Senate passes $700B ’sweetened’ rescue package

Washington - The Senate has passed a $700 billion b ailout for the financial industry aimed at preventing the economy from plunging into a recession. Democrats and Republicans teamed to approve the bill after sweetening it with tax breaks. The House plans to vote on it Friday.   Senators loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and other sweeteners before passing it by a wide margin, 74-25, a month before the presidential and congressional elections. In the House, leaders were worki ng feverishly to convert enough opponents of the bill to push it through by Friday, just days after lawmakers there stunningly rejected an earlier version and sent markets plunging around the globe. The measure has not caused the same uproar in the Senate, where both parties’ presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, were making rare appearances to vote their support. That would send the package back to the House, where passage would require a tur...