What a week this has been...

Well, it's been a crazy one, that's for sure. 

I'm sure that most of you have heard what's been going, since I don't have too many friends who are living under rocks, but just in case you didn't, here's a brief...

Monday the House voted on the "Bailout Bill," which is actually named the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008." (One of those names that students 5o years from now will have to memorize, but it's a good one cause the date's already in the title, one less thing to remember) To much surprise, the bill failed and chaos ensued. The stock market dropped 777 points, the most it ever has in one day, and people were less than thrilled. Yesterday, the Senate resumed after the Jewish holiday and voted on the bill. 99 of 100 Senators were there to vote, Ted Kennedy was in MA, and they passed the bill. Then the bill went back to the House on Friday and it was finally passed and signed that day. So it was a busy week for Congress, and for me!

I was at the Capitol for all three of those votes. Monday's vote was the craziest because no one expected the House to vote on the bill and not have it pass, so that was just chaos. A reporter from Cox and I ran over from our office, which is right near the Capitol, just to kind of see what the scene was. Just as we imagined, it was crazy. There were press everywhere and the staffers running all over the place, but my favorite part was the tour groups walking around who had no clue what was going on! They all just looked really confused. I jumped into a stakeout waiting for Pelosi and then followed her over to the Democratic leadership press conference and got some shots there. The I had to run back over to the office to make deadline. A couple of the shots made it on the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Austin Statesman's websites. 

Tuesday was a quiet day, but then came Wednesday!

The fun didn't start till late Wednesday because of the Jewish holiday. We all just mostly hung around the newsroom all day but we'd heard that the Senate was planning on voting on the bailout bill later that evening. So around 5pm, Courtney and I went over to the Hill for a little happy hour before heading over to the Senate press gallery. We felt very privileged to witness such a legendary vote in the Senate, where all but one Senator was present. (Ted Kennedy was still in MA due to his illness) It was truly amazing. It was really nice to not be working too and to just be there for the fun of it. 

Then came another unexciting Thursday, but Friday the bill was back in the House. They voted at about 12:30pm so I was there to catch the leadership news conference again. This time the bill passed and there was a huge sigh of relief. It was crazy! I've never seen so many photographers in my life. Nancy Pelosi actually signed the bill at the press conference too, so that was cool to see. Since it was Friday, I was shooting for Cox again. I'm not sure if the pictures were published anywhere, I think a couple were online but I never found them.

Basically, it was a crash course in Congress for all of us and a really crazy week. Something I'll never forget, and I'll probably never see again.