The US Senate approved an extensive bail- out plan for the beleaguered finance sector which is reported to be similar in many important ways to the one which was rejected by the House of Representatives on Monday.

The Senate passed the measure by a vote pf 74 to 25 after more than three hours of intense debate. Both presidential candidates, Sen. Barack Obama from the Democrat Party and Sen. John McCain from the Republican Party voted in favour of the bill.

The central feature of the Senate bill is the provision of $700 billion to buy up toxic assets of many financial institutions. Most of these assets are related to mortgages and have caused many firms to go bankrupt or led into acquisitions. By buying up the troubled assets, the rescue plan intends to free up the credit market so that banks start lending again.

However the Senate bill included many other provisions aimed at the Main Street as well. Most of these include popular tax measures aimed at providing relief to individual tax payers as well as small businesses. The add-ons are not surprising considering that it is an election year and have been passed keeping an eye on the voters.