so betrayed by our politicians, when they almost caused a national bankruptcy. However, in the end the way the government handled the banking crisis did not cause the death of the free market, and most of the money was recovered in less than a decade.
But that was Sweden; much different institutional, historical and political environment than the US. Not least the fact that the US is the largest economy in the world does create other options and other risks.
But what is needed now is looking ahead. Do the Republicans have another plan? Will it be possible to abolish the mark-to-markets accounting, a point that was (partly) embedded in the fallen legislation? If the banks don't have to bring up all the new losses caused by the expected crash on the DOW on their account sheets - just as the "winnings" shouldn't have been there during the boom years - that would cause some relief. (And, no, what we don't want to see is a financial crash on Wall Street spreading to Main Street.)
Also, McCain and the other Republicans must take the policy to the voters that "affirmative action" must never be allowed to poison the housing market again - or any other market for that matter. Bye, bye CRA.
Finally: “Boehner just said it failed because of the Speaker’s partisan speech right before the vote!”
Now, do people start to understand why McCain did not attack Obama and the Democrats for their role in the crisis during the first debate? Right or wrong - but McCain wanted to reach a solution that could avert the possibility of an economic crash.
If that is one's goal, and to reach that goal, one has to make a deal with the "other side", then one cannot at the same time play "politics".
McCain is a grown up person and he knows this - Pelosi and the other Democrats are just like the scorpion. They just can't help themselves......
OK, let's hope and pray that this result concentrates the thoughts and minds of both our politicians and the people dealing on the markets, so that other, better solutions to the present problem are found.