Bailout money - 350 billion - becomes available for Obama in 52-42 vote

In a fairly close vote, the Senate today voted in a fairly close measure of 52-42 in favor to release the second half of the $700 billion bailout package. Being a significant political victory for Obama, now he doesn't have to worry about a 'veto' being one of his very first actions as President of the United States.
He wants the funds to 'expand lending to consumers and small businesses', but it passed with a fair amount of opposition by both the Democrats and Republicans. Only six republican senators voted to release the funds, while at least nine Democratic senators voted to bar the use of the remaining billions. One of the destinations of the funds will also be to address foreclosures with somewhere between 50 billion to 100 billion dollars.
Many believe that President Bush misused the funds when he gave a majority of the first 350 billion to the auto industry.
Apparently President-elect Obama did his homework and really had a good feeling before the vote that the bill would pass.
The next question, how long will Obama have to fix the economy? No doubt that the economy will begin to pickup in the near future, but how long will it take, and will Obama do what is needed to get it done quickly? Of course there are lots of questions, but in about 4 days, Obama will become the 44th President and the American people will see what this new President is made up of. He faces many challenges at home and abroad, but with the people surrounding him in his Cabinet, his advisers should keep him on the right track to success, leading the way to a better economy and a brighter future for all Americans.