The Senate has spoken, but there's no guarantee the House will hear it.

In a 74 to 25 vote Wednesday evening, the Senate handily approved the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, otherwise known as the bailout bill or the rescue package, depending on where you stand.

What started as a three-page proposal from Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson late last month has ballooned into a 415-page clunker of legislation. It's grown in size both literally and figuratively: The Senate version includes $150 billion in various tax breaks for businesses and individuals in addition to the $700 billion to purchase assets from struggling U.S. banks.

The Senate approval was widely anticipated after the House rejected its version of the legislation in a surprising Monday-afternoon vote that drove the Dow Jones industrials down a record 777 points. The House is expected to vote again as early as Friday.

The bailout package remained largely intact from the House version to the Senate, but the latest version also includes an increase on the limit on Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured accounts to $250,000 from $100,000.

In true Capitol Hill fashion, legislators slipped in other provisions to the bill that are unrelated to the Treasury's asset-purchase plan, including a requirement for most insurance plans to cover mental health illnesses on par with physical medical coverage and new tax deductions for domestic film and television productions. Are you an archery manufacturer who is tired of that 39-cent excise tax on the wooden arrows you make for kids? You're in luck! The Senate voted to repeal it in this bill.

But what the House will be focused on when it votes on the bill will likely remain the same as it was the first time around: the details surrounding the plan to solve the credit crisis that's currently plaguing the U.S. and global economies. It's not clear that the changes in this version of the bill—namely the tax breaks and the increased F.D.I.C. insurance—will be enough to appease the irate House members on both sides of the aisle who vote "no" on Monday.

In fact, the inclusion of tax incentives may end up rankling as many Democrats as it pleases Republicans. Because the increased spending isn't being offset by any proposed cuts, some so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats, who are known for fiscal conservatism, may balk at the new bill.

Moreover, it's still not clear that the American public is on board with this bill, which poses a problem for congressional members up for reelection in just a few weeks. Some members of Congress indicated they received more calls from constituents on this bill than they did on the vote to approve the invasion of Iraq. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain both favored the bill and returned to Washington to vote on it Wednesday evening.

While the debate continues, the markets wait with bated breath. Most everyone is in agreement that something needs to happen to relieve the stress on the credit markets, and the longer it takes this $700 billion bill to make its way through the legislative process, the more time its naysayers will have to come up with an alternative plan.